| What changed after partnering with Babyloan? |
| Following our recent partnership with Babyloan, we experienced some internal changes. Babyloan asked us to list them and create a small practical guide for present and future Babyloan Partners. |
| What’s involved in babyloan partnership? |
| 1. |
BECOME A PARTNER: We found all the necessary documents and information for partnership at www.babyloan.org, sent the application form online, and received a response after 3 weeks. Babyloan performed an internal audit to assign us a rating that would determine our monthly credit ceiling. A week later, we closed the partnership with a signed contract. After this, a secure space was created through the back office of babyloan.org to facilitate easy exchange of future information (e.g. registration of new entrepreneurs, project reports, management of accounts, etc.) |
| 2. |
ENTER NEW CLIENT INFORMATION: We added new clients to babyloan.org by going to our personal space on babyloan.org and clicking on “register a new client”. This required uploading photos and submitting information on the client (name, sex, village, country, poverty rating), project (name, sector of activity, project description) and loan (sum, duration, interest, and use of loan). As Babyloan is a form of refinancing, these featured clients did not have to wait to be sponsored by internet users, but received their loans as usual. When an internet user made a loan directed to a client, they effectively refinanced the existing loan – thus releasing new funds for more clients. |
| 3. |
RECEIVE MONTHLY CREDIT: Each month, we received the balance of new loans less repayments from Babyloan. While loans charged 0% interest, there was a semestral fee for accessing the funding. These loans were made in euros, but Babyloan is looking to providing the option of receiving funds in US$. |
| 4. |
PROVIDE MONTHLY UPDATE ON LOAN STATUS: Each month, we received a mail from Babyloan asking us to validate a preformatted file concerning the status of the loan repayment. This did not take much time – it only required us to indicate whether the clients have repaid on time or not... reporting defaults is voluntary but encouraged to enhance transparency, which internet users appreciate. |
| 5. |
FINAL IMPACT: At the end of the loan term, we completed an exit questionnaire on the respective clients. |
| So practically, what does this mean? |
| 1. |
Complete the online application |
| 2. |
Assign one person responsible for managing Babyloan activities |
| 3. |
Select clients to feature on Babyloan |
| 4. |
Loan officers are responsible for compiling client information including photos and ratings on 4 poverty level indicators (economic, social, education, health) |
| 5. |
Create an account with Babyloan |