M&T Bank plans to back a Baltimore-area hub for online crowdfunding lender Kiva to start making business loans to entrepreneurs.
The Buffalo, New York-based bank announced a donation of $100,000 on Monday to Baltimore Community Lending, which will work with Kiva to offer loans in underserved communities.
The funds will be used to open a business education center later this year and hire a capital access manager to run the program. The donation also will cover two years of Kiva’s “hub” fees, or program-related expenses.
Baltimore Community Lending, a nonprofit community development lender that targets small business owners and developers committed to underserved neighborhoods, will help entrepreneurs apply for Kiva’s no-interest loans.
Kiva, a nonprofit online platform that entered the Baltimore market in 2016, works with lending partners in specific markets to crowdfund loans for small businesses. Through the platform, individual lenders make loans of $25 and up to fund small businesses and support causes such as refugees, climate change and agriculture. To be eligible, borrowers must meet criteria such as using loans for business purposes and first securing loans from friends, family, clients or business partners.
“While we do look at your financials, we prioritize your character, the impact your loan will have on your community, and how much support you have from your community,” Kiva says on its website.
Since its founding in 2005, Kiva says more than two million people have loaned $1.9 billion to 4.7 million borrowers.
Brian Walter, M&T’s regional president for Greater Baltimore, said the bank sees its donation as a way to directly invest in the future of local small businesses and drive economic growth in the community.
The donation “enables us to further our efforts in empowering entrepreneurs and strengthening the economic fabric of our communities,” said Watchen Bruce, president and CEO of Baltimore Community Lending, in a news release.
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