Kiva conducts regular, ongoing monitoring of all Lending Partners, but only posts status updates here in response to relevant, major changes at the partner.

Update on 21 August 2023:

Kiva and Accion East have agreed to end their partnership after more than $3,000,000 in loans raised. This partner has repaid its outstanding balance to Kiva in full, and these funds have been distributed to lenders. We thank Accion East for the years of collaboration and wish them success in their future endeavors.

Status update — April 1, 2016

Kiva has moved this Lending Partner to inactive status. This means Accion East is no longer fundraising loans on Kiva, though Kiva fully expects the partner to continue to send repayments owed to Kiva lenders for as long as the partner has an outstanding balance. The reasons a partner might become inactive include: taking time to develop a new type of loan, turnover on the partner’s management team, a shift in overall strategy or changes in funding sources. If and when this partner requests to fundraise again on Kiva, Kiva will first conduct any additional monitoring and due diligence tasks we believe necessary.

Partner Description:

Accion East is a nonprofit organization committed to providing microfinance services to small business owners nationwide via an online lending platform and community outreach. Through its loans and financial education services, their clients--often minorities, immigrants and women -- can build assets, better provide for their families and strengthen their communities.

Accion East is part of the US Accion Network, the largest domestic microlending network, with over $272 million lent since 1991. Its lending model is the product of over 50 years of Accion experience in providing credit to low-to-moderate income individuals worldwide, customized to meet the unique needs of microbusinesses operating in the United States.

The need for microloans in the United States:

In the U.S., with over 25 million small businesses, many small businesowners lack access to traditional bank credit because their loan requests are too small, their length of time in business is too short, or they operate in an industry that banks typically do not consider like home-based sales.

The face of U.S. microfinance is familiar -- Accion East’s borrowers range from the owner of your favorite local restaurant to your child’s home-based daycare provider to the operator of a larger trucking company. While their financial and ethnic backgrounds may differ, they all share the challenge of insufficient access to small business loans.

Accion East’s impact in the United States:

1) Contribute to job creation: Each loan that Accion East provides contributes to the creation or retention of 4.3 jobs (not including that of the borrower), predominantly in low-to-moderate income communities.

2) Increase wages in low-to-moderate income communities: Business owners increase their take-home pay by 25%

3) Improve business survival: 97% of existing businesses were still in business by year-end 2013 (compared to a national average of 70%). Businesses grow revenue by 16%.

Loan products and services:

Accion East responds to the needs of small businesses with loans, business development and credit training services. Its loan consultants work one-on-one with borrowers to provide:

1) Small business microloans that average $7,000

2) One-on-one credit and business education and assistance

3) Financial education via one-on-one consultations, in addition to online resources and community workshops

Status update — April 15th, 2014

"Accion East" is the new brand name of Accion East and Online.

Status Update — December 12, 2012

Accion East and Online is the new brand name of Accion USA. The change in branding has been reflected throughout the Kiva site and relevant loans.