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

Status Update - October 26, 2023

Kiva has decided to pause Small Enterprise Development’s access to fundraising loans on the Kiva platform due to operational issues and practices that are not fully compliant with Kiva’s policies. We are actively monitoring Small Enterprise Development’s situation and an analyst will conduct a thorough on-site monitoring visit in the coming months. Kiva anticipates that the partner will continue making repayments to Kiva lenders as long as there is an outstanding balance and we hope to continue to support Small Enterprise Development in the future. If there is additional relevant information, we will provide it to lenders as soon as it becomes available.

Partner description:

Small Enterprise Development (SED) is a microfinance institution that works with women in villages in the northeastern Thai provinces of Surin, Buriram and Srisaket, the country’s poorest according to the World Bank.

SED stemmed from a village banking project established by Catholic Relief Services, which targeted the poorest women living in rural areas. When CRS phased out of Thailand, SED was established as an independent entity focused on continuing and growing the project.

A unique lending approach:

SED focuses primarily on the village banking methodology. A village bank is a community association consisting of groups of 5 to 7 women each, together creating a larger group of 30 to 80 members who meet regularly and are provided with small self-employment loans.

SED works with local NGOs to identify villages that could qualify for a village bank, then spends around 3 months working with the community to establish the bank. During this time, each village receives 6 to 8 weeks of training. Once the village bank is established, SED provides a loan to the bank, which it then lends to individual members. The entire bank is responsible for repaying the loan back to SED and all members are required to make mandatory monthly savings deposits.

SED also offers individual loans for women who need to make larger investments in their businesses. These loans are provided to existing village bank members who need larger loan amounts and are recommended by their groups. These loans are done outside the village banks, directly from SED to individuals.