From Chinatown to Fremont: Lending Circles Coming to a Bay Area Community Near You

Mission Asset Fund’s Lending Circles Program is expanding. This unique credit-building peer loan program started as Cestas Populares in the Mission District, helping low-income and immigrant individuals get access to a 0% interest 0% fee peer loans while building credit scores.  After processing close to $600,000 of peer loans in the Mission District alone, we’re thrilled to announce the availability of Lending Circles in other Bay Area neighborhoods.

"MAF is breaking new ground with the Lending Circles program," says San Francisco Treasurer Jose Cisneros. "Low income families throughout San Francisco will benefit greatly from MAF's innovative work that started in the Mission District."

With average credit score increases of 49 points, a 0% default rate, approximately 350 loans, and an average reduction in debt of $1,200, this program is uniquely able to assist low-income and immigrant individuals build their financial capacity.

It’s not just financial education. It’s not just an abstract idea. It actually works. But many folks around the country are skeptical—they say the Mission District is a special place. And it is. The Mission’s culture, heritage and community is truly one of a kind. But we’re not that special; we know that low-income individuals, immigrants and disadvantaged communities can all benefit from a program that values and respects who they are and what they do.  Peer lending circles happen all over the world—from Mexico to India to the Philippines. MAF’s model merely enhances a practice deeply rooted in culture—by recognizing peer loans as legitimate financial activity that can be reported to credit bureaus. That’s right. We’re out to prove our skeptics wrong. We’re going to Chinatown. We’re going to Oakland. We’re going to Fremont.  We’re going to gay communities, Asian-Pacific Communities, African-American communities.

Our newest partners in crime—the brave organizations who have stepped up to the plate to recreate the Lending Circles program in their communities—are:

    APA Family Support Services
    Chinese Newcomers Service Center
    Community Housing Development Corporation
    Creating Economic Opportunities For Women (CEO for Women)
    Fremont Family Resource Center
    San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center

The above partners are trained in all things Lending Circles and are ramping up to form their first groups. Keep on the lookout for Lending Circles in a community near you. Stay tuned for more as this exciting project gets underway.

Our rockstar funders, who help us to provide loans at zero cost to consumers, are: Center for Financial Services Innovation, Citibank, The Ford Foundation, Levi Strauss Foundation, The Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Y&H Soda Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund and Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco.

LendingCircles.org