MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Alternative Credit Scoring Firm MicroMoney, Peer-lending Platform Karma Partner to Promote Financial Inclusion

Singapore-based alternative credit scoring firm MicroMoney and Netherlands-domiciled peer-lending NGO Karma recently announced a partnership to work toward their shared “mission to help billions of people to be financially included” in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. MicroMoney will access repayment data from Karma, and Karma will use MicroMoney’s algorithms to rate the creditworthiness of its users who are seeking loans.

Founded in 2015, MicroMoney has approximately 85 employees and USD 1.9 million in paid-in capital as of 2017. The company utilizes “mobile phone data to assess potential borrowers’” creditworthiness and as of 2017 has 95,000 registered customers.

Karma is an online service that allows its customers to lend to and borrow from each other. The platform is decentralized, allowing individual lenders to offer customized loan terms, including whether or not to require collateral, from any location. Karma lenders have a total of USD 5 million in loans outstanding to small and medium-sized enterprises.

By Ryan Gauthier, Research Associate