Max Gladwell

The Kiva Business 4 Business credit card makes micro-lending easy and more impactful with matching funds. Plus, a story about connecting through the social web.

The KIVA B4B BusinessCard credit card is one of a kind. It enables small business owners in the first world to make micro loans to budding entrepreneurs in the third world, and the credit card issuing company, Advanta, matches those loans up to $200 per month per card member. But first, there’s an interesting story behind how we came to write about (and ultimately endorse) this do-good credit card.

Erick Brownstein develops innovative cause marketing programs for the credit card company, Advanta. One of those is called Ideablob, which won accolades at last year’s Demo conference. This social media platform enables entrepreneurs to submit their business ideas, garner or share advice, and vote on the best ideas. Each month, the winner with the most votes gets $10,000 to help start their business.

One of Erick’s many roles is to help promote the winners. For July, the $10K went to Healthy Vending Solutions, which seeks to provide healthier snack and beverage alternatives in schools. Erick did a quick Google search for related blogs and found Max School Bus, which is the second blog in what we’re now calling the Media Maxwell network. It made plenty of sense for us to post about it, so we did.

As emails went back and forth for a couple weeks, we noticed that Erick’s phone numbers had 310 and 323 area codes i.e. Los Angeles. We inquried about his rough coordinates in the sprawl. We’re in Santa Monica. Erick replies that he’s in Santa Monica, more specifically near 16th and Ocean Park. Holy cow, we reply, we’re on 14th and Ocean Park!

So we can thank Google, social media, cause marketing, and our shared interests for shrinking the world to a four-block radius and bringing us together. Which brings us to the Kiva B4B credit card.

Erick rode his cruiser bike to our office for an impromptu meeting so we could introduce ourselves and compare notes. Turns out he has some excellent bona fides. From Mother Theresa’s Home for the Sick & Dying Destitute in Calcutta to senior research analyst for Strategic Environmental Associates to manual laborer, from national campaign director for Rainforest Action Network to small business owner, Erick’s background is equal parts eclectic and meaningful. Now he’s got a credit-card offer you can’t refuse.

If you’re not familiar with Kiva.org, it’s a simple micro-lending service built on a social media platform. Entrepreneurs in developing countries submit detailed business-loan requests through Kiva’s field partners. It could be $100 to buy a cow or $700 for clothing fabric. Individual lenders (like you) can commit to fund a loan fully or in part. Neither Kiva nor the individual lenders (like you) take fees or earn interest. It’s purely a feel good for the lender, complete with some verification through Kiva.org that the loan is working. Kiva earns its operating capital through donations that lenders choose to make above and beyond the loan amounts. Erick helped come up with the bright idea of rolling Kiva into its own credit card.

The KIVA B4B BusinessCard credit card targets small business owners who can relate to how valuable a loan can be to get your venture off the ground. However, anyone (like you) can apply for the card and take advantage of this unique program, where the card issuer, Advanta, matches your Kiva loans up to $200 per month per card member. Do the math. That’s four cows. But that’s not all.

Brownstein and company have also offered this as an affiliate marketing program, which means that Max Gladwell can earn fees for referring our loyal readers. That’s right, if you click here or on the credit card image above and apply for a Kiva B4B credit card, you can simultaneously support third-world entrepreneurs, first-world Max Gladwell, and Kiva. Because in addition to our fees, Advanta makes a $25 donation (not a loan) to Kiva.

In so far as credit cards are a necessity of life in the 21st century, this is the first we’ve really felt comfortable endorsing. You can check out a number of different green credit cards, but none of them is as innovative and rewarding as the Kiva B4B in our humble opinion. Other pertinent details: 0% on balance transfers for 15 months and 7.99% thereafter; 5% statement credit for grants to Kiva and other charitable donations, as well as up to 1% on purchases; no annual fee. Please read all terms and conditions before applying.

Brownstein and Advanta have another venture that they’ll debut at the upcoming Demo conference, and we look forward to checking it out.

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