When Face is your FICO Score—Our Latest Peer-Reviewed Publication is Now Available.

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This was a very interesting project—talking with lenders that have been vilified as preditory loansharks, only taking advantage of the ingnorant and desparate. And, yes, the interest rates are beyond outrageous. But the clients almost all maintain long-term connections with the lenders and come back for loans.

Their reality is that as un/under-banked, they have few if any other options in the formal loan/banking system. Without the services of no-collateral neighborhood lenders people and small business would literally die—loans are typciall made for medical and other family and entreprenureal emergencies.

Loans for people with no credit hsitory and no collateral are based on relationships—family, neighbors, and friends of friends. The socal preseure to repay is key, as is the threat of limited access by other family members if payments are not completed.

Living in the same neighborhood as one’s clients means that these lending relationships are personal and often generational. And that means that relationship management is of upmost importance. During covid lockdowns, relationship managment meant that loan payments were put on hold until people could get back to work.

Read the whole article and let us know what you think.