Kiva expands financial access to help underserved communities thrive

Nonprofit Kiva is focused on improving financial access for people globally particularly in underserved communities. More than one billion people around the world cannot prove who they are, and this lack of proof of identity is the primary barrier for financial services, like getting a bank account or a credit card. Chief strategy officer of Kiva, Matthew Davie, said, “Financial inclusion is a systemic problem. The underlying problem is the financial system is not built to be inclusive.” While Kiva is known for their microlending site kiva.org, which has enabled $1.5 billion USD of giving from one million lenders, Matthew shared the story of the nonprofit's newer offering Kiva Protocol. Kiva Protocol is an open source digital identify platform that can enable cheap, verifiable identity for everyone. The solution was implemented in Sierra Leone, which required almost no changes to their existing identify infrastructure. After the implementation, anyone could visit any financial institution in the country and prove their identity with a fingerprint.