Backfill - should this term be used on Kiva loan pages?

[Guest]

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[closermann]

Just a small question. Does anyone else have trouble relating to the word "backfill" in the new format?

[Sengbe Pieh]

backfill
 - 2 dictionary results

back⋅fill    [bak-fil]
–noun
1.    material used for refilling an excavation.
–verb (used with object)
2.    to refill (an excavation).

back·fill    (bāk'fĭl')   
n.  Material used to refill an excavated area.
tr.v.   back·filled, back·fill·ing, back·fills
To refill (an excavated area) with such material.
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/backfill
      

[AccountAbility]

I emailed Kiva:

Dear Kiva -  I think you have outdone yourselves in coming up with the most awkward wording.  "Backfill" is foreign to any lending vocabulary and actually raises more questions than it answers.  It makes you look like amateurs in the business and seriously erodes your credibility.  At least the "Pre-disbursal" sentence covers the essence.

Also, the new layout of details arrayed across the top is much more difficult to scan quickly than the previous righthand margin.  I hope this is just another one of those "let's try it out" phases.
Dan

[David2051]

I emailed Kiva:

Dear Kiva -  I think you have outdone yourselves in coming up with the most awkward wording.  "Backfill" is foreign to any lending vocabulary and actually raises more questions than it answers.  It makes you look like amateurs in the business and seriously erodes your credibility.  At least the "Pre-disbursal" sentence covers the essence.

Also, the new layout of details arrayed across the top is much more difficult to scan quickly than the previous righthand margin.  I hope this is just another one of those "let's try it out" phases.
Dan

Thanks Dan!  But, was there any credibility before?   

Kiva really needs to slow down, stop panicking and start thinking more before acting stupid.  Acting stupid in full public view __ on the website __ on conference calls __ on Twitter (check all that apply) is not a good thing to do. (over and over again...) 

 

[DoubleR]

Kiva really needs to slow down, stop panicking and start thinking more before acting stupid.  Acting stupid in full public view __ on the website __ on conference calls __ on Twitter (check all that apply) is not a good thing to do. (over and over again...) 

Like any public organization, Kiva won't be able to make everyone happy.  While some people say they are going too fast, others will think they are going too slow and not taking enough action.

The same thing happened with the US loans.  Kiva began offering US loans in response to lenders who wanted to see that option available, only to stir up reactions from lenders on the other side of the issue who did not want to see that happen.

What we need to be careful about here on the KF forum (mainly as a reminder to myself) is not to engage in Groupthink.  I do hope that I express my thoughts and opinions about the Kiva lending experience without proposing to speak on behalf of anyone else.  I know that we KF's are an active group (which probably in of itself is outside the norm), but I don't think we'll ever know if we are representative of other lenders or just the most vocal of the bunch.

Matt Flannery was very open about the early challenges and missteps of the organization in this article:
http://media.kiva.org/INNOV-SKOLL-2009_flannery.pdf

I would like to see Matt do a follow-up piece within the next year to get his perspective of new lessons learned.  Although highly unlikely, I would also hope that the NYT follow-up on their narrowly focused piece (my opinion) to examine the actions Kiva has taken in response to their first article.  At least David Roodman had the decency to follow-up on his original blog entry to clarify some misconceptions and even commend Kiva on some of the things they were doing right.

I agree that some of Matt's recents tweets were ill-advised, but I don't view this recent site change to the loan description format qualifies as "acting stupid". I view this as a step in the right direction that still requires some fine-tuning.

Regards,
Ronan

[DoubleR]

back⋅fill    [bak-fil]

–verb (used with object)
2.    to refill (an excavation).

Thanks Geoff for providing the exact definition.

Even if "backfill" is being used in the proper context, the object being backfilled is not the loan but the Field Partner's reserves.  Perhaps a better way of saying it is "Your funds will be used to assume the risk of this loan.  Repayments on this loan will go to you."

I sense the intent, but the verbiage needs some tweaking to paint the most accurate picture.

Regards,
Ronan

[David2051]

Thanks Geoff for providing the exact definition.

Even if "backfill" is being used in the proper context, the object being backfilled is not the loan but the Field Partner's reserves.  Perhaps a better way of saying it is "Your funds will be used to assume the risk of this loan.  Repayments on this loan will go to you."

I sense the intent, but the verbiage needs some tweaking to paint the most accurate picture.

Regards,
Ronan

The backfill wording is now enshrined in the Terms of Use! 

http://www.kiva.org/about/termsOfUse

Funds loaned Any Loan made  by you, the or any other Lender, will be delivered disbursed to Field Partners for ultimate disbursement to, or backfilling of loans to, the each  Borrower(s) you have selected. A Field Partner may voluntarily choose to pre-fund your Borrower in the short-term from its own funds in anticipation for receipt of receiving your a Loan as backfill.

It seems to me that we are purchasing a share of the loan from the MFI, but maybe that language is not widely understood outside of financial institutions?

[David2051]

I agree that some of Matt's recents tweets were ill-advised, but I don't view this recent site change to the loan description format qualifies as "acting stupid". I view this as a step in the right direction that still requires some fine-tuning.

I think it is extremely ill-advised for a financial institution to splat changes into production without adequate QA and beta testing procedures in place. 

I think it is easier for a financial institution to retain the confidence of their client/investor/depositors by well thought out and executed changes than it is to regain that confidence once it is lost through haphazard panic-mode changes like we have seen from Kiva.

[Jill]

Backfilling….

Were the truth told, until I saw the posts and then, Kiva’s attempt at clarifying what, exactly, it is that we lenders, in fact, are doing, the only backfilling I’d ever known about was the kind exemplified in the pics, below.  And I wouldn’t even have known about that kind of backfilling had I not actually had the experience of watching it being done here at Splashdown, where I am graced to be able to live.  My guess is that most people, especially city people, wouldn't have even a clue of what backfill in Kiva's context was intended to convey.

For amusement’s sake, the first of the three pictures I'm posting here is entitled, “Backfill arrives.”  Because of the angle in which the photo was shot, you can't see into the cab of the truck so that it’s difficult to identify which particular Kiva lender was actually completing this specific loan.


While my inclination, as often, is to be a little silly about stuff like this and also, to shake my head in wonder that all these Kiva “improvements,” for some odd reason, too often strike many of us as anything but, (improvements, that is), I do want to say that in this particular case, even though the the efforts seem a bit misbegotten, read, “out there,” from my perspective, at least the Kiva people were/are trying.   


They’ve gotten a lot of grief for not being, at least, ostensibly, a hundred per cent transparent or up front about where lenders come in so far as the role that they/that we play in the Kiva transactions.  This backfill silliness, though a little inept from some of our perspectives, at least seems to be an indication of their goodwill and their intent to try to be as open as possible.  I wanted to give them credit, at least, for trying, so, here's me giving them credit for that.
Jill

[alan]

I'm with Ronan and Jill. The term "backfill" is decidedly infelicitous. (It sounds rather like something one ought to do in maintenance of a backhouse.) But the attempt to present lenders with a clearer picture is commendable.