Shorten the "limbo period" before tied-up funds are released

[Guest]

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[Diane R]

As I understand it, there is currently a 3-hour timer after which any loans you've committed to but haven't checked out will be released so others can consider funding them. I've noticed that this often ties up the last $X of needed funding for a loan for the full several hours, then BOOM! all of a sudden there's $150 or $200 still needed to complete funding. (It almost seems to me that someone goes around the site adding pretend-$200 to as many loans as they can, and then walks away, letting them languish seemingly completed but in the "Raised so far" state, until the timer goes off three hours later.)

It would seem to me that someone who was legitimately funding a loan would do so within one hour. If there is no other legitimate reason to keep the release time at 3 hours, perhaps you could consider reducing it down to a single hour. I think a lot of loans would fund faster that way.

Thanks for considering this.

--Diane.

[Kay]

I honestly didn't know about a 3-hour "timer," because in the past, on occasion I have had loans dumped out of my basket faster than I could decide whether to complete the transactions or not--not after 3 hours, but perhaps after 20 minutes--when I had quite a number of loans in my basket (only $25 each) that otherwise would have been fully-funded had I not put them in my basket.  Admittedly, that has not happened to me lately, however.

(Sometimes, I have inadvertently lost loans, too, when I had to restart my computer and they disappeared from my basket--yet I could "see" they were still "tied up!")

That said, I am sometimes frustrated, also, by loans--sometimes hundreds of dollars, apparently--tied up in baskets seemingly for hours, but I would still tend to argue for a liberal window during which loans are kept in baskets, because sometimes one has to deal with a shared computer (I know) and/or other obligations/distractions.

[Wood Fairy Glenda]

       I don't have any trouble with my PayPal account anymore, but the very first time I attempted to lend money to a Kiva applicant, I was extremely frustrated because nothing happened.  Turns out that PayPal had the wrong credit card number for me in my files - an old one.  I had changed the number because I had lost this card.  Before Kiva (BK? ) I didn't understand and was afraid to use PayPal; only my husband had used it.
       At any rate, during the period of confusion, before I straightened out the account (it was a Sunday), my first attempt at a Kiva loan was "in the basket" for a long, long time before it finally "timed out" and I lost the opportunity.  I almost gave up completely, being a clueless non-computer type, but by then I was already a Kiva addict, albeit a very, very frustrated one.
       Just wanted to point out that would-be lenders with loans "in the basket" might not "have cold feet" over finishing the transaction but rather be having some sort of technical (or technologically-impaired! ) problem.

[Diane R]

I absolutely do understand these frustrations and time-stealers, don't get me wrong!  I'm just arguing for a shorter-than-3-hours window; if an hour is too short, maybe 90 minutes.  (And I did hear the "3-hour window" number from someone at Kiva in an email, so that's apparently what it's "supposed" to be.)

--Diane.

[Kay]

Diane,

I can certainly understand your frustration at wanting to take a loan to the "next level" (fully-funded)--I feel the same way.  However, given the leisurely pace (as I would characterize it) at which most MFIs disburse their loans, I don't think 3 hours, or even multiples of 3 hours, will make that much difference to anyone in the long run!

That said, how would you feel about 2 hours (as if it were my decision to make)?

Kay

[AccountAbility]

If I get Diane's concern correctly, it's not the legitimate delays that concern her as much as the possibility of abuse by people who simple put loans in their basket and then leave.  I wonder if Kiva and/or PayPal would have a way of monitoring repeat offenders.  I think it happens to all of us on occasion, but repeat abusers could really muck up the works.

[Diane R]

Yes, I am seeing more of what I take to be "grab and go but don't finish" actions lately; no telling if they're intentional, but sometimes these limbo amounts are pretty big, which makes me think legitimate lenders would be less likely to just forget about the loan being in their baskets. Maybe there really is no way to stop such a thing; my thought was that a shorter time interval might at least open the loan faster for legitimate lenders.  But I hear Kay's concern that there may be enough reason to leave it at 3 hours, and of course in the long run it matters not at all for the recipients, who have to wait until the MFI gets around to disbursing (unless their MFI is Prisma ).

So while I'd love to see cheaters have less of an effect, I wouldn't want to inconvenience legitimate lenders with technical problems (or, as in my case sometimes, a "senior moment" ). I'd happily go for 2 hours, down from 3, though. 

--Diane.

[Henry]

so far of my 20 loans, all but two are on individual purchases, since pay pal doesn't charge me extra I decided to make them each individual, then i've attached the email to the loan in my database.  (you'd think i have nothing better in life to do!) HA!
For me, I see no reason a longer period might be required.  Well, I take that back, if your a shopper such as my mother who picks up 10 items at a store, then finally decides on which two or three to buy, yeah, If she were a kivan that might be a problem.
Regardless, I hope no one who is here in KIVA Friends ever misses a loan they really want in on!!! 
pssst, those who aren't kivafriends!!! get seconds! HA!

hmmm, kiva loan swapping, like baseball cards....could it be done? got any 'lemon picklers'?

[Kay]

Diane,

Yesterday, I actually had to wait about 13 hours (kept checking) to "retrieve" a loan that I had "lost" when my husband restarted the computer--so I "feel your pain!"

Kay

[Kay]

Diane,

Just as a follow-up, I remember noting in the past (though I haven't paid too much attention to this lately) that loan baskets would tend to "fill up" whenever a loan was the "featured business" on Kiva's homepage, or one of the "more businesses" on the homepage.  I assume this is where most prospective new lenders "start," so maybe some (though not all, I'm sure) filled baskets are part of the price we pay for attracting new Kiva lenders--whom we hope will eventually complete the transactions, of course!

Kay