Kiva MFI Checker

Update: 2011-01-03

The Kiva MFI Checker has been around so long it deserves a preamble. Originally conceptualized and created by Chris Means, of our team, it was a Firefox Add-on that allowed you to flag MFIs when viewing Kiva lending search results on the classic/old version of the Kiva lend page. Support for that Firefox Add-on is discontinued. A new slicker version of the Kiva MFI Checker has been created as a Greasemonkey script. If you don't know what Greasemonkey is, don't worry, there's instructions below on how to install everything.

Meanwhile, as all that has occured on the Firefox front, another teammate of ours Radu has created the Kiva MFI Highlighter which is a Google Chrome extension that visually looks and works like a clone of the original Kiva MFI Checker created by Chris Means. If you still miss the old Kiva MFI Checker then follow the instructions below to get everything working in Google Chrome.

The Kiva MFI Checker is now coded to pull from three (3) managed lists of MFIs. One is a list of religious MFIs, the second is a list of secular social MFIs "the do gooders" and the last list is one for MFIs that don't expose a lender to currency risk. The lists can be set as blacklists or whitelists. You can add new Google Spreadsheets as a source list of MFIs. However, that requires some JavaScript programming knowledge. For beginners, the three most popular lists are included by default.

The MFI Highlighter on the other hand is still maintained using your own custom list and that list can act either as a blacklist or a whitelist. These tools are in wide use amongst Kiva Lenders not just members of our own team.

Here is a screenshot of what the results look like when using the Kiva MFI Checker:

(the loan with the black background is flagged because it's a Religious MFI and I selected the Religious MFI list)

This brings one issue to the forefront how do we know if an MFI is religious or not? How do we know if an MFI carries a currency risk?

To determine if a loan/MFI has a currency risk you just need to view the loan and go to the "About The Loan" section and there is a convenient field that lets you know if a corresponding MFI has an associated currency risk.
See this screenshot:



To determine if an MFI is religious or secular there is no easy convenient way to know for sure. Each MFI description must be read and the corresponding MFI website (if any) must be thoroughly researched. In certain cases it can be difficult to make a determination. It would be nice if Kiva (when they have time, as it's not priority #1) could make a new field (or checkbox) where an MFI administrator labels themselves as religious or secular.

Firefox Instructions:
For those who wish to use the Kiva MFI Checker here are some instructions:

1) You must be using Firefox available at:

http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
2) Install the Greasemonkey Firefox Add-On, click here.
3) Install the Kiva MFI Checker script (currently at version 0.62). You can find it here:

http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/86187

4) Go to the Kiva.org Lend page, and you'll see a new "green bar" at the top of the page (just above the loan listings). The script defaults to the Religous list (as a Black-list), you can change it to use any preconfigured list (currently Currency Risk Sharing, and Social lists are also available), or if you only want to loan to Religous MFIs, make it a White-list.

Update 2010-12-05: Google Chrome Instructions
Radu from our team has created an extension for Google Chrome called the Kiva MFI Highlighter.

Instructions for Google Chrome Kiva MFI Highlighter extension:
1) You must be using Google Chrome available at:
http://www.google.com/chrome
2) Install the Kiva MFI Highlighter found here
3) Open the Chrome menu and go to Tools -> Extensions
4) Click "Options" under the Kiva MFI Highlighter for Chrome
5) Click on the appropriate field partner name and click the Append button. Alternatively, you can copy and paste a list of MFIs. I have provided the list of Christian MFIs below.
6) Go to http://www.kiva.org/lend you will see the name of the MFI highlight if it's in the list.



Here is the list of Religious MFIs:




By Peter

Update: Updated the MFI list on August 16, 2009. Thanks again Chris ;)

Update: Updated the MFI list on August 18, 2009. Added: CREDIT, a partner of World Relief

Update: Changed Gata Daku Multi-purpose Cooperative to Gata Daku Multi-purpose Cooperative (GDMPC) on October 10th, 2009

Update: Modified Religious MFI list to load from a Google Spreadsheet and added Pearl Microfinance Limited on October 17th, 2009

Update: Added "Fundacion D-MIRO Mision Alianza" to the list on November 22nd, 2009

Update: Added "Faulu Kenya" to the list on November 29th, 2009

Update: 2010-02-05 Caurie (MFI ID 105) changed to uppercase, Dinari (MFI ID 82) changed to MUK

Update: 2010-03-04 Added "Fundacion Realidad A.C (FRAC), a partner of World Vision International" (MFI ID 130) and "HOFOKAM Ltd., a partner of Catholic Relief Services" (MFI ID 163)

Update: 2010-06-20 Added "Urwego Opportunity Bank of Rwanda (UOB), a partner of World Relief, HOPE International, and Opportunity International" (MFI ID 161) and "Amasezerano Community Banking S.A." (MFI ID 170) and "AREGAK Unversal Credit Organization" (MFI ID 152) and "Turame Community Finance, a partner of World Relief and HOPE International (Burundi)" (MFI ID 162)

Update: 2010-06-23 Added "Paglaum Multi-Purpose Cooperative (PMPC)" (MFI ID 126)

Update: 2010-10-31 Updated name for MFI ID 138