"It's a great twist on giving- You do good and can get your money back- how cool!  Plus if you give it to a friend it's like a gift voucher but they can
spend it anywhere they like! A real win-win."
 

If you'd like to buy a MicroBond or
want more info about it please email
rita@bindibazar.co.uk

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What is the MicroBond?

It's an idea my son Neil had of combining Micro Finance and Gift Vouchers! Micro finance provides loans to very poor people in the developing world. These poor people have no assets and can't access banks or borrow from them.
With the MicroBond you can invest as much as you'd like, from as little £5 upwards, and buy as many MicroBonds as you want.
The MicroBonds can be redeemed 1 to 3 years from their purchase.


How does the MicroBond work?

The money you invest in the MicroBond is used by Sulaxmi Microfinance in India (www.sulaxmi.com) to create micro finance loans.
Sulaxmi provide micro loans to very poor women in India to gain freedom and escape poverty by starting small businesses.
Click here for examples of successful Sulaxmi micro finance loans.

You can redeem all the money you invested in your MicroBond at a set date in the future, either 1, 2 or 3 years from the date you invested in your MicroBond. You may also receive some of the potential profits from the micro loans when you redeem your MicroBond.
Another feature of your MicroBond is that you can give it to a loved one or friend as a gift!
If you give it to someone as a gift they can redeem the MicroBond and use the money.

On the right is a diagram of how the MicroBond works and why it's different to a donation.

If you didn't use the MicroBond and just donated your £5 to a charity or even donated it to a micro finance organisation like Sulaxmi, you would miss out on step 4 and not get your money back.

By using the MicroBond you have the benefit of getting your money back and you still help the poor via micro finance.
 

Why is the MicroBond a unique idea?

We all support charities and micro finance is another way of helping the poor. The MicroBond is unique as you make the world a better place, as you would giving to charity, but and here's the clever bit- you get all your money back. Plus you might even get a return on it.
Therefore you make a difference and it didn't cost you anything- you might even make some money in return for your investment!
Plus by investing in the MicroBond you create a valuable asset which you can keep or give as a gift.
 

If it's such a good thing why aren't we already doing it?

Right now funding micro finance is something only large investors can do because micro finance organisations in developing countries can only effectively deal with a few large investors, not many small ones like you & me.

I want to change this via the idea of the MicroBond.
The MicroBond allows us, as individuals, to invest an amount we can afford. Through the MicroBonds we can combine our funds so that the micro finance organisation can effectively use our money.
Again by investing in the MicroBond you also create a valuable asset which you can keep or give as a gift.

MicroBond Terms:

1. The minimum you can invest per MicroBond is £5

2. You can chose for your MicroBond to be redeemed in 1, 2 or 3 years.
(The longer the better as this means more micro loans can be created
from your MicroBond.)

If you'd like to buy a MicroBond or want more info about it please email rit@bindibazar.co.uk

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2. Your £5 is given to Sulaxmi and they use it to generate micro loans over the 2 years

4. At the end of
2 years you can redeem your £5 + a part of any potential return/profit

3. These micro
loans help
women start
businesses and generate an income to pay back their micro loans