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FAQ

Q:  What is microcredit?

A: Microcredit is a small business loan made to an entrepreneurial person not served by banks because of her or his poverty and lack of collateral.

Q:  What is micro-enterprise development?

A: Micro-enterprise development is a program that provides microloans to poor entrepreneurs along with basic business training, mentoring, financial planning, and leadership development.  It also includes financial services such as savings, insurance, and remittances.

Q:  What is a Trust Group/ Community Banking Group?

A: A Trust Group/Community Banking Group is a group of typically 15 to 60 entrepreneurs, mainly women, who co-guarantee each other’s loans in order to start small businesses.  Clients can bring others with them to join a group, or they can simply join a group in a location near their businesses.  UOB loan officers conduct a 4 week orientation during which time group members get to know each other and are able to gauge each other’s characteristics.  After the orientation the members in the group provide a social guarantee for each other’s loans.  This means that if one member of the group cannot meet her or his payment one week other members of the group will cover the missed payment.  The Trust Group/Community Banking Group is a channel for members to share their experiences, build friendships, and provide support for one another.  Members of Trust Groups/Community Banking Groups have found this cooperative environment helpful in learning new ways to promote their individual businesses.

Q:  What kind of businesses do your clients operate?

A: UOB’s clients fall into three categories, each with rather distinct economic needs.  The first category, the working and laboring poor, is involved in businesses such as subsistence farming, fishing,and selling basic goods or food out of their home or on the street.  The second category, the self-employed poor, comprises the majority of the manufacturing and service sectors of the informal economy.  They operate home-based commercial and production businesses and sometimes small shops.  The third group, the entrepreneurial poor, operates larger businesses that create jobs in the community.

Q:  How many clients does UOB serve?  How many branches does UOB operate?

A: We are proud to serve over 97,000* clients with microloans and savings products.  UOB has an operational presence in all 30 districts of Rwanda, as well as eight deposit-taking branches.  Four are located in the capital of Kigali and one recently opened in Musanze (February 2011).  We hope to continue expanding our product offerings and branch locations to better serve the economically-active poor in Rwanda with financial services and related training.

*All numbers and figures as of April 30, 2011

Q:  Do your clients have a good record of repaying their loans?

A: Yes, our clients have maintained an average repayment rate of more than 98* percent.

*All numbers and figures as of April 30, 2011

Q:  Do you charge interest?

A: Yes.  The money earned from the interest goes to cover UOB’s costs and sustain its operations.  This ensures that the loan capital is maintained to benefit the community for generations.  Experience with lending to the poor has shown that they can afford market interest rates when other lending terms are favorable.  Often their only other means of obtaining credit is through loan sharks who may charge as much as 500-1000 percent in annual interest rates.

Because we travel to our clients homes and offer them training and educational services free of charge our operation costs escalate.  The interest rate is fair and necessary to cover our expenses as well as to promote our growth and sustainability.  UOB strives to be a financially sustainable institution, fully supported by clients capital rather than donor support.  With continued client and product expansion our objective is to lower the interest rate.

Q:  What motivates your work?

A: We are motivated by Jesus Christ’s call to serve the poor, and we wish to provide a tangible sign of God’s love to all people.  We, therefore, actively seek to make our services available to all people regardless of their gender, creed, ethnic background, or marital status.  We welcome clients and donors of all beliefs.

Our Christian grounding, leads us to recognize the importance of social and spiritual transformation in addition to economic transformation.  As part of the Opportunity International Network we work with partner organizations whose board and staff members share our motivation and ethics.

Q:  What makes UOB different?  Why should I borrow or save with you?

A: Our mission to serve economically-active market people and micro-entrepreneurs is what makes us different.  Our products are designed to be easily opened and maintained with little hassle, complication, or confusion.  Our banking and identification technology saves time and expense that you might ordinarily spend trying to open an account and access your funds with other banks.  Additionally, UOB has sought to make the terms of its products suit the needs of its clients with increasing flexibility.  For example, UOB’s Teganya savings account has no minimum opening balance or minimum maintaining balance, and the Ikaze current account has unlimited withdrawals.  Our variety of group loans allow our clients to access capital without collateral, while also experiencing the benefits of a social guarantee, shared knowledge and experience, and deeper connections to their communities.

Most importantly, our mission is to holistically transform the lives of our clients.  Our staff is committed to help you obtain and manage financial resources to improve all aspects of life for both you and your family.

You should borrow and save with us because honesty and integrity are the principles we promote.  We are a large institution from an established international network, hence your money is very safe with us.

Q:  Is it difficult to take out a loan or to open an account?

A: It is not difficult to take out a loan or to open an account with UOB.  We have designed each of our loan products to be as simple to open and operate as possible.  With UOB’s identification technology and helpful loan officers, opening an account is easy.  Simply bring your national ID.  Please see our product offerings for more detailed descriptions and conditions of each.

Q:  What documents are needed to take out a loan or to open an account?

A: The documents needed to take out a loan or open an account will vary based on the product, but you must bring a form of identification, such as your national ID card.  Please see our individual product offerings for more conditions of each.