Kiva vs Microplace

I was thinking of writing about this for quite a while. There are two nice write-ups which I will point to. One at NextBillion.net: Kiva vs. MicroPlace - What's the Difference? and the other at Microfinance Gateway: The buzz about online microlending. At the nextbillion.net, an Indian commenter Subhodip Dutta had written:

I am looking forward to launching an Indian specific P2P lending site which would be a mixture of all three sites prosper,kiva & microplace.Already in the process of coding and designing would really appreciate if any one guide or throw some more light on the regulatory licensing aspects of the business and other country specific government permissions. Suggestions from mentors are welcome.

In India, both Kiva and Microplace will run into rough weather with the authorities, in my opinion. Or alternately, the RBI and the Government may not mind Kiva model but may get antsy with the Microplace model. It may be possible to simply register a non-for-profit charity and set up a web site to run a Kiva type operation.

However, Microplace model seems to be interesting. It is a bit too early to say which will succeed. India is a large enough microfinance market where one can tap enough lenders and enough MFIs and enough borrowers, to sustain several Kiva and Microplace like operations simultaneously.