 TITLE: Can a Lending Circle Help You Build Credit? CONTENT: Will All Lending Circles Help You Build Credit?\n-----------------------------------------------\nLending circles rely on community participation and informal arrangements, or formal commitments through organizations. But even if everyone makes their payments on time, a lending circle won't help participants build credit unless the loan and payments get reported to the credit bureaus.\nSome organizations that run lending circle programs have created official loan documents and established credit reporting systems. Participation in one of these lending circles may be able to help your credit.\nFor example, Mission Asset Fund (MAF), a nonprofit organization that helps facilitate lending circles, reports its lending circle loans to all three major bureaus—Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. It also partners with organizations across the country to help form and run lending circles.\nCircles organized by MAF generally consist of six to 12 participants and last six to 12 months, respectively, with monthly payments ranging from $50 to $200. Once the lending circle begins, MAF will report the installment loan and its details, along with your payments, to the credit bureaus.\nMAF doesn't charge interest or fees to participate in a lending circle. And you may qualify regardless of your credit history or score. However, the organization may consider your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) to ensure you'll be able to afford the payments. It might recommend other options, such as working with a financial counselor, if a lending circle doesn't seem workable right now.\nThere's also a lending circle option through the Esusu Savings app. Using the app, you may be able to create an Esusu savings group and invite participants. Esusu may report the payments to the credit bureaus if the circle lasts at least six months. It charges a $10 fee per each payment cycle, which is evenly split among participants. END