CSR Press Release

San Jose, CA - October 27, 2008 - MicroPlace.com

Through MicroPlace (www.microplace.com/gift), everyday Americans can invest as little as $20, and designate their investments "in honor of" friends or loved ones. The honoree will receive a hand-crafted Chilean artisan piggy bank to help them save for their own microfinance investment. Best of all, a hardworking poor person will receive a loan that can change his or her life.

"The best gifts are the ones that both feel good and do good all year long," said Ashwini Narayanan, general manager of MicroPlace. "$20 is all it takes to begin to enable a hard working poor person to take a loan and start a vegetable stand. Before you know it, she is earning enough income to support her family and send her kids to school."

While economic times are tight, a microfinance investment is an affordable way to do good this holiday season. "It's like recycling," adds Narayanan. Because investments on MicroPlace are returned to the investor with interest, people can invest the same dollars over and over again. Therefore there is no limit to the number of poor people who can escape poverty.

Gifts of Change allows everyone to feel good, from the borrower who can escape poverty, to the investor who earns a modest return, to loved ones who experience the power of microfinance to change the world. It gives people an alternative to excessive holiday spending in favor of a uniquely meaningful gift.

How Gifts of Change Works

Starting October 27, anyone can log onto www.microplace.com/gift and make a microfinance investment in honor of friends and family. When a user invests at least $20 in honor of a loved one, the honoree will receive a hand-crafted Chilean artisan piggy bank with a personalized card, educating them about the power of microfinance and encouraging them to save for their own investment, to extend the positive cycle of alleviating poverty.

In addition, both investors and honorees can add an online badge to their social networking pages showing others how to give a good gift for the holidays. Investors can send a gift card to let friends and family know about the investment made in their honor.

The MicroPlace gifting program for the holidays helps people connect friends and family to the power of microfinance and take part in addressing an important social issue. According to The World Bank1, 1.2 billion people subsist on less than $1/day. Around the world, 100 million hardworking poor entrepreneurs have benefited from microfinance while nearly 1 billion could benefit if given the opportunity. Every investment through MicroPlace takes a step toward meeting that need.

About MicroPlace

MicroPlace

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