eBay Enters Microfinance, Part 1 of 5: Leaving the Dangerous Work to the Little Guys

eBay, the online marketplace, recently announced (or was it a public relations miscue?), that it has bought MicroPlace, an on-line marketplace for microfinance securities. According to news service Auctionbytes.com, Gary Briggs, eBay’s chief marketing officer in answer to a question from the audience let slip that MicroPlace is “a group that we purchased that is making microfinance loans available to the developing world in particular, and we think- particularly as it relates to PayPal- that we think that’s a great thing to be able to do for the global community.”