eBay has launched a microlending website that lets people invest in entrepreneurs in poor communities around the world and get a return on their money.

Microplace.com offers investors profits for funding folks trying to build better lives, said founder Tracey Turner.

"You are actually investing in the world's working poor," said Turner. "And for the first time you get a return on investment. You can take the profit and invest in more people in a virtuous cycle."

Website visitors can browse investors by country, seeing pictures of people seeking loans and reading about their business goals.

MicroPlace connects investors with micro-finance organisations in the various countries. It scrutinises the organisations to check their legitimacy.

"Our job is to vet," Turner said. "We do a lot of research." Turner said rates of return are modest but that investors at the website see value in addressing global poverty. Lenders shoulder the risk that loans will not be repaid.

"The eye-opening thing for everyone is that repayment rates by the working poor remain unbelievably high, north of 98 percent," Turner said.

MicroPlace gets fees from microfinance organisations that get money through the website. Money is moved through online financial-transactions firm PayPal, which eBay owns.