Well, there's a difference between asset-poor and cashflow-poor. You might have a couple of valuables accumulated over generations - watches, silverware, etc. a

Well, there's a difference between asset-poor and cashflow-poor. You might have a couple of valuables accumulated over generations - watches, silverware, etc. are good examples - but not liquid cash. Even in modern times, there are plenty of people with a small and perhaps negative net worth but who own a mortgaged house, and taking out a loan using that house as collateral is common. Also, because it gives loans to be repaid within a year, you'd better have an immediate plan of how to earn the money back. I bet this was more useful for, say, small-time merchants who needed to do repairs or get a pack animal or something, and not for the destitute who needed alms.