Architecting inclusive
finance ecosystems.
Defy Consortium designs national inclusive finance ecosystems. We deliver the infrastructure each one needs, then hand it over to the state. Local providers serve the market.
Why we exist.
“Inclusion cannot wait for the market to fix itself.”
For decades, inclusion has been pursued one product and one pilot at a time. Accounts are opened, but access does not bring lasting use. The effort is real. What is missing is a system designed around the people it excludes.
We design that system first. Policy, infrastructure, providers and safeguards are built to work together, in each country that invites us.
An inclusive finance market in every country that sustains itself. Providers serve excluded people at scale, and people can choose and switch between them.
Defiant for Good®. We challenge the belief that underserved people cannot be served profitably.
Build the system first.
Financial inclusion is a market failure. A lack of foundational infrastructure, misaligned incentives and weak coordination keep it in place.
Economic bias
Underserved customers look unprofitable because of legacy costs and risk models, not because of who they are.
Pilots without scale
Programmes stay isolated experiments and never reach the scale that changes a market.
Uncoordinated action
Public and private initiatives run in silos and duplicate each other’s work.
No national operating model
Nothing connects policy intent to the infrastructure and the adoption that should follow.
We address the four roots together. A national framework turns strategy into coordinated action. A dedicated regulation sets the conditions and safeguards under which inclusive finance service providers serve excluded people. Digital public-private infrastructure turns the framework into common rules, trust and evidence. Data and capability-building connect policy to real outcomes.
Our role in each ecosystem.
Align the ecosystem
We bring public and private players to common recommendations and a systemic approach to inclusion.
Co-design national frameworks
We run policy clinics with regulators to build each country’s national inclusive finance framework.
Set governance and standards
We align regulatory approaches, technical standards and coordination mechanisms across all actors.
Build and transfer infrastructure
We design digital public-private infrastructure with regulators. They validate everything built on it, including the services. We operate it for a limited period, then transfer it to the state.
Orchestrate ecosystem programmes
With our partners, we co-design the programmes that nurture each ecosystem and help its providers and ventures emerge.
What we will not do.
We do not provide financial services.
No lending, no deposits, no regulated products for consumers.
We do not compete with local providers.
We help the providers of each market grow and never take their place.
We do not capture what we build.
Policy design stays with the state. Infrastructure belongs to the country after transfer.
We do not lock anyone in.
Every authorised participant operates on the infrastructure on equal terms.
One group, three roles.
Defy Consortium
The ecosystem architect. It orchestrates each national ecosystem on the mandate of its partners.
Defy Ventures
The venture builder. It builds components the infrastructure is missing, such as interoperable APIs, SDKs and managed services. Regulators decide whether its solutions are used.
Defy Institute
The research and design arm. It maps the drivers of exclusion, designs services with the people concerned and runs inclusive finance programmes. The Consortium calls on it where a pilot needs it.
The people behind Defy.
Isabelle Lessedjina
Chair
Eelee Lua
Founder
Sebastien Picard
Founder
Julia Chin
Advisor
Making the case, in the room.
Keynotes, panels and roundtables where we argue for inclusive finance designed as a system.
Design the next market with us.
Governments, regulators and international agencies can propose a national pilot. Industry players can join as members.