Introducing One Daijo

The Future of Inclusive Finance

The Roots

Richard and I clearly remember the day when our mom received her first credit card. Richard was in elementary school and I was in middle school. We had prayed for it for months, asking God to give Mom this so-called ‘credit card.’ We didn’t quite understand what it was but judging by Mom’s persistent visits to various banks, we knew that it was something important. We accompanied her to many different banks, translating for her and pleading to the bank representatives to give Mom a chance. After all that effort, seeing Mom rejoice over a piece of plastic was quite … anticlimactic.

Little did we know then that that piece of plastic would play a key role in helping us sustain our livelihood. It allowed Mom to put food on the table when we were struggling to find cash. Credit meant the ability to buy books and school supplies so we could study and learn. It gave our family some breathing room and the opportunity to get back on our feet when times were tough.

Years later, we understood the many ways in which Mom’s first credit card helped us. It provided a starting point for Mom to build her credit history so that she could access other financial services. At the same time, we felt that there should be better ways for people like Mom, without prior credit history, to prove their creditworthiness and willingness to repay. It also didn’t feel right that those who need most help would end up with high interest rates, pushing them into a cycle of debt.

Inspired by our personal experiences, Richard and I, together with our One Daijo team, are building our first product — the Daijo Platform — a P2P lending platform on Ethereum that utilizes blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies as well as non-traditional methods of measuring creditworthiness to provide access to affordable loans to the underserved. We are envisioning a world where everyone has access to affordable financial products with one global digital credit identity that can grant access to financial services offered by any institution in the world.

We understand that affordable credit alone cannot fix poverty or financial instability. Richard and I are determined to include financial education for borrowers as a part of the Daijo Platform services so that they can make informed financial decisions. We also understand that life events happen that can knock you down. As we grow the Daijo Platform, we will always keep in mind that every user is a human with unique circumstances and not merely a number.

Cynthia’s Journey

Having witnessed the ties between race, poverty, and gender, I entered the University of Michigan to study Political Science and Asian Studies with a scholarship from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. During my undergraduate years, I developed a passion for understanding marriage migration from Southeast Asia to South Korea. With the support from the Political Science Department and Nam Center for Korean Studies, I went to South Korea to do my fieldwork, interviewing marriage migrants, most of whom were women from Southeast Asian countries. I worked with NGOs to fight for the migrants’ rights and support their integration into Korean society. There, I observed that one of the top reasons for martial conflicts was the husbands’ unwillingness to support their wives’ dreams for a job to attain a level of financial independence. I saw firsthand how financial empowerment directly impacts one’s social freedom and ability to lead a dignified life. Financial empowerment began to feel a lot like a human right.

In 2012, I went to Vietnam on a Fulbright fellowship to better understand the migration from the sending communities’ perspectives. Operating in rural villages of northern and southern Vietnam, I witnessed political and economic issues that hindered women from achieving their life aspirations, which contributed to their decision to marriage migrate to South Korea. Financial empowerment was strongly tied to social mobility and opportunities for people to create a life that they want.