May 27, 2026

The Loan Loss Reserve

"We are not building this for the field. We are building it with the field." Mũthoni Kiarie, Co-founder and Executive Director, Zult Impact

We are building shared infrastructure, available to the whole field, that solves the capital recycling problem at the root.

Protocol Research Framework

The Foundation

Loan Loss Reserve

A first-loss layer that sits behind a CDFI’s lending portfolio and absorbs concentration risk. The reserve is never lent out, it is what gives institutional capital the confidence to participate alongside community lenders.

The Connection

Liquidity Bridge

Today, CDFI capital sits locked in lending portfolios for three to five years before loan paydown frees it to lend again. The Liquidity Bridge connects participating CDFIs to a secondary market for community lending portfolios, built on open, compliant infrastructure, making loan pools transferable, transparent, and accessible to institutional capital.

Mastercard Strive USA is backing this work.

We are proud to announce that Mastercard Strive USA has awarded Zult Impact a grant through the Mastercard Strive USA Innovation Fund to advance the CDFI Gateway Program. This is more than a funding milestone, it is a signal that the private sector recognizes the need for open infrastructure that can change how community capital moves at scale.

How we are putting it to work

  1. 1

    Capitalise the Loan Loss Reserve: Standing up the first-loss layer that gives institutional capital the confidence to participate.

  2. 2

    Recruit the founding cohort: Onboarding  pilot CDFIs who will shape the program alongside us, not simply adopt what was built without them.

  3. 3

    Wire the system end-to-end: Wiring the Loan Loss Reserve and the Liquidity Bridge to function as a single pathway for participating CDFIs, from loan origination to capital return.

  4. 4

    Publish openly: Releasing the loan loss reserve governance framework, the impact measurement methodology, and CDFI integration frameworks under Apache 2.0 licensing so any of the 1,400+ community lenders in the field can adopt them.

 

Join the founding cohort.

This is just the beginning. Whether you are a CDFI, a foundation, or an ecosystem partner who believes in open infrastructure for community finance, we want to hear from you.

Get in touch