Progress toward women’s financial inclusion has been significant over the past decade; yet many financial institutions still face challenges in prioritizing, building products for, and ultimately reaching women customers. Many of the toughest barriers exist within financial institutions themselves. Here are the barriers we will explore in this blog post:
- lack of strategic focus on women customers
- lack of women in policy or financial institution leadership
- low digital capability within financial institutions
The foundational barrier: Lack of strategic focus on women customers
“There is a $700 billion missed revenue opportunity by not serving the financial needs of women.” – Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking
For many financial institutions, serving women customers is still not baked into the business strategy. Women’s World Banking’s research found a striking disconnect: nearly 80% of financial institutions surveyed claimed to have strategies for serving women, yet when asked what drives new product decisions, customer needs ranked last. Customer needs trail behind profit targets, regulatory mandates, and shareholder pressure. This gap between stated intent and actual prioritization indicates that many institutions still view the women’s segment as optional or “nice-to-have.”
So, why does the lack of focus persist, despite evidence that women are the largest market opportunity for financial institutions? One issue is data. The limited use of gender-disaggregated data (GDD) within financial institutions is a missed opportunity to assess this market opportunity and tailor financial product and service offerings to women’s needs. Our research found that while 67% collect GDD, only half of institutions use it for decision-making. Without hard numbers proving a return, executives fall back on assumptions that catering to women might be unprofitable or too niche.
However, there is much evidence that proves serving women customers is beyond CSR initiatives. Oliver Wyman’s 2020 report titled, “Women in Financial Services” estimates that financial institutions are missing at least $700 billion in annual revenue by failing to meet women’s financial needs. Women are often loyal customers and reliable borrowers, and institutions that have taken a gender-segmented approach have consistently demonstrated strong returns. Fintechs that design services for underserved groups are seeing rapid user and revenue growth. Sub-Saharan Africa leads this trend, with the highest proportions of fintechs serving MSMEs (62%), low-income customers (68%), and rural or remote populations (66%).
In short, making women a strategic priority pays off, but too few institutions have crossed that threshold. Two underlying factors help explain this: who is (or isn’t) sitting in leadership, and how well institutions reach women on the ground.
The leadership gap: Why women in the boardroom matters
Globally, women hold only 18% of C-suite roles in financial services, and fewer than 1 in 10 hold CEO or board positions in fintech firms. Women’s World Banking’s survey of financial services providers finds that fewer than 25% of institutions have women in C-Suite or senior management roles. Additionally, our research finds that gender imbalance at the top limits the diversity of perspectives shaping institutional strategies, product design, and service delivery, therefore, risking services designed by and for men, by default.
The business case for bringing more women into leadership is well-documented. Diverse leadership teams make better decisions and drive stronger performance. Companies with higher gender diversity are 21% more likely to outperform their competitors, and there is a 48% gap in profitability and revenue between the most and least gender-diverse firms.
“To develop products for women, you need to have women in the room.” – Senior male leader at an MFI, Nigeria
To be clear, having women in leadership is not the only avenue to addressing the women’s market; male champions can and do drive women-focused initiatives too. But the absence of women in decision-making roles often means there’s no one to consistently ask, “What about women customers?” or to push back when women’s programs risk being cut. It can also mean fewer mentors to support future women employees’ internal mobility and career growth within institutions. All of this contributes to (and stems from) the lack of strategic focus on women. Improving gender balance in leadership is therefore a key lever as it hardwires a diversity of thought that can help turn women’s financial inclusion from an afterthought into a strategic imperative. As a senior leader at a microfinance institution (MFI) in Nigeria shared with Women’s World Banking, “to develop products for women, you need to have women in the room.”
The technological gap: When institutions can’t keep up with their customers…
it makes it difficult to design, deploy, or scale innovative products that meet the specific needs of women customers. A 2025 survey of FSPs found that many institutions lack the financial capacity to modernize their systems or train staff to use digital tools effectively, leaving them ill-equipped to serve customers.
The lack of robust data systems makes it challenging to personalize services or identify unique women customers’ unmet financial needs. Women customers are affected when institutions can’t offer user-friendly platforms or reliable support through digital channels, leading to distrust in formal financial services.
Meanwhile, fintechs and big tech firms are filling the gap. Their digital-first models allow them to reach underserved segments more efficiently, offering intuitive interfaces and data-driven personalization. Traditional institutions risk falling behind unless they invest in digital transformation, not just in technology, but in the people and processes that support it. When institutions modernize with women in mind, they can deliver more inclusive, cost-effective, and resilient financial services that meet women where they are.
To learn more about Women’s World Banking’s research on barriers to women’s financial inclusion, stay tuned for the launch of the microsite coming at the end of March 2026. The microsite includes the full write-up and exemplars on barriers to women’s financial inclusion.
This research was made possible with funding from the Gates Foundation.
