The world has seen significant progress in financial access, with 79% of adults having access to an account at a bank or similar financial institution. The 2025 Global Findex attributes much of this progress to increased access to mobile technology, including mobile phone ownership and internet use, with 86% of adults globally now owning a mobile phone. However, despite the progress, have we truly reached the “last mile” for women?
In many communities, the answer is not quite yet. Even as financial institutions roll out new products and services, basic access remains a hurdle. For a woman in a remote village or island, the nearest bank or ATM might be hours away. In this blog post, we unpack some of the digital and infrastructure barriers to serving women customers to address the “last mile” question of access to finance.
The long walk to access
In Nigeria, 47% of unbanked adults cite distance to a financial institution as a key reason for not having an account. Our research found that more than a quarter of financial services providers (FSPs) identified geographic proximity as a significant barrier to serving women customers.
In other words, FSPs understand that distance is a barrier to women’s financial inclusion, but most see the solution (expanding physical presence) as costly and challenging. This gap between recognition and action helps explain why distance remains a problem even in recent times. The data on the ground explains the scale. In India, an estimated 52% of the rural population lives more than five kilometers from the nearest bank branch or agent. And in parts of Kenya, women may have to travel an hour or more to reach a banking point, according to our interview with a senior leader at a commercial bank in Kenya.
For decades, financial institutions have tested various approaches to close the “last mile” access gap. In Pakistan, Women’s World Banking partnered with JazzCash to expand branchless banking through female agents. At the outset, the vast majority of agents were men, which made many women customers uncomfortable and limited uptake. By recruiting local women shopkeepers as agents through the “Guddi Baji” program, the initiative created a more trusted and accessible channel for women. Over an eight-month pilot, female agents registered 566 new customers, 42% of whom were women, significantly increasing women’s participation compared to previous agent models.
Increasing the number of women banking agents is crucial for reaching women customers. Beyond improving service accessibility for women and men customers, a stronger presence of female agents can open new business opportunities for financial institutions while creating meaningful career pathways for women in the sector.
The hidden cost of connectivity
Across LMICs, 350 million people still live in areas without mobile internet coverage, and women are 15% less likely than men to use mobile internet. Even when women live within reach of a mobile network, the promise of digital financial services often remains out of reach.
Globally, mobile phone ownership is high, but mobile internet affordability remains out of reach for many women, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). According to GSMA, the cost of an entry-level internet-enabled handset is 23% of a woman’s monthly income, compared to just 12% for men. Cost is not just about devices and data–it’s about access to opportunity. Mobile internet is a crucial enabler of women’s financial inclusion, unlocking mobile banking, digital payments, e-commerce, and financial education. When women can’t afford to stay connected or rely on digital channels, they revert to cash, missing out on the convenience, security, and benefits of formal financial services. A 2025 survey of financial services providers found that 37% identified high mobile internet costs as a significant challenge to serving women customers.
To close this gap, financial institutions must treat connectivity and affordability as core components of financial inclusion strategies. That means designing services that work over low-bandwidth channels like USSD and SMS, or partnering with telecom providers to improve network reliability in underserved areas, or with mobile money operators to offer installment-based payment plans on mobile phones.
We’ve made remarkable strides in expanding financial access, but the “last mile” remains out of reach for many women. When mobile internet is too expensive, connectivity is unreliable, or the nearest agent is hours away, access becomes a daily struggle and, therefore, not truly solved. Closing this gap means designing digital and physical infrastructure that meets 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.
