Women's World Banking Blog

Driving Women's Financial Inclusion at All Levels

Explore the latest global and regional insights from Women’s World Banking’s work in policy, leadership, women’s entrepreneurship, gender lens investing, and more.

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Research & Perspectives

Policy Brief: Why Advocate for More Women Banking Agents?

Research from Women’s World Banking and our partners highlights the significant benefits of more women banking agents, both for the Financial Services Providers (FSPs) that employ them and for the women agents themselves. But in order to reap these benefits, FSPs need guidance and support from policymakers when it comes

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Building Digital Finance Solutions for Women E-Commerce Entrepreneurs: A Demand-Side Exploration in Indonesia

Until early 2023, 64.2 million MSMEs in Indonesia represented 96% of the labor force. Of these businesses, about two-thirds are women-owned. While not all of these are e-commerce businesses, 24% of MSMEs (~17.5 million MSMEs) have used e-commerce in marketing their products in 2021. This growing sub-segment of Indonesian businesses

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Products & Solutions

Policy Advocacy Across Indonesia: A Promising Beginning for Women Ultra-Micro Entrepreneurs

By Vitasari Anggraeni, Elwyn Panggabean, Freya Nadira Women’s World Banking identifies regulations, mandates, or country level priorities such as presidential mandates or G20 recommendations that can be the driving force for women’s financial inclusion and engagement. During the 2022 G20 Presidency, held by Indonesia, women’s entrepreneurship served as one of

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Event

Unlocking Credit for Women-Led Micro Businesses

By Pallavi Madhok, Director, Advisory Services – South Asia, Women’s World Banking Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the country’s economic growth engines. Many MSMEs have struggled to sustain themselves in the aftermath of the pandemic and require financial support to overcome the economic downturn. Women-led small businesses –

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Meet the 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge Finalists

Women’s World Banking is thrilled to announce the top four finalists of this year’s Fintech Innovation Challenge. The four finalists will compete for the Grand Prize in a live pitch event on May 25, 2023 in Mumbai, India, as part of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit. This year,

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The Savings Mobilization Replication Toolkit

Few financial products and services are developed with the needs of the low-income woman customer in mind or account for the challenges that a low-income woman might face. Many financial products are not set up to sustain the continued interaction required to create the trust that the low-income woman needs

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Report: Check Your Bias! A Field Guide for Lenders

Credit has always been a fundamental part of both formal and informal financial services. In the last three decades, however, the exponential growth in data and computing power has led to new ways of assessing creditworthiness. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have opened up the possibility of scoring

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Leadership & Diversity

Empowering Ideas into Action Through the 2022 Leadership & Diversity Program for Regulators

The Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators (LDR) is a multi-week learning program taught by Women’s World Banking and Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. It equips senior officials and high-potential women leaders from government ministries, central banks and regulators in emerging markets with the skills to create an enabling environment

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Research & Perspectives

Check Your Bias: Gender Bias Scorecard for Lenders

There are many ways to measure and track fairness in lending. This scorecard offers some of the more common fairness indicators used by Women’s World Banking in its diagnostic process with lenders. Paying attention to these indicators, particularly over time, will offer institutions an evidence base so they can identify

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Advancing Women As Leaders in Nigeria’s Finance Industry

In the last decade, Nigeria’s finance industry has made significant strides in increasing the representation of women. No sector’s success is more quantifiable than that of the banking sector. At the publishing of this report, of Nigeria’s 24 commercial banks, eight have women as Chief Executive Officers (CEO), a historic

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Making Jan Dhan Work for Rural Women

India has made a huge amount of progress in the last-mile delivery of banking services to underserved communities. The opening of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts has provided millions of Indians with access to at least a basic account. Since its launch in 2014, the number of PMJDY

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WWB News

Remembering Women’s World Banking Founding Member Ela Bhatt

We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Ms. Ela Ramesh Bhatt, an iconic leader and a Founding Member of Women’s World Banking. Elaben (“ben” meaning “ sister”), as she was known, was a true trailblazer in advancing women’s empowerment and financial inclusion – first in India,

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Event

Women’s World Banking Announces 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge Semifinalists

10 later stage fintechs pioneering innovative financial solutions for the low-income women’s market announced as semifinalists; first-ever Female Founder’s Circle participants named November 2, 2022 – At the Singapore FinTech Festival today, Women’s World Banking announced the 10 semifinalists for the 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge, a global competition to highlight

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Leadership & Diversity

Women’s World Banking Connects with the Leadership & Diversity Program for Regulators Graduates at the 2022 AFI Global Policy Forum

By the Leadership & Diversity Team: Francesca Brown, Sarah Buitoni, Elizabeth Ingerfield, & Nana Ampah On the 5th and 6th September our Leadership & Diversity Team attended the 2022 AFI Global Policy Forum in Jordan. Here the team met with our 2022 Leadership & Diversity Program for Regulators (LDR) participants

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Research & Perspectives

Climate change has a disproportionate impact on low-income women. Here’s how financial institutions can change that.

By Nithya Sharma (Women’s World Banking); Carolanne Boughton, and Sasha Polikarpova (Baringa) The impact of climate change is reverberating around the world, with increasing frequency and severity of weather events, rising temperatures, and loss of biodiversity. While multilateral governance bodies including the United Nations emphasize that the world’s wealthiest countries,

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Research & Perspectives

Ukrainian Women Refugees are Not Financially Resilient. Here’s Why.

By Dr. Megan Dwyer Baumann and Dr. Sonja Kelly In late February 2022, Ukrainians left their homes as Russia invaded, preparing to flee to neighboring countries like Poland, Moldova, and Romania. To date, there have been nearly 12 million border crossings out of Ukraine since the start of the war,

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WWB News

Women’s World Banking Announces the Appointment of Aliko Dangote Foundation CEO Zouera Youssoufou and Morgan Stanley Managing Director Seema Hingorani to Board of Directors

New Board members bring leadership in driving economic empowerment outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa and amongst young girls through digital financial and investment literacy. NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2022 — Women’s World Banking today announced the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors. This brings the number of Board members

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Products & Solutions

#ItsHerEconomyToo Interview Series: How One Indian Fintech Company is Advancing Women’s Digital Equity

In this series we dive into the work happening around the world with Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Advocacy Hub partners, and explore how they are driving women’s digital financial inclusion. As evidenced by this year’s Global Findex Report, digital financial inclusion isn’t just an urgent moral imperative, but an economic one

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Research & Perspectives

Women’s Financial Inclusion Through Movable Collateral: Three Case Studies

Women benefit disproportionately more from effective movable collateral systems because women are less likely than men to own fixed assets. Women are simultaneously less likely to access and use formal financial tools and services, including credit. These asymmetries result in a $1.7 trillion (USD) credit gender gap among entrepreneurs. When

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Event

Women’s World Banking Announces 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge to Elevate Fintechs with New Solutions to Close the Gender Gap in Financial Services

Competition invites later stage fintechs pioneering innovative financial solutions for the low-income women’s market to apply; finalists and winner to access premier fintech networks and resources NEW YORK, Aug. 3, 2022 – Women’s World Banking announced today the 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge, a global competition to highlight and advance solutions to

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Research & Perspectives

Women’s World Banking’s 2021 Impact Report

For Women’s World Banking, 2021 marked a year of scale and expanded impact. Our new structure reflects our mission to advance financial inclusion as a global and advocacy-focused organization: Global Client Services expands our in-market presence and builds capabilities and decision-making authority in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Mexico.

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Research & Perspectives

Global Findex 2021: Women’s World Banking Response

Six Insights from the 2021 World Bank Global Findex Data  By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research & Advocacy For those of us in the financial inclusion world, the release of the Global Findex is a pivotal moment. The data are typically compiled every three years – this time, due to Covid,

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Driving Gender Equality in the Financial System with Women’s World Banking CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian

Mary Ellen begins with the book’s central idea: microfinance is not a solution to women’s financial inclusion. Born in the 1970s, microfinance entailed providing small, unsecured loans to people from low socioeconomic backgrounds so that they could successfully start and grow their own businesses. Microfinance quickly became popular as a

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Leadership & Diversity

A Q&A with Mary Ellen Iskenderian On “There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women”: The Micro and Macro Impact of Empowering Women Through Financial Inclusion

Nearly one billion women remain outside the formal financial system, unable to participate in or benefit from financial growth and prosperity. Despite advances for women in recent decades, the gender gap in financial inclusion stubbornly remains at 9% across the emerging markets, requiring greater efforts from financial service providers and

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Products & Solutions

How to get low-income women to save in bank accounts

By Angela Ang and Elwyn Panggabean, Women’s World Banking Last year, we collaborated with Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), one of Indonesia’s largest state-owned banks involved in distributing benefits of the PKH (Program Keluarga Harapan or Family Hope Program), a conditional cash transfer program for low-income families. Together, we developed an

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WWB News

There’s Nothing Micro about a Billion Women: Making Finance Work for Women by Mary Ellen Iskenderian explores the transformative impact of financial inclusion

Why it takes more than microloans to empower women and promote sustainable, inclusive economic growth. “In her book, Mary Ellen Iskenderian reminds us to ask where our bank finance flows and how much is used for building unequal wealth or destructive institutions that harm humans and the natural environment. How

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WWB News

72 Microfinance Institutions Join Inaugural Financial Inclusion Index

Impact performance measurement of microfinance institutions in 41 countries will launch in Q2 2022 with support from sector leaders. April 13, 2022 – In a global effort to promote standard, comparable impact outcomes data for the microfinance industry, 60 Decibels will release the first microfinance index driven entirely by end

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Sharia Finance & Women’s Financial Inclusion in Indonesia

Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims of any country in the world, at 237 million. In recent years, the national Government of Indonesia and some of its province-level governments have shown interest in increasing the availability of Sharia-compliant financial products and services for Indonesians. Indonesia aims to reach 90

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Research & Perspectives

Understanding and Unlocking the Potential of Women Ultra-Micro Entrepreneurs in Indonesia

Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in Indonesia’s economy, accounting for 61% of its gross domestic product. An even smaller segment—ultra-micro businesses—is helping drive economic growth, as well. Since 2017, Pusat Investasi Pemerintah (PIP), an Indonesian government agency, has disbursed loans to 5.4 million ultra-micro entrepreneurs,

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Products & Solutions

Women’s World Banking Celebrates Milestone Anniversaries and Achievements of Network Members

For 43 years, Women’s World Banking’s Global Network has played a vital role in advancing our mission of empowering low-income women through financial inclusion. This Women’s History Month, we are celebrating milestone anniversaries of eight of our Network Members, showcasing their achievements in advancing women’s financial inclusion and gender equality.

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Research & Perspectives

Breaking the Bias for Women in the Workplace through Male Allyship

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Andy Woolnough, Global Head of Advocacy at Women’s World Banking, and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, discussed the importance of male allyship in breaking gender biases in the workplace and creating more inclusive environments for women to thrive. Watch the full video

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Event

Beyond Credit: How to Support Women-Owned MSMEs for Sustainable Growth

SME Finance Forum and Women’s World Banking’s hosted panel explores how financial service providers can leverage business support services to empower women-led businesses with the skills, networks, and resources needed to reach their growth potential. For micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), monetary support is not the sole determinant of

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Leadership & Diversity

Case Study: What it Takes: Insights from Women Leaders in Financial Inclusion

As part of our Leadership & Diversity programs, Women’s World Banking tracks the career paths of high-potential women leaders, both to enhance our future program offerings for new generations of leaders and to share their experiences with others. With funding support from Credit Suisse, Women’s World Banking conducted case study

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Leadership & Diversity

In Conversation with Caroline Abel, Catia Tomasetti, Jorgovanka Tabaković, and Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus: Paving the Way for Female Leadership in Central Banks

In financial institutions around the world, women continue to be underrepresented in senior leadership, with only 14 holding the governorship at a Central Bank. Previously in this series, Women’s World Banking spoke with the Governors of the Central Banks of Malaysia, San Marino, Serbia, and Seychelles about navigating success and

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Leadership & Diversity

In Conversation with Caroline Abel, Catia Tomasetti, Jorgovanka Tabaković, and Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus: Reflections on a Successful Career in Central Banking

Across the globe, central banks and other regulatory agencies face a persistent and significant gender gap in leadership. Today, the number of women serving as Governor—the most senior position—at a Central Bank totals only 14, illustrating a clear need for greater diversity in leadership. In Part I of this Q&A,

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Leadership & Diversity

Women in Leadership: 5 Lessons for Navigating Change

Whether in the day-to-day context or amid the upheaval wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the struggles of leadership are universal. For women, who continue to battle gender stereotypes in the workplace and shoulder a disproportionate share of care responsibilities (among other obstacles), the choice to exercise leadership comes with additional

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Market Opportunities for Women’s Savings: Evidence from India

Women’s World Banking’s work with women customers as well as relevant literature in the field, shows that women who save are better positioned to support their families, weather emergencies, take advantage of economic opportunities, and build their businesses. In this study, we collected and analyzed data to better understand why

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Research & Perspectives

2020 Annual Report: Fostering Greater Resilience for Low-Income Women: The State of Financial Inclusion During COVID-19

Nearly two years into the pandemic, the economic shocks of COVID-19 are still felt across the globe and particularly by women, who have been disproportionately affected by the crisis. In 2020, Women’s World Banking amplified its efforts to create greater economic stability and security for low-income women, adapting and innovating

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Women’s World Banking: In Conversation with Pia Tayag

Women’s World Banking: In Conversation with… Ms. Pia Tayag is the Director of the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). She leads a team that provides technical and operational support to Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who has served as the

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Research & Perspectives

How we are leveraging Nobel-prize winning techniques in our research

Applying Angrist and Imbens’ research methodologies enable Women’s World Banking to explore the impacts of its products and solutions on women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment across the globe in the context of real-world conditions By Sonja Kelly (Director of Research & Advocacy) and Justin Archer (Global Research Lead, Quantitative)

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Event

Women’s World Banking Announces Fintech Innovation Challenge Winners

Third annual global fintech competition celebrates trail-blazing solutions for women’s financial inclusion NEW YORK, NY, October 12, 2021 — Women’s World Banking announced today Boost Capital and People’s Pension Trust as the winners of its Third Annual Fintech Innovation Challenge, part of the organization’s Making Finance Work for Women Thought

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Products & Solutions

International Day of the Girl: Women’s World Banking Highlights

Today we celebrate Day of the Girl, because every young woman carries with her the potential to change the world and drive economies that prosper. Donate today and help us continue to honor International Day of the Girl through our youth savings work: Women’s World Banking is proud to work

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Products & Solutions

Accelerating Adoption of Digital Financial Services: Replicating a digital account usage solution for factory workers in Cambodia

By Whitney Mapes, Elwyn Panggabean For low-income women worldwide, digital financial services can act as a stepping stone to greater financial inclusion, yet barriers to activating usage have prevented women from realizing their full benefits. Among the many obstacles women face to using digital financial services are a lack of

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Products & Solutions

Report: The Power of Jan Dhan: Making Finance Work for Women in India

Women’s World Banking’s first industry report in India highlights the design of its unique ‘Jan Dhan Plus’ solution, and learnings from a subsequent pilot study that helped nurture regular savings behavior among low-income women in the country. To understand women’s savings behaviors, Women’s World Banking worked with Bank of Baroda,

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Research & Perspectives

UNCDF’s Inclusive Digital Economies and Gender Equality Playbook

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has recently launched the Inclusive Digital Economies and Gender Equality Playbook. This playbook is a practical how-to guide on leveraging the market system development approach to decrease the digital and financial divide for women and girls, use technology to improve women’s economic opportunities,

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Women’s Economic Empowerment and Financial Inclusion in Indonesia

In 2020 and 2021, Women’s World Banking conducted exploratory research — both qualitative and quantitative — to map the linkages between women’s financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment in Indonesia. Grounded in an analysis of norms governing women’s agency, ability to enact preferences, bargaining power, and financial independence, this resulting

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Designing Digital Payments for Mexican Women Entrepreneurs

Mexico’s 6.3 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) generate nearly half of Mexico’s GDP and employ 37 percent of the workforce. Of MSMEs, 94.2 percent are microenterprises, and over half of these are women-owned or women-led. Despite this segment’s dominance in the economy, the majority of MSMEs transactions are

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Leadership & Diversity

Report: Leadership as a Driver of Innovative Financial Services for Women

Over the last six years, Women’s World Banking has supported leaders of financial service providers (FSPs) through our Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program (LDIP). The LDIP seeks to develop the skills of senior executives and high-potential women leaders to enable them to successfully serve low-income women, while charting a

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Products & Solutions

Why Isn’t Movable Collateral Working for Women in Mexico?

Women around the world are less likely to own fixed assets than men. They are also are less likely to access credit for their businesses, resulting in an often cited $17 billion credit gender gap among entrepreneurs. And when they do get credit, they are given smaller loans than their

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Research & Perspectives

Movable Collateral in Mexico: Challenges and Opportunities

Mexico’s burgeoning micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) customer segment needs stronger financial products and services. Over the last decade, the Unique Registry of Gaurantees (RUG) in Mexico has sought to meet this need, with limited success. The RUG is Mexico’s current record to establish, protect, and mobilize movable collateral

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Research & Perspectives

Help Wanted: A Global Push Toward Algorithmic Fairness

A Q & A with Sonja Kelly of Women’s World Banking and Alex Rizzi of CFI, building on Women’s World Banking’s report and CFI’s report on algorithmic bias It seems conversations around biased AI have been around for some time. Is it too late to address this? Alex: It’s just

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Research & Perspectives

Leveraging Digital Financial Capability to Drive Women’s Financial Inclusion

By Marina Dimova, Managing Director of Design and Innovation, Women’s World Banking and Julia Arnold, Senior Research Director, Women’s Financial Inclusion, Center for Financial Inclusion Informed and empowered men and women make fewer risky financial decisions than those with less knowledge. And for a low-income woman, having the right knowledge

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Research & Perspectives

Measuring Women’s Economic Empowerment to Effect Change

By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, and Mehrdad Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst Not everything that matters can be measured. The data surrounding financially marginalized groups is sparse. This lack of data limits financial service providers and policymakers’ ability to design for women’s needs. However, many significant issues, like

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Products & Solutions

Deepening Women’s Financial Inclusion through G2P Programs: Building Savings Behavior among PKH Beneficiaries in Indonesia

By Angela Ang, Andi Setianto, Whitney Mapes, and Elwyn Panggabean As COVID-19 has exposed economic fault lines around the world, governments have responded by extending economic lifelines to the most vulnerable populations. According to the World Bank, at least 200 countries and territories have offered some kind of COVID-19-related financial

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Building Capacity for Client-Centered Cash Assistance

In May 2020, Women’s World Banking conducted its first remote research during the Covid-19 pandemic with 44 beneficiaries, PKH facilitators, and bank agents across 11 districts of Indonesia. The research reveals that further efforts are needed to ensure beneficiaries have critical information about the program to support their financial planning and

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Research & Perspectives

Report: From Cash to Digital Wage Payments in the Philippines

With support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in partnership with the International Labour Organization, Women’s World Banking assessed the awareness, use, and acceptance of digital wage payments among enterprises and workers in the Philippines. The Philippines’ thriving digital economy and proliferation of new digital solutions,

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Research & Perspectives

Reaching Financial Equality for Women: A 10-point action plan

The impact of COVID-19 has hit women and girls hard. The World Bank reports that 2021 will bring the first increase in extreme poverty since 1998, with a minimum of 71 million people expected to fall into destitution, and UN Women estimates that at least 47 million more women and girls will fall below the

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Empowering Women on a Journey Towards Digital Financial Capability

Financial inclusion is becoming more and more digital. To accelerate this journey to digitization, and not let women customers be left even further behind, we need to ensure policymakers and financial service providers focus on effectively supporting women customers build their digital financial capabilities, so they can use digital financial services with ease and confidence.  This report

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Research & Perspectives

Algorithmic Bias, Financial Inclusion, and Gender

By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, and Mehrdad Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst In 2020, we began a journey to understand algorithmic bias as it relates to women’s financial inclusion. What is it? Why does it matter especially now? Where does it emerge? How might it be mitigated? This

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Algorithmic Bias, Financial Inclusion, and Gender: A primer on opening up new credit to women in emerging economies

Artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing financial services offerings to customers across the globe. Historically, women have been the victims of unconscious bias in lending decisions. Algorithm-enabled credit decisions have the potential to create a level playing field for female customers worldwide—but only if we find and mitigate biases

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Products & Solutions

Women’s World Banking and the Australian Government’s Renewed Partnership for 2020-2024: Advancing Women’s Economic Empowerment in Southeast Asia

By Julie-Ann Guivarra, Ambassador for Gender Equality, DFAT and Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO & President, Women’s World Banking In 2016, Women’s World Banking and the Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), teamed up to build a more secure and prosperous future for low-income women in

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Research & Perspectives

Building Resilience and Savings for Women Customers Post COVID-19

2021 will be a crucial year for women to build their financial resilience and begin recovering from the setbacks created by COVID-19. According to a recent McKinsey report, women globally are twice as likely to experience job loss due to the pandemic, despite making up only 39% of total employment.

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Research & Perspectives

Data Deep Dive: Her Resilience in the Face of COVID-19

Women’s World Banking’s global network of financial service providers (FSPs) champions women’s financial inclusion in their local markets, shares best practices, and leverages expertise in inclusive economies. Never has this community of practice been more important to women’s economic empowerment than now, particularly with the COVID-19 pandemic creating adverse economic

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Leadership & Diversity

Investing in Women Leaders and Empowering Women Customers Go Hand-in-Hand at AMK, a Cambodian Financial Institution

By Victoria Johnson, Research Associate and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy Investing in women is smart business. Data shows that having women leaders improves financial performance, increases sales, leads to better decision-making, and creates a more inclusive corporate culture. On the other hand, women customers are often underserved,

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Research & Perspectives

Can Data Predict the Future of Women’s Economic Empowerment?

By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, and Mehrdad Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst Women’s World Banking is starting on a journey to find out if data can predict the future of women’s economic empowerment—and we’d like you to follow along. The task is daunting, even for a team of

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Gender Lens Investing

The Business Case for Investing in African Women

By Tokunboh Ishmael, Managing Director and co-Founder, Alitheia Capital What is good for gender equality is good for the economy and society as well. – McKinsey & Company An estimated 120 million Nigerian women are susceptible to the health consequences of firewood use. Of this, about 95,000 die each year

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Research & Perspectives

New evidence on how to empower women-owned businesses in Kenya

By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking One of the most elusive questions in financial inclusion is how to facilitate growth of small businesses—and particularly of women-owned businesses. With this question in mind, in 2016 Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Women’s World Banking set out on

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Empowering MSMEs: Creating a Better Banking Experience for Women-Led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Kenya

Women’s World Banking partnered with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) from 2016 to 2019 to optimize financial and business support services for women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya. An accompanying research effort evaluated the effectiveness of program implementation and the resulting outcomes for KCB’s MSME customers, especially women.

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Research & Perspectives

Sexist AI? What to do about gender-based algorithmic bias in the financial sector

By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking Bias happens. It is widely discussed across the world as different industries use machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase efficiency in their processes. I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines. Amazon’s hiring algorithm systematically screened out women candidates. Microsoft’s

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Research & Perspectives

Focus on Colombia: G2P Payments in Response to COVID-19

By Ana Maria Prieto Mrs. Ana Maria Prieto is currently Deputy Director at the Unit of Financial Regulation of Colombia where she has actively worked on the design and implementation of the strategy of financial inclusion and of financial education in Colombia. She was a panelist on the Making Finance

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Research & Perspectives

Women’s Economic Empowerment is the Doorway to Economic Recovery and Growth Post-COVID-19; Fintechs are the Key

This is cross-posted from DC Fintech Week where our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian spoke on the panel “Building Equity into Start-Ups: Lessons from Women in Fintech.” We also want to congratulate our winners from our Making Finance Work for Women Fintech Innovation Challenge 2020 winners, Tyme and myAgro! Co-Authors: Mary Ellen Iskenderian,

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Event

Women’s World Banking announces renewed funding from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for Southeast Asia Partnership from 2020-2024

This renewed, four-year partnership will enable Women’s World Banking to accelerate its support for low-income women throughout Southeast Asia, with a focus on COVID-19 recovery and resilience New York, October 22, 2020 – Women’s World Banking announces that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has renewed its support

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Research & Perspectives

Indonesia’s largest cash transfer program pivoted quickly in response to Covid-19. Can beneficiaries keep up?

By Sophie Theis, Victoria Johnson, Rahmi Yunaningsih, and Elwyn Panggabean Indonesia’s Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) was uniquely positioned to rapidly modify its conditional cash transfer program in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. As government-to-person (G2P) payment programs around the world adjust to accommodate the reality of the pandemic, Women’s

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WWB News

Women’s World Banking and UNCDF Launch Strategic Partnership to Advance Women’s Economic Empowerment in Emerging Markets and Least Developed Countries

Partnership aims to accelerate access to, and usage of, digital financial tools, services and enabling technologies to help low-income women build economic resilience. Women’s World Banking and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) today announced a strategic partnership to enhance financial inclusion and access to digital financial services for

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WWB News

Women’s World Banking announces finalists for second annual Making Finance Work for Women Fintech Innovation Challenge

Press Release NEW YORK, September 24, 2020 – Women’s World Banking is pleased to announce the four finalists of its second annual Making Finance Work for Women Fintech Innovation Challenge. The finalists, chosen from a record-breaking pool of competitive and diverse applicants, represent an exciting new wave of innovative solutions

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Research & Perspectives

Digital Cash Transfers in Times of COVID-19: Opportunities and Considerations for Women’s Inclusion and Empowerment

Women’s economic empowerment will be essential for a global economic recovery. Given pre-existing gender gaps, there are concerns about exclusion for many of the social assistance programs already being rolled out around the world. Social protection systems that ignore gender inequality will likely fail to mitigate the risks of COVID-19

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Delivering on the potential of digitized G2P: Driving women’s financial inclusion and empowerment through Indonesia’s Program Keluarga Harapan

Financial institutions and governments have been working for years to leverage digitized G2P for women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment. COVID-19 has increased the stakes, as governments look to use G2P programs to strengthen women’s resilience. New research from Women’s World Banking offers insights on Indonesia’s PKH program, the country’s largest conditional cash transfer. Click here to download the

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Research & Perspectives

Getting G2P Right in Indonesia—Right Now

By Sophie Theis, Giudy Rusconi, Elwyn Panggabean, Sonja Kelly Women’s World Banking’s research shows government-to-person payments, if well-designed, hold potential for women’s economic empowerment and inclusion in Indonesia. With Covid-19, the stakes are even higher. For more than a decade, the financial inclusion community has recognized the potential of digitizing

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Research & Perspectives

Covid-19, Low Income Finance and Nine Takeaways from a Quick Survey

By Mehrdad (Mehi) Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, at Women’s World Banking  “There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” – Albert Camus, The Plague Introduction Businesses function in environments that are agile and hard

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Research & Perspectives

Going Digital for Loan Disbursements and Repayments: A Smart Move in the Time of Covid-19

By Marina Dimova, Managing Director of Design and Innovation and Diana Boncheva Gooley, Manager of Digital Financial Services, Women’s World Banking The Covid-19 global pandemic has heightened the strategic importance of integrating digital channels into how financial services providers engage with customers. How can financial services providers respond to the

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WWB News

Announcing the Making Finance Work for Women 2020 Virtual Summit

During this time of uncertainty, it is important for us to convene as a community and focus on the economic impact that COVID-19 will have on underserved and unbanked women. To ensure that this vital conversation takes place and out of an abundance of caution, Women’s World Banking is shifting

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Leadership & Diversity

In Memory of Viji Das, CEO of Friends of Women’s World Banking

All of us at Women’s World Banking are devastated to learn the sad news of Viji Das’ passing. Throughout her life she was a strong, clear and brave voice for women’s empowerment at a time when it was hard, and sometimes even dangerous, for such views to be expressed. Indian

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Research & Perspectives

Report: Unlocking Credit For Women-Owned Enterprises in Southeast Asia through Value Chain Digitization

This report summarizes efforts by Women’s World Banking to answer three key questions: Which value chains in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam represent priority opportunities to develop increased credit offerings for women-owned MSMEs (micro-, small- & medium-sized enterprises) through value chain digitization? What forms of value chain digitization would

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Products & Solutions

Women’s World Banking, AID:Tech and Binance Charity Foundation to Expand Microinsurance to Two Million Women

Women’s World Banking, AID:Tech, and Binance Charity Foundation sign memorandum of understanding (MOU) to design new technology platform to accelerate scale of Caregiver microinsurance product New York, USA – November 8, 2019 —Women’s World Banking, AID:Tech, and Binance Charity Foundation today announced a partnership to design a new technology platform

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Products & Solutions

Building Digital Capacity for Women in Bangladesh

Project overview: Women’s World Banking partnered with Dutch Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) in Bangladesh with generous support from the MetLife foundation to understand why women are not engaging with digital financial services. Specifically, we looked at DBBL’s Rocket mobile wallet account usage. This work with DBBL will not only help

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Research & Perspectives

Economic Empowerment, Financial Inclusion, and Intimate Partner Violence

Key Findings from a Women’s World Banking Literature Review Exploring the Connection Many of us who work to advance women’s access to and use of financial services do so to improve women’s economic empowerment. A clear indicator of women’s lack of empowerment is her exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV).

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Event

MEDIA RELEASE | Women’s World Banking Announces Finalists for Inaugural Making Finance Work for Women FinTech Innovation Challenge

Contact: Karen Miller klm@womensworldbanking.org +1.212.556.3149 Winners will participate in the Singapore FinTech Festival’s Global Hackcelerator Demo Day New York — Women’s World Banking announced the four finalists of its inaugural Making Finance Work for Women FinTech Innovation Challenge today. The finalists, chosen from more than 80 applications, represent FinTech solutions

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Gender Lens Investing

Gender Lens Investing: Moving Beyond Numbers

Gender lens investing (GLI) is interpreted and implemented in many different ways, from investing in women-owned and -led enterprises to investing in enterprises specifically targeting women, and more. Shuyin Tang is a Partner at Patamar Capital, a venture capital firm focused on Series A and Series B investments in South

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WWB News

Read Our 2018 Annual Report

Just a couple of months ago, Women’s World Banking brought some of our closest friends and supporters together in New York to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The celebration provided an opportune moment to reflect on our legacy and our goals for the future. How fitting that our founders first conceived

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WWB News

devex | Facebook’s digital currency Libra: Why nonprofits are joining

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook, together with 27 partners ranging from Visa to Mercy Corps, has unveiled a new global currency built on blockchain. The company has been working on Libra for more than a year, but it is distancing itself from directly managing the cryptocurrency. Facebook created Calibra, the digital wallet that will store

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Research & Perspectives

Peer-to-Peer Learning Between Countries Can Foster Financial Inclusion

In April, Women’s World Banking convened policymakers from around the world—including Indonesia—at Oxford University’s Saïd School of Business for a leadership program for regulators focused on the development and promotion of policy initiatives for women and supporting banks in creating a pipeline of women leaders internally. This is not the first time that Women’s World Banking has partnered with regulators in Indonesia to encourage financial inclusion.

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WWB News

News | Digital Solutions for Financial Inclusion

Lotte Schou-Zibell is the Chief of Finance Sector Group, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at the Asian Development Bank. She also serves as a member of Women’s World Banking’s Southeast Asia Advisory Council. This post was originally published on the Asian Development Blog. In Asia and the Pacific 9

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WWB News

MEDIA RELEASE | Women’s World Banking Celebrates 40 Years of Impact on the Lives of Women around the Globe

Women’s World Banking has appointed four new leaders to its Board of Directors: Patsy Doerr, Martin Ihrig, Anjali Kumar, and Janet Truncale. Their expertise in growth strategies, finance, law, and leadership and diversity will contribute to the effective delivery of Women’s World Banking’s strategy of driving greater scale in providing access to finance to low-income women in the coming years.

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Leadership & Diversity

MEDIA RELEASE | Women’s World Banking and Alliance for Financial Inclusion gather Central Bankers and Senior Policymakers from around the world to kick off its inaugural Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators

MEDIA RELEASE April 2, 2019   Contact: Karen Miller, +1 212 556 3149 or klm@womensworldbanking.org Women’s World Banking and Alliance for Financial Inclusion gather Central Bankers and Senior Policymakers from around the world to kick off its inaugural Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators   Oxford, England – Women’s World

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Client Stories

Latifah’s Story

Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.

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Client Stories

Allen’s Story

Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Jennifer Riria: A Model Leader for Women’s Empowerment

Jennifer Riria: A Model Leader for Women’s Empowerment Few women in the microfinance world are as recognizable as Jennifer Riria. She is the CEO of Kenya Women Holding, twice- voted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (East Africa and Kenya respectively in 2013 and 2014) and a Ford Foundation

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Essma Ben Hamida: Building a Movement for the Women of Tunisia

Essma Ben Hamida: Building a Movement for the Women of Tunisia By Sandy Salama Essma Ben Hamida is the co-founder and CEO of enda inter-arabe in Tunisia. When she was a young girl, her dream was to be a singer like Egypt’s Umm Kulthum. But due to limitations imposed by

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Muna Sukthian: I am Very Happy When I See Other Women Succeed

Muna Sukthian: I am Very Happy When I See Other Women Succeed “As a woman who has been lucky enough to pursue my education and my interests, it is my responsibility to give this opportunity back to my community. I am very happy when I see other women succeed,” says

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Nejira Nalic: Overcoming challenges to empower women

Nejira Nalic: Overcoming challenges to empower women As the director of MI-BOSPO, a Bosnian microcredit organization, Nejira Nalic has helped empower over 20,000 low- income women in this post-conflict country by providing them with access to microloans for their small businesses. While her native Bosnia legally grants women equal rights,

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Pioneers of Financial Inclusion

Ela Ramesh Bhatt: A Gandian Revolutionary

Guest blogger Jisha Francis tells the story of the incredible visionary for women’s rights, Elaben Bhatt, founder of Women’s World Banking network member in India, SEWA Bank.

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Products & Solutions

Making Mobile Money Work for Women

With a growing gender gap in financial inclusion in Bangladesh, it is imperative to understand the behavioral barriers women face when engaging with digital financial services.

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WWB News

MEDIA RELEASE | Women’s World Banking Welcomes Four New Members to its Board of Directors

Women’s World Banking has appointed four new leaders to its Board of Directors: Patsy Doerr, Martin Ihrig, Anjali Kumar, and Janet Truncale. Their expertise in growth strategies, finance, law, and leadership and diversity will contribute to the effective delivery of Women’s World Banking’s strategy of driving greater scale in providing access to finance to low-income women in the coming years.

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Research & Perspectives

Indian Women Aren’t Using Their Bank Accounts. This Is How and Why Women’s World Banking Plans to Change That.

India has experienced exponential growth and enacted innovative financial initiatives in recent years, but promising indicators of greater financial inclusion mask a concerning trend. About half of the women in India with personal bank accounts use them in a limited capacity or not at all. Women’s World Banking’s India Strategy

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WWB News

Introducing She Counts Members

She Counts, a global platform that harnesses the power of financial services to put savings and financial tools in the hands of women, enabling them to plan for a more prosperous future.

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Products & Solutions

Powering Economies by Investing in Women

Women’s World Banking’s recent Making Finance Work for Women Summit brought together leaders from the public and private sectors, investors, and researchers to discuss, debate and create the solutions to drive women’s financial inclusion globally.

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Leadership & Diversity

Introducing the Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators: a new program of inclusive policy design and leadership development for financial regulators

Policymakers have the opportunity to play game changer in driving women’s financial inclusion efforts. However, a strong, gender-diverse team within the regulatory body needs to be in place to amplify these efforts. Women’s World Banking and AFI’s Leadership & Diversity for Regulators program provides the tools to design inclusive policies

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Products & Solutions

How to Create Financial Products that Win with Women

Often, many financial services providers only superficially tailor their products in order to reach the women’s market. If f they are to reach this untapped segment, they must articulate a clear business case, avoid being “gender-neutral” and use gender segmentation during product design and to meet women’s needs.

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Gender Lens Investing

An Open Letter to Scammers

A public service announcement concerning investments, fundraising and representation of our gender lens impact investment fund, Capital Partners.

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WWB News

We All Win When She Saves

Women’s World Banking hosted a Twitter chat to hear from three organizations about how they’re helping women build a better future through digital savings while creating a more sustainable business.

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WWB News

Danida announces grant to Women’s World Banking to increase women’s financial inclusion in Pakistan

Danida, the term used for Denmark’s development cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has announced a seven partner consortia to receive a total of DKK 60 million (approximately USD 10.04 million) for partnership projects. The partnerships will contribute to local economic growth, job and income opportunities with a focus on women and girls.

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ما وراء الشمول المالي، تعلم عن الحياة

Original post date of Beyond Financial Inclusion, Learning About Life ٢٨ فبراير ٢٠١٧ تدعى فاطمة، وبمجرد أن خطت أخيراً إلى الحجرة التي نعقد فيها جلسات المناقشات البؤرية الجماعية عن التأمين على الصحة في المغرب، كان من الواضح أنها الأكبر بين الخمس نساء الجالسات حول الطاولة، ترتدي فاطمة الزي التقليدي الفضفاض المزين بالتطريز،

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WWB News

PRESS RELEASE | Women’s World Banking hosts Making Finance Work for Women Summit in Dar es Salaam

Tanzanian Vice President H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan joins biennial gathering of global leaders to advance financial inclusion for women For Immediate Release: October 24, 2017 Contact: Maura Hart, +1 212 556 3156 or meh@womensworldbanking.org DAR ES SALAAM—Global NGO Women’s World Banking brings its biennial international gathering, the Making Finance Work for Women

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كيف تحول منتج التأمين الأصغر إلى قصة نجاح

Original Post Date for How to Turn Your Microinsurance Product Into a Success Story: ٣ فبراير ٢٠١٦ بقلم مازن ايهم نمري، نائب المدير العام بقسم التأمين الصحي والتأمين على الحياة بالشركة الأردنية للتأمين عندما تواصل “صندوق المرأة” في الأردن مع فريق عمل “شركة التأمين الأردنية”، بهدف التعاون معاً لأجل منتج

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WWB News

Global SME Finance Forum 2017

This year’s SME Finance Forum will include interactive sessions, study tours to high-performing institutions, fintech demos, a B2B marketplace & networking sessions.

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Event

PRESS RELEASE | Diamond Bank, Women’s World Banking host global discussion on digital financial services for women

Diamond Bank today joins Women’s World Banking to host a global discussion on the role of digital financial services in empowering low-income women who do not have access to formal financial products. During a three-day workshop, discussants from the Central Bank of Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Diamond Bank Plc, Jazz of Pakistan, BIMA of Cambodia and Women’s World Banking will examine the best practices in developing, enhancing and delivering world-class digital financial services to women.

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WWB News

PRESS RELEASE | Women’s World Banking announces three new leadership roles

Women’s World Banking adds three new senior positions, strengthening the global nonprofit’s leadership in addressing the most critical issues for women’s financial inclusion. With decades of experience in cutting edge technology, human-centered design and strategic partnerships, these three new leaders will help scale innovative, commercially viable financial solutions to meet women’s needs across regions and cultures.

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WWB News

PRESS RELEASE | JazzCash and Women’s World Banking announce partnership to serve low-income women in Pakistan

JazzCash, Pakistan’s premiere financial services provider and global nonprofit Women’s World Banking announce a partnership to promote women’s financial inclusion across Pakistan. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the partners will work to increase low-income women’s adoption and use of digital financial services, particularly the JazzCash mobile account.

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Leadership & Diversity

Have you found your ikigai?

Our Management Development Program at NBS Bank (Malawi) helped managers understand their core values and leverage their differences to better work together to serve women.

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WWB News

PRESS RELEASE | On International Women’s Day, Indonesia Announces Partnership with Women’s World Banking to Improve Women’s Financial Inclusion

On International Women’s Day, the Secretariat of the National Council for Financial Inclusion of Indonesia (Secretariat) and global nonprofit Women’s World Banking announce a partnership to promote women’s financial inclusion in Indonesia. The project, made possible with funding from the Department of Foreign and Trade of Australia (DFAT), will support Indonesia’s goal to reach 75 percent financial inclusion by 2019.

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WWB News

PRESS RELEASE | Banco ADOPEM wins Women’s World Banking Excellence in Leadership Award

On International Women’s Day, Women’s World Banking announces that Banco de Ahorro y Crédito ADOPEM, S.A. (Banco ADOPEM) of the Dominican Republic receives the Excellence in Leadership Award. The award recognizes Banco ADOPEM’s commitment to promoting gender diversity among the organization’s staff, leadership and governance alongside its mission to serve low-income women.

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Research & Perspectives

Women are at the heart of sustainable business

Last year, I was invited to be a part of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission which brings together leaders from business, finance, civil society, labor, and international organizations to develop a private sector response to the challenges presented by the Global Goals.  Specifically, the Commission has the “twin aims

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Products & Solutions

Tanzanian Teens Want To Save Too

Banks know that Tanzania’s growing youth population are eager savers and enthusiastic users of mobile money but younger teens are ignored. That’s a big mistake.

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Research & Perspectives

2015 Annual Report

Experience our annual report in this dynamic, digital format and learn how we are learning, leading and investing in women’s financial inclusion.

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