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.
Download the checklist here or scroll down to the end of the blog. Around the world, financial systems are evolving, but too often, policies are still gender-neutral instead of gender-intentional. This checklist gives regulators a clear framework to assess existing policies, identify gaps and take action to ensure women have
By Pallavi Madhok, VP, Advisory Services, South Asia, Women’s World Banking and Priti Rathi Gupta, Founder, LXME Digital financial services (DFS) have unlocked exciting pathways to inclusion for historically excluded populations, especially women. However, despite mobile internet access and digital platforms expanding rapidly, true engagement with DFS among women, particularly
Pallavi Madhok, VP, Advisory Services – South Asia, Women’s World Banking, and Gabriel Bizama, Researcher, University of Bern India’s digital payments landscape has revolutionized how the country transacts. Its Unified Payments Interface (UPI), launched in 2016 by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), under the aegis of the Reserve
By Pallavi Madhok, VP, Advisory Services, South Asia, Women’s World Banking and Dilip Modi, Chairman, Spice Connect Women’s digital financial journeys are starkly different than those of men; their learning curve is steeper, and confidence-building takes time and consistency. In our “UPI for Her” project with the National Payments Corporation
Advancing Women’s Financial Inclusion Through Policy Scroll down to download the draft handbook. Gender-inclusive financial policies are essential to building equitable financial systems that work for women. Despite progress in financial inclusion, women worldwide still face barriers to accessing, using, and benefiting from financial services. Structural gaps, social norms, and
In partnership with The Grooming Centre, a leading microfinance institution dedicated to building a vibrant and high-growth organization poised to play a leading role in enhancing access to financial services for the poor. Women’s World Banking launched a project in June 2024 aimed at enhancing financial access for Women-led Micro
Imagine trying to open a bank account, receive government support, or even send money—without a personal ID. For 850 million people globally – almost twice the population of Europe – this is a harsh reality. Without ID ownership, these individuals are prevented from accessing essential services and fully participating in
Meet Ruth. She is a 26-year-old Nigerian woman and the owner of a mini pharmacy in Ilesha town in southwestern Nigeria. Ruth, like many other Nigerian women, is particularly vulnerable to health risks and faces gender-specific challenges related to maternity. According to the latest Findex, sixty-two percent of Nigerian women
Despite making up one-third of all formal MSMEs, women-led businesses in developing countries face a credit deficit of nearly $1.5 trillion. There is a mismatch: despite the large number of women-led microbusinesses, they are often not discoverable to lenders. This customer segment is at the bottom of the lending funnel,
Business Skills Education Running a business is challenging for any entrepreneur, but for women microentrepreneurs in emerging markets, these challenges are even greater. Often lacking institutional support, formal business training and confidence in engaging with digital financial services, many of these women struggle to realize the full potential of their
By Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO, Women’s World Banking and Dhivya O’Connor, CEO, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women Politics aside: keep momentum in women’s digital financial inclusion 2024 is a mega year for elections across the globe. Almost a quarter of the world’s population is heading to the polls
By Maria Serenade Sinurat, Ker Thao, Elwyn Panggabean A visit to Samut Prakan, an industrial zone located 30 kilometers from Bangkok, offers a glimpse into the lives of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. This town is one of Thailand’s economic zones that attract low-skilled, low-wage Cambodian migrants, particularly women, who
by Elizabeth Ingerfield, Manager, Leadership & Diversity Programs In a world of greater unpredictability and climate impacts, insurance can be a challenging product to deploy. Forward-thinking regulators, policymakers, and supervisors are changing their tactics, ensuring insurance can be a tool for inclusion. In a recent event bringing together alumni from
Nigeria boasts a thriving community of women entrepreneurs. In fact, the country has the world’s highest proportion of activity by women entrepreneurs, comprising a remarkable 23 million women who command 41% of the country’s micro-businesses. Beyond the statistics, these women are the unsung heroes of resilience, contributing to their families
This toolkit is designed to empower financial service providers in refining and enhancing their digital credit solutions to better serve low-income women, particularly micro-entrepreneurs. Providers will be equipped with strategies to design and implement initiatives aimed at improving access to credit for women, addressing the unique challenges they face in
By Ker Thao, Maria Serenade, and Elwyn Panggabean Globally, the emerging youth population presents a potential for economic growth. However, youth in developing countries also still face barriers to access financial services, such as three of 10 million Cambodian young adults who remain financially underserved. Youth savings, in particular, has
Digital financial services (DFS) are rapidly becoming a transformative force in driving financial inclusion and economic growth and empowerment. Low-income women often face specific challenges in accessing financial services, which hinders their economic empowerment. By enabling women’s participation in DFS, we address gender inequality, promote economic participation and bolster overall
Women’s World Banking is closing the access to skills gap, learn more here. As part of our work focused on closing the skills gap, we are collating in one place resources from Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub coalition members to help governments, financial service providers and civil society
By Ker Thao, Maria Serenade, and Elwyn Panggabean In Cambodia, three million out of 10 million young adults remain financially underserved, hindering their ability to plan and invest for their futures. As part of its drive for greater financial inclusion, Women’s World Banking is working with AMK Microfinance Institution –
Adekunle Alarapon (ACIB, CDEF) is Head of Retail Segments for Wema Bank Plc, where he holds responsibilities for Agent Banking & Financial Inclusion, Gaming & Entertainment Business, Workplace Banking and Female Gender (Sara) Propositions. Mr. Alarapon has more than 20 years of banking experience in operations, control, commercial, retail and
Dr. Marek Dubovec is the Director of Law Reform Programs at the International Law Institute, as well as Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Recognized for his international expertise in commercial law reform and especially secured transactions, Marek works with governments, policymakers
When Agnes Salyanty, Southeast Asia Research Lead for Women’s World Banking, interviewed Indonesian women e-commerce entrepreneurs on how they use online platforms, two respondents stuck out as representatives of the innovation, flexibility, and boldness of the sector. “What impressed me was their willingness to experiment with both their products and
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
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 –
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 last year’s Global Findex Report, digital financial inclusion isn’t just an urgent moral imperative, but an economic
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
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
Originally posted on Stanford Social Innovation Review. $700 billion. That’s how much banks and other financial service providers could generate in additional annual revenue if they do nothing more than provide financial services to women at the same rate they are provided to men. In overlooking the women’s market, the financial industry
This is the third in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao Over the last six months, we launched a pilot program with DANA, one of Indonesia’s largest e-wallet providers, to provide a digital remittance solution for
By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, Ker Thao, Nonggol Darapati As the world shifts to living in a new normal world, while still recovering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, no other shift has been greater than the shift from traditional economies to what is now known today as the
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
Spanning operations in 35 countries and comprised of 62 diverse financial services providers, Women’s World Banking’s Global Network is the only network focused on driving inclusive access to and usage of financial services for low-income women across the globe. In honor of Women’s History Month in March, we are proudly
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.
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking While undoubted progress has been made in some areas of gender equality, examples of everyday gender bias are still so prevalent that they almost go unnoticed. In the corporate world, unequal pay, boardroom bias, even next technologies like AI
This is the second in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao For domestic workers in Indonesia, remittances provide a critical means of support for their families. As we noted in our first blog, domestic workers need
By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, Ker Thao, and Razaq Manan It’s a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Irma* is cleaning her sister’s house, while also looking after her four-year-old son. She is worried whether this week’s income from cleaning sufficient to cover her household expenses. Her husband, a local fisherman, gave her
This is the first in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao In Asia, Indonesia has the second largest migrant population, with international migrant workers comprising a large portion of the economy. There are approximately 4.5 million
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
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
By Whitney Mapes, Elwyn Panggabean, Angela Ang, and Agnes Salyanty Over the past year and a half, Women’s World Banking has collaborated with Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), one of the Indonesia’s largest state-owned banks involved in distributing benefits of the PKH (Program Keluarga Harapan or Family Hope Program), a conditional
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,
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
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
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
Scroll down for Spanish translation (DESPLAZARSE HACIA ABAJO PARA LA TRADUCCIÓN AL ESPAÑOL) By Sophie Theis and Alexandre Berthaud To promote savings for group loan clients in Mexico, Women’s World Banking designed a solution integrated into the Compartamos group loan model. In this blog, we share lessons learned from user
“You get to hear what works for other organizations, other commercial banks like ourselves, and get to meet up with Fintechs. A lot of good ideas: It’s mind-blowing. The perspective that Women’s World Banking itself brings in, it’s a complete solution.” For low-income women who are running their own business
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
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
In order to better serve low-income women in Sub-Saharan Africa with financial products, Women’s World Banking and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA) partnered together to increase the capacity of leading financial institutions in Nigeria, Tanzania and Malawi.
Understanding clients must remain at the center for microinsurance solutions to truly serve as a good pair of running shoes.
In order to better serve low-income women in Sub-Saharan Africa with financial products, Women’s World Banking and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA) partnered together to increase the capacity of leading financial institutions in Nigeria, Tanzania and Malawi.
Women’s World Banking and NMB worked together to develop the WAJIBU youth savings proposition.
Women’s World Banking applied different approaches in Nigeria and Pakistan to increase both the acquisition of women customers as well as women’s engagement with digital financial services.
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.
In this podcast, Veronica Karpoich, Project Manager at Women’s World Banking discusses Women’s World Banking’s progress in closing the gap of financial access for one of the most challenging segments to reach, rural 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.
Women’s World Banking’s strategy for Bangladesh addresses why women are getting left out of the country’s financial inclusion gains, and sets out ambitious, workable solutions to shrink the gender gap.
Health insurance is complicated. It is full of financial jargon, and it can be confusing to understand even for those who can afford it and are paying premiums for it.
Women’s World Banking worked with Jazz to partner with Unilever’s women entrepreneur training program to leverage each companies core competencies to increase value for their products and drive financial inclusion for low-income women in Pakistan.
In order to serve the massive market of women-led enterprises, financial service providers must adopt women-centered model that often requires massive change throughout their operations.
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.
Women, especially the low-income segment, are often overlooked by traditional financial service providers in Egypt. Women’s World Banking and Lead Foundation developed an innovative individual lending methodology that successfully reached women entrepreneurs.
Vietnam has millions of economically active women who interact with the formal financial sector at a superficial level. Women’s World Banking worked with Maritime Bank to develop a strategy to deepen its outreach the women’s market.
While Mexico has made great strides in driving financial inclusion for low-income women but many more barriers, albeit surmountable, need to be addressed before the country can realize the economic benefit of financial inclusion.
One year on, a look back at our CEO’s House Foreign Affairs Committee testimony on the importance of promoting women’s financial inclusion globally to unlock economic growth.
Behavioral design is an important new tool in helping the financial services industry see women (and low-income women in particular) as a viable market segment.
Can microinsurance be meaningful for clients and sustainable for the provider? Our woman-centered, client-centric approach in Egypt shows it can.
Using our women-centered design approach, we worked with ideas42 to figure out how to get more women to sign up for JazzCash mobile accounts through referrals.
This Mother’s Day, a look at how Women’s World Banking has developed financial tools and resources for mothers to build a more secure future for herself and her family.
La visita facilitó el intercambio de las mejores prácticas y lecciones aprendidas por Fundación delamujer a Lead Foundation, en las etapas de diseño e implementación de productos de crédito rural y microseguros.
Four lessons on building inclusive value chains for the fast-moving consumer goods industry.
An exposure visit to Colombia unveiled Fundación delamujer’s client-centric approach toward innovating for the women’s market.
Perspectives from Unilever, the World Cocoa Foundation and Mastercard on ways to create a global supply chain that includes women.
FSDA guest blogs on their support for our partnership with Diamond Bank and the transformational effect access to a savings account has on women’s lives.
What needs to happen in Bangladesh before digital financial services become the financial inclusion solution for women in the country?
A government opens a bank account for citizens receiving welfare payments. How can we turn recipients from “withdrawal-only” users to financially included?
Why blockchain can be a game changer for women’s financial inclusion, even in the village.
Digital financial services has, in just the past ten years, changed the landscape of financial inclusion. But has it done much for women?
Players, new and old, are beginning to recognize their critical and interconnected roles in advancing women’s financial inclusion.
Our partner NMB Bank Plc. is highlighted in this study on good practice sin developing inclusive and sustainable products and services for the youth segment.
What our digital financial services peer exchange participants learned about defining the problem from behavioral design firm ideas42.
Women in Tanzania who never thought to save in a bank are opening accounts with NMB Bank Plc because their daughters are taking the lead.
Essential considerations for successful youth banking propositions that increase youth’s economic opportunity and offer a valuable business case to banks.
How does Branding and Marketing help financial service providers serve low-income women profitably and sustainably?
With support from the Metlife Foundation, Women’s World Banking documented four best practices in serving low-income women profitably and sustainably.
The incredible potential for impact when working with a government that understands the importance of women’s financial inclusion & puts resources behind it.
Part two of a series on the opportunity for factories to offer financial and non-financial services to drive deeper financial inclusion.
80% of India’s 6 million garment employees are women. Many are not formally banked. These factories can be these women’s gateway to financial inclusion.
Our Product Development director explains the crucial elements of design to ensure financial product that works for women.
New regulation has inspired a renaissance for mobile money in Morocco. But competition is tight. How can a new player win in this market?
A case study on NBS Bank’s Pafupi savings account, a mobile and agent-led savings product to reach low-income women in rural Malawi.
A new case study on our work with NBS Bank designing a digital savings account that addresses the barriers to banking facing low-income women in rural Malawi.
The success of women-focused products depends on front-line staff resonating with the objective to serve women as much as it does having leaders’ buy-in.
High-level findings on challenges and opportunities for digital financial inclusion in India, and the building blocks for a digital economy friendly to women.
High-level findings on low-income Indian women’s use of financial services & the challenges financial services providers have to overcome to serve them.
Women’s World Banking developed a profile of India’s low-income women to inform our approach designing inclusive digital financial services.
Our President and CEO testified in front of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing, “Beyond Microfinance: Empowering Women in the Developing World.”
Financial services providers in Pakistan risk losing out on an untapped market opportunity by continuing to believe myths about serving the women’s market.
Women’s World Banking tested an innovative social communications strategy: using a popular TV show to help change social attitudes about women and banking.
Supported by FSD Africa, we uncovered the must-haves for any financial service provider looking to give women-owned SMEs with access to credit.
Select excerpts from our comprehensive publication on inclusive health microinsurance products offer an overview of our approach to design and delivery of insurance that works for women.
A series of one-pagers highlighting select topics from our comprehensive publication, “Health Microinsurance: An Inclusive Approach.”
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian highlights the importance of ensuring gender equality across the corporate sourcing networks.
Diamond Bank (Nigeria) added more options to the BETA Savings mobile app but clients weren’t using them. How user experience testing solved this mystery.
Africa.com highlights our Africa Advisory Council meeting which focused on women’s financial inclusion, held during WEF Africa.
Our microinsurance specialist shares best practices in sales training for microinsurance to ensure maximum outreach and uptake for low-income women.
The publication highlights how the insurance industry can play a major role in increasing financial protection for women—including those from low-income levels—through approaches that target their specific needs.
Agency banking is one of the most promising that can overcome women’s obstacles to financial access.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian wrote a piece on The Guardian on how empowering women is non-negotiable when it comes to promoting sustainable global growth.
While microinsurance appears to be moving into the mainstream, it’s focus on client-centricity make success a trickier proposition.
A bank and regulator share how they were able to partner effectively to bring digital financial services to low-income rural women in Malawi.
Gilles Renouil, Director, Product Development (Microinsurance) wrote an article on Women’s World Banking’s approach to managing fraud in microinsurance.
Read the recap of the webinar hosted by The World Bank’s Agrifin Facility, featuring our Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman.
How can a world leader in gender equality have trouble closing the gender gap in financial inclusion? What we found in Rwanda.
Our Savings Manager Ryan Newton co-authored a post with UNCDF YouthStart’s Ata Cisse on what we learned from our youth savings project in Ethiopia.
In this video, Women’s World Banking and its partners share their experience in building a meaningful and sustainable product for low-income women in Jordan, Morocco and Uganda.
Our BETA Savings project with Diamond Bank (Nigeria) is highlighted in this CFR Women Around the World blog.
Introducing our newest publication where we outline our research-driven approach to developing inclusive health microinsurance products in varied markets.
Our team applied user experience testing to optimize mobile banking services for low-income women in Nigeria.
An interview with the Head of Financial Inclusion at Diamond Bank (Nigeria) on the bank’s push to serving the unbanked, especially low-income women.
Women’s World Banking went to Lagos to join Diamond Bank in launching their agency banking model for Nigeria’s un- and underbanked population.
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.
Our Director of Consumer Insights and Engagement Cathleen Tobin and CEO of Ujjivan Financial Services Samit Ghosh are featured in this video on Metlife’s Multipliers of Prosperity microsite.
How firsthand experience with our clients and partners is helping Women’s World Banking’s fundraisers accurately and authentically communicate our work.
A microfinance client success story from our network member in Lebanon, Al Majmoua.
While savings groups satisfy some of low-income Malawians’ financial needs, they could really benefit from a private, individual savings account.
How can women-focused financial institutions mitigate the challenges in keeping their outreach to women when expanding to individual lending?
Microfund for Women is a pioneering financial institution in the Middle East serving women clients and promoting women’s employment and leadership.
Women’s World Banking gathered partners in Jordan to discuss, debate and learn about microinsurance best practices.
Liz Kellison of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reflects on visiting women clients in the Lagos markets during the launch event for Diamond Y’ello.
Without a thoughtfully designed and well-executed sales training for your staff before roll-out, your innovative new product will go nowhere.
As more financial institutions offer savings accounts for women, we updated our Gender Performance Indicators to ensure that women are still served well.
Our research on the financial needs of low-income women are cited in this article about fintech and the financial inclusion of women.
Maura Hart, Manager, Knowledge and Communications, guest blogged on Ericsson’s Mobile Financial Services blog in honor of International Women’s Day.
We condensed our model of helping financial institutions begin offering individual loans to low-income women entrepreneurs into a handy guide.
Experts from the nonprofit sector and financial institutions to discuss the role of pensions in the field of financial inclusion.
Watch this video on our work developing financial services built on digital technology.
The women’s microinsurance market is a trillion dollar opportunity for insurers. Experts on how to tap this market while ensuring meaningful value for clients.
Financial inclusion for low-income women has for years meant group loans. Three financial institutions on why the tide is shifting towards individual loans.
Mazen Nimri of Jordan Insurance Company shares what it’s like to develop insurance for low-income people, from the insurer’s perspective.
Kashf Foundation’s research team blogs about their findings from an impact assessment report of their services in 2015.
The pilot assessment of the BETA Target Savers revealed the challenges of reaching women, even with the help of digital financial services.
Using data to inform policy, strategy and product design will enable financial inclusion stakeholders to more effectively serve women.
Martha Oluwatobi is the proud owner of a market stall in Lagos, Nigeria. She sells minerals used for health benefits by expectant mothers who routinely buy small amounts of clay-like ingredients a few times a week.
The study looks at opportunities for workforce participation and advancement for women at select multinational and local banks in five countries in Southeast Asia.
Comments from our Chief Knowledge and Communications officer on the most important things to watch in 2016 for financial inclusion.
Our research specialist blogs about the recent McGraw-Hill study on the financial literacy gender gap and how we’ve been addressing it with our partners.
Our research on the health needs and behaviors of low-income men and women in Egypt found many barriers—cost, priorities—as barriers to accessing healthcare.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian contributed to the latest edition of Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization Vol. 10 Issue 12.
Maintaining a bank account adds another level of complexity to managing your hard-earned cash, a complexity that people who are barely getting by have neither the time nor resources to address.
The poor are vulnerable to risk, a cause of persistent poverty. Microinsurance is one solution to mitigate risk, yet demand remains disappointingly low. This article looks at lessons learned and selective recommendations for increasing demand, based on academic studies and the experiences of over 60 innovation partners of the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility.
This guide focuses on microentrepreneurs and documents Women’s World Banking’s framework for developing individual lending products for women, outlining specific aspects of the methodology that are necessary to reach the low-income women’s market.
Kashf Foundation guestblogs on their approach to client-centricity: a singular focus on clients’ needs and welfare, powered by research and client feedback.
Low-income women are diligent savers but often face tremendous barriers to saving safely with a bank. Digital savings can be a game-changing opportunity to introduce women to savings accounts and enable their financial inclusion.
Roundtable participants share their thoughts on the importance of giving low-income women access to financial services through digital savings and how this delivery channel addresses the specific needs of women.
On our experience developing products tailored to women’s needs; what financial institutions should do; and how financial products should be designed to ensure that it meets women’s needs.
This report outlines Women’s World Banking’s research into the landscape of digital savings for women and emerging best practice in the space.
Participants in our Digital Savings Roundtable Discussion in New York City share their thoughts on the conversation.
The pilot evaluation of our youth savings project in India reveals the structural barriers women and girls face when accessing financial services. Could youth savings help?
Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman blogs on the importance of client research in building meaningful microinsurance products that meet women’s needs.
How our Philippine network member Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation has been helping low-income women entrepreneurs in its community through small loans.
Women’s World Banking is known for the in-depth customer research that precedes all our product development work. Our new insurance director witnesses this first hand during his first trip to the field.
What do a typhoon and a refugee crisis have in common?
Julia Graham of the Microinsurance Network interviewed two members of our microinsurance team about the marketing and client education component of our work in Morocco.
Why is it important to serve low-income women with microinsurance products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.
Why is it important to serve low-income rural women with individual lending products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.Modify your meta description by editing it right here
Why is it important to serve low-income women with savings products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.
Why is it important to serve low-income youth with savings products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.
Women’s World Banking worked with Diamond Bank to design a loan that uses clients savings behavior to help them get access to credit quickly and easily.
Women’s World Banking and Visa created a program there called “BETA friends” that helped women set up mobile savings accounts that required no minimum deposit, no monthly fees and awarded weekly cash prizes to promote the program and sent weekly text messages reminding clients to save on schedule.
Women’s World Banking worked with Diamond Bank to conduct extensive research on the Nigerian youth market to design savings accounts that fit their specific needs.
Women’s World Banking support Diamond Bank (Nigeria) in developing savings accounts to meet the needs of low-income youth.
Millions of low-income salaried workers have a gateway to more financial services: direct deposit through their factory job. How do we ensure access leads to usage?
Savings Specialist Ryan Newton blogs about the five key lessons about designing sustainable youth savings programs, based on an evaluation of Banco ADOPEM’s (Dominican Republic) youth savings program, developed together with Women’s World Banking.
When crisis strikes, whether it is the result of a natural disaster or political unrest, what can financial institutions that serve low-income clients do to support their clients and the community?
Produced by Diamond Bank (2015)
Women’s World Banking network members participating in a virtual learning community compiled key insights on successfully marketing to women to share with the wider financial services industry
Senior Associate for Knowledge and Communications Gayle Gatchalian wrote about our research into the healthcare needs of Egyptians and Ugandans for The Huffington Post ImpactX blog, through the support of the Cisco Foundation.
Our Pafupi mobile savings project in Malawi with NBS Bank and supported by UNCDF was highlighted on OECD Insights.
Women’s World Banking co-authored a piece on the market opportunity of financing women-led SMEs with the SME Finance Forum and the World Economic Forum.
Four years after collaborating with Banco ADOPEM to develop its youth savings program, Women’s World Banking returned to the bank to evaluate the impact of the program on the bank.
Piloting new products requires constant monitoring to ensure success. In this post, we share how we adjusted our youth savings strategy to mitigate the challenges our project in India faced.
Women’s World Banking has worked in several countries to develop innovative methods like soap operas to reach low-income women with financial education.
One of the key takeaways from our recent workshop on serving rural women is the importance of partnerships in providing for all the business needs of this market.
Nearly one billion women around the world do not have access to a bank account. Many of the barriers that these women face will sound familiar — lack of decision-making power within their families, lack of education, lack of formal employment.
BANKS are overlooking a major source of savings which could help them meet growing demand for credit – women, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said.
New technology has “brought the bank” to millions of low-income women in a revolution that could help drive economic growth, according to an authority on women’s finance.
Women’s World Banking convened institutions and organizations invested in serving rural women to discuss the successes and challenges of developing an innovative, responsible, and sustainable approach to serving clients in rural areas.
Women’s World Banking co-hosted a roundtable with financial inclusion players in Mexico to the challenges to offering individual lending in the country and a path forward to begin.
With support from global nonprofit Women’s World Banking, three financial institutions in Peru, Colombia and Paraguay are successfully tapping a historically under-served market: low-income rural women.
Women’s World Banking worked with three network member institutions to develop financial products for women in Latin America.
This publication is a guide for deposit-taking institutions in any stage of youth savings program development.
Mexico is one of the most populous countries in Latin America so it is not surprising that they have one of the largest number of microfinance clients: a whopping six million borrowers which is roughly 5% of the population (2013). Yet there is something distinct about how microfinance has developed
With support from McGraw Hill Financial, Women’s World Banking sought to gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities for financial institutions to offer individual microenterprise lending to low-income entrepreneurs in Mexico. This report highlights findings that we hope will spur financial institutions to reach this underserved market.
The financial education industry as a whole has stopped short in examining who or what kind of individual is most successful in delivering financial education. We share our experience of three different educator profiles in various projects around the world.
Ujjivan (India) leaders visit fellow network member Fundación delamujer (Colombia) to learn individual lending best practices.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian introduces our 2013 Annual Report: In the last three years we have completed 27 research studies on the lives of low-income women; reached 1.2 million clients in 24 financial institutions with new products; and trained more than 200 leaders of financial institutions.
With support from Agence Française de Développement, Women’s World Banking went to Morocco in March of this year to meet with rural and urban clients of the institution to help AlAmana solve the mystery of why clients weren’t using their microinsurance.
“How much did you spend on healthcare last time you were hospitalized?” That was the question Women’s World Banking’s research team posed to more than 70 participants of focus groups organized in Uganda early this year as part of our project to introduce a health microinsurance product with our local network member. The question seems straightforward enough, a simple matter of sums. As we found however, most of the participants were not aware of the full cost of their hospitalization and even severely underestimated it.
Finance Trust Bank and Women’s World Banking are working together to develop and offer a health microinsurance product to help alleviate the financial burden of major illness for their low-income clients. We began our product development work as all Women’s World Banking projects do: with in-depth market research. Specifically in Uganda, we needed to understand the usage, needs, financing and costs for healthcare among low-income people, as well as their awareness of insurance.
Savings Specialist Ryan Newton blogged about our youth savings project in India with SEWA Bank for the Huffington Post/ Cisco ImpactX blog.
We sat with Yolanda and Antonio on plastic chairs under a thatched roof hanging over the front of their house. They had lived on the same 5.5 acre land in Peru for decades and raised two boys by selling milk from their three cows, crops like tomatoes, paprika and corn,
With the support of Credit Suisse, Women’s World Banking is working with its network member SEWA Bank to design a unique savings program targeted to girls.
In 2012, an estimated 64 percent of Nigerians were unbanked and had never accessed any formal financial services or products, a number that is higher for women: nearly 73 percent of all Nigerian women are unbanked. This number does not include figures for the underbanked—men and women who have had
Youth savings specialist Ryan Newton blogs about the youth panel during the “Building Women-Focused Finance” Conference in Amman, Jordan, November 20-21, 2013.
For poor women, access to a safe place to save and build assets is as important as access to loans. Women’s World Banking knows from its research that poor women are inherent savers. In this publication, we share the findings of our most recent savings work, including a three-year project with four of our network members.
Women’s World Banking’s work in Nigeria promoting financial inclusion for low-income women was featured in a recent article.
MFW is a client-centric institution that prides itself on striving to meet their clients’ needs. In the process of analyzing the life cycle of their clients, they realized that there are many circumstances where clients face health-related issues that involve many expenses and often loss of income, all of which have a negative impact on the financial stability of the household, maternity and child birth being the most common. With Women’s World Banking’s support and product development expertise, MFW set out to create a product to cover clients facing those health emergencies.
Jaclyn Berfond, Senior Associate for Strategy at Women’s World Banking guest blogged on the Center for Financial Inclusion blog on the important of measuring a financial institution’s gender performance in order to know and track whether they are serving women well.
Antonique Koning, a microfinance specialist at CGAP, blogged about our work on promoting financial inclusion for low-income women in Nigeria through the use of savings products and innovative outreach and delivery strategies.
Women’s World Banking considers clients’ financial goals and needs, the institution’s business objectives, and the existing market for financial services and information. We then work with the institution to develop a financial education strategy that uses existing delivery and communications channels and fits within client and business routines.
Around the end of August, the weeks leading up to the Women in Leadership program (WIL) in Jordan, my team was glued to the news watching the events unfolding in Egypt, Syria and across the Middle East. Egypt had called a state of emergency and the Syrian crisis had come to a head with reports of chemical weapons and talk of a military strike. It was precisely this regional uncertainty that made it so important for us to go forward with the Women in Leadership program in Amman in September.
Women’s World Banking worked with Visa. In Nigeria, just 26% of women and 12% of low-income adults have formal bank accounts, according to a 2012 report from the World Bank.
Youth Savings specialist Ryan Newton was cited as a resource for her work with our network member PEACE MFI S.CO on the UNDCF/ Mastercard Foundation report “Building the Business Case of Youth Services.”
Baboucarr Khan, CEO of Reliance Financial Services in the Gambia was joined by Reliance co-founder and COO Ismaila Faal along with Women’s World Banking team member Alejandra Rios to discuss the leadership implications of product innovation during a webinar hosted by Women’s World Banking.
Women’s World Banking develops innovative financial products to meet the dynamic needs throughout a woman’s life, but we start when she is a girl.
Innovation in product development and internal processes allows institutions to deliver on the double bottom line of financial and social returns. Innovation requires strong leadership and a clear vision.
Chief Strategy Officer Harsha Rodrigues participated in a discussion about how to measure the impact of development organizations’ economic empowerment work for women.
Women’s World Banking, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Multilateral Investment Fund, developed rural credit products that extend financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs in Peru, Paraguay and Colombia. This fact sheet details the challenge, objectives and initial results of the project that will run until December
Youth Savings Specialist Ryan Newton guest blogged for Youth Economic Opportunities to share Women’s World Banking’s experience in designing financial education programs specifically for youth.
Program funder Credit Suisse featured Mucho Corazon, our social communications project in Mexico.
All this week Women’s World Banking has been focusing on our youth savings work in honor of International Youth Day 2013. To cap it off, we’d like to share our extensive and interactive guide for deposit-taking microfinance institutions looking to offer or improve a youth savings program for their market.
“In the past, when I had money in my hand, I just go out and spend, but now whenever I get money, I just run and come here to save it.” – Lenege girl saver
Today we’re sharing the blogpost we wrote for microlinks back in 2012 about the youth savings product we developed in the Dominican Republic with network member Banco ADOPEM.
In 2008, Women’s World Banking began working with XacBank in Mongolia to develop a youth savings and financial education program, with support from the Nike Foundation, as part of the Girl Effect initiative.
In honor of this day, Women’s World Banking will be highlighting its youth savings work, which has implications for youth around the world – including migrants, which are the theme of this year’s Youth Day.
The Post Nigeria featured the launch of BETA Savings, a project Women’s World Banking developed with Diamond Bank to provide easy savings accounts to low-income women in Nigeria.
Mountains, low lands, wetlands, coastal areas, rainforests, islands… Sounds like an entire continent, but that geography is actually just one country’s: Papua New Guinea. With geography like that, you can imagine, getting anywhere is a real challenge.
Fadi Al-Tawabin, a Microinsurance Officer at Microfund for Women Jordan, explains the development of the hospital cash microinsurance product provided by his institution, a product developed with Women's World Banking.
Women’s World Banking board member and head of network member Ujjivan Samit Ghosh was quoted in an article in Business Standard about difficulties of transformation in the Indian microfinance industry.
The HERfinance curriculum—which BSR developed based on globally recognized best practices in financial literacy training—has been reviewed by experts such as Microfinance Opportunities, Better Work, and Women’s World Banking.
A global microfinance institution, specialising in providing women in less developed countries with insurance, has expressed its desire to work with Australian brokers in a bid to access affordable policies for its members.
Our savings work with Banco ADOPEM, our network member in the Dominican Republica, was featured in a local media outlet, Informate Diario, for promoting a savings culture to low-income communities in outlying areas.
In a recent project we worked with our network member Microfund for Women (MFW, Jordan) to launch Ri’aya (The Caregiver Policy). Ri’aya is a unique micro‐health insurance product that provides a cash benefit after hospitalization to help with costs associated with loss of business, medical expenses, transportation and other household needs.
Research has shown that healthcare costs often exert the most financial pressure on poor families. Given the negative impact a health emergency can have, microinsurance has tremendous potential to provide security and stability to a poor household.
Many participants in our research in Cairo described Facebook as the real reason behind the Revolution. Facebook is well known by both Egyptian men and women, with many accessing the site through their mobile phones.
Microfinance has been operating in Egypt since the 90’s; however this has not created a market of savvy borrowers. Through our market research we found that the façade of interest-free Islamic loans has created a lack of clarity around interest rates and compounded the issue of low financial literacy among men
The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24 is expected to peak in the next decade. According to market research conducted by Women’s World Banking, girls as young as 10 years old regularly accumulate money, actively manage it and want a safe place to save it. Ana Laura lives in a low-income
Women’s World Banking contributed to case studies to this European Microfinance Platform publication on successful low-income youth financial services programs.
This Cash Management Toolkit is part of a suite of practitioner guides and tools developed by Women’s World Banking for use by microfinance institutions (MFIs). It integrates closely with the Tool for Developing a Financial Risk Management Policy (Women’s World Banking, 2005) and expands on the fundamental guidance regarding liquidity risk management provided there. Cash Management includes all activities related to the efficient planning, procurement, investment and control of cash in a financial institution.
A summary of Microfinance Opportunities’ impact assessment study of our program, “Savings and Financial Education for Girls in Mongolia.”
If we add another solution to the mix, women have an even better chance to move from oppression to opportunity — economic empowerment. If women are to have a voice in the direction of their lives, they need basic financial services, including savings and insurance.
As the microfinance industry continues to shift its focus into understanding client’s needs and more effectively targeting specific segments, it is essential for management to understand an institution’s performance based on data.
A growing chorus of voices is calling for a shift away from cash-based economies in the developing world. For governments, non-governmental organizations and companies focused on expanding financial access to the underserved, it is fast becoming a top priority. Not only is it too costly and unsustainable to reach people
“Ana Laura opened her first savings account at Banco ADOPEM in the Dominican Republic in April 2011. She closely monitors the money she has in her account, keeping track of the number and size of deposits she makes. Ana Laura recognizes that the bank not only provides more security than keeping her money at home, but she is also less tempted to spend it.
Using Uganda as a case study, Women’s World Banking set out to better understand the needs of rural women and to use the research and lessons learned there to make recommendations on the design and delivery of microfinance products within Uganda and throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Something decidedly new is on the horizon in Africa since the mid-1990s. Many African economies appear to have turned the corner and have moved towards a path of faster and steadier economic growth. Their performance between 1995 and 2005 has reversed the economic collapses that marked the period from 1975 to 1985, and the stagnation that was rife between 1985 and 1995. Moreover, per capita income is now also increasing in tandem with other developing countries.
This report shares several years of WWB’s hands-on experience and lessons learned in the use of competency-based human resource systems and creates awareness among microfinance institutions of the importance of building organizational capability.
This toolkit gives MFI managers the theoretical understanding and practical examples to conduct an equity valuation of their institutions.
The Toolkit for Developing a Financial Risk Management (FRM) Policy is the leading practical, step-by-step guide that assists MFIs in developing effective risk management strategies and policies.
We present five key messages from the study here, giving both anecdotal and data-driven evidence of the power of microfinance, especially in the hands of women.
“Microinsurance that Works for Women: Making Microinsurance Programs Gender-Sensitive” introduces the ground-breaking work that Women’s World Banking has done on developing microinsurance programs tailored to the unique needs of women.
The book Saris on Scooters, which tells inspiring stories of women in India who have overcome many obstacles and successfully built businesses using small loans, features a foreword written by Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President of WWB.
This article highlights the launch of the savings and financial education product for girls in Mongolia by Women’s World Banking along with its network member XacBank.
This case study published by Making Cents International was featured as part of their Youth Inclusive Financial Service Case Study Series and details how Women’s World Banking has helped one of its network members, XacBank (Mongolia) design and roll-out savings products and financial education programs for girls ages 14 to 17.
Marketing for Microfinance is designed as a reference guide for microfinance organizations seeking to develop their marketing capabilities.
This paper outlines the design and implementation of credit scoring policies based on Women’s World Banking’s experiences working with network members and presents factors to consider when introducing credit scoring including cost, staff training, scoring policies, data collection and reporting.
