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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Latin American Fintech Tienda Pago Raises Series B Round, Backed by Women’s World Banking Asset Management, IDC Ventures
New York, 18 October 2022 — Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II (WWBCP II) has announced an investment in Latin American fintech company Tienda Pago, representing WWBCP II’s ninth investment to date. WWBCP II seeks to close the gender gap in financial inclusion, while demonstrating the business case for gender

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

#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

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

Leaving Money on the Table: There’s Nothing Micro About a Billion Women Excerpt
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

Global Hub Launched to Eradicate Women’s Digital Financial Exclusion and Accelerate Women’s Business Ownership
New Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Advocacy Hub to Champion Equal Access to Digital Financial Services for Women; Initial Efforts to Support Local Coalitions in Indonesia and Ethiopia; as well as Encourage Others to Join the Coalition NEW YORK – July 20, 2022 – Women’s World Banking and the UN Capital

How Digital Wallets are Transforming Remittances as an Entry-point for Domestic Workers into Formal Financial Services
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

Ultra Micro Entrepreneurs in Indonesia – How Financial Capability Education and Customer Centered Design Solutions are Key to Growth and Resilience
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

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

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