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.
By Pallavi T Madhok and Jyotsna Kumari India’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) has created a powerful base for innovative and inclusive financial services. However, achieving financial inclusion is not only about providing access to digital systems; it also depends on building trust and ensuring that women and underserved populations feel
On any given day, you’ll find Maya Potter deep in conversation—interviewing men, women, and girls from all walks of life. From small-town revitalization to the rise of AI, from fandom to online bullying, her work is rooted in listening deeply and with purpose. It’s a way of working that feels
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 to today! These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach from the women we serve and our
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,
This report highlights the critical role of women’s financial resilience in fostering their long-term financial empowerment. With a focus on rural women under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme, the report underscores how microinsurance adoption is key to building financial security in India. India’s Insurance Ambition: ‘Insurance for
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women to today! These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women to today! These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach
India’s progress in Digital Public Infrastructure and the India Stack has accelerated financial inclusion dramatically, achieving in six years what might have otherwise taken decades. Building on this momentum, women-led development has emerged as a crucial component of India’s strategy for sustainable growth, aligning with the goals of the Pradhan
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women to today! These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are showcasing the voices of individuals from around the world who have shaped and touched Women’s World Banking journey. These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach from the women we serve and our customers, to allies and women in leadership
In this Policy Brief we explore the challenges faced by women in accessing and utilizing financial products and services in developing economies. Globally, approximately 750 million women lack access to financial services, highlighting persistent barriers despite advancements in financial inclusion. Women often exhibit lower levels of financial literacy and
Scroll down to download the report. India leads the world in the expansion of financial access to low-income people, especially low-income women. As the access challenge is nearly solved, the opportunity financial services providers now face is engaging their customers. Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are uniquely positioned to effect a
The COVID-19 pandemic affected women in India in many ways. A Women’s World Banking survey conducted in the Fall of 2021 in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal gives light to the ways in which women in these states were impacted by the pandemic. Women in these two states responded to
Product Design in Women’s Financial Services As Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian aptly notes, The global average hides the starker reality of the situation women face. In some countries, it will take over 100 years to achieve gender equality in financial access without further intervention. The
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
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 –
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
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
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
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
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’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment are critical building blocks in development. Between now and 2030, the target date for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the inclusion of women in the financial sector and their economic engagement and empowerment will unlock major milestones on the road to a more
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.
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
By Giudy Rusconi, Specialist, Quantitative Research and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking Financial institutions provide a literal lifeline for many of their hundreds of millions of clients around the world, and never more so than now. As Covid-19 spreads to more low- and middle-income countries,
This blog summarizes findings from a new Women’s World Banking research report available here. In India and Indonesia, women have long battled a litany of challenges to start and expand their own businesses. Constraints related to low access to capital, restricted mobility, limitations on property rights, time poverty, and gender
With support from Standard Chartered and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Women’s World Banking conducted research in India and Indonesia to investigate the potential of social commerce to advance women entrepreneurs’ 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.
The gender agnostic approach has gone on for too long, and that needs to change.
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
Women’s World Banking undertook research to determine why women aren’t saving actively in a bank and tested prototypes to change that behavior.
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.
One year on, what has the effect of demonetization on India been? Thoughts from our Chief Investment Officer.
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.
Kate Hooper, Executive Vice President, Market Research and Solution Development at Women’s World Banking discussed what India can do to close thegender gap with senior leaders of Credit Suisse India.
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 Mary Ellen Iskenderian’s comments were cited in this article on India.com about India’s biometric identification system, Aadhar.
Our CEO’s letter to the editor about the impact of India’s demonetisation on women was featured in the online edition of The Economist.
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.
A microfinance client success story from our network member in Lebanon, Al Majmoua.
How can women-focused financial institutions mitigate the challenges in keeping their outreach to women when expanding to individual lending?
Women’s World Banking Capital Partners investee shattered records in India’s financial stockmarket during its IPO. The role our focus on gender played in this story.
During a recent visit to New York, Viji Das chatted briefly about her work and shared stories of the low-income women she meets in the field.
We conducted a Management Development Program at Ujjivan (India) to support their leaders through the institution’s transformation into a small finance bank.
Viji Das is an unstoppable force for the financial inclusion of low-income women in India. A profile of her life and work.
There are millions of low-income people without access to formal financial services who have the opportunity of doing so through their work at factories. How can workplace-based training can accelerate financial inclusion for this population?
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?
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.
Nithya Palanisami of Ujjivan Financial Services (India) shares her exclusive interview with Vinatha Reddy, founder of GrameenKoota, in this guest post.
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.
International Banker Magazine features our youth savings work with SEWA Bank in India.
Fellow Ramatolie reflects on her experiences participating in the Women in Leadership Program held in Mumbai last November.
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.
Our travel program recently returned from a ten day trip to India visiting our network members Ananya, FWWB, Ujjivan and SEWA Bank. One of the travelers shares his photo journal.
Women’s World Banking board member and Self-Employed Women’s Association (India) founder Ela Bhatt recently gave the 15th annual Mahatma Ghandi Lecture on Nonviolence at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. The event was held on October 3 and the title of Ela’s speech was: “Women and Poverty: The Hidden Face of Violence with Social Consent.”
Senior Associate Jaclyn Berfond and Ujjivan CEO and Women’s World Banking board member Samit Ghosh guest blogged for CGAP on the sometimes surprising benefits of measuring an institution’s gender performance.
India network member Ujjivan has just released the results of an independent impact assessment survey.
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.
HERfinance—which BSR launched in 2012 as a pilot project in India as part of its broader efforts to empower women in the global economy—has already reached nearly 8,000 workers in the readymade garment sector.
Thanks to television and Bollywood, Indian women have become more aware of new trends and demand an ever-expanding range of services for their hair, skin and nails from local beauty parlors. The result is that beauty parlors can be seen in almost every neighborhood and street, from low-income neighborhoods to busy streets and markets to posh suburbs.
India network member Ujjivan raised INR 50 Crores of debt capital through issuance of listed, secured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) to Oikocredit, an international cooperative and social investor.
What are the financial lives of low-income garment employees like? This was one of the questions driving the research Women’s World Banking conducted in India during the early part of 2013.
Samit Ghosh, head of India network member Ujjivan and Women’s World Banking board member, shared his experiences of the Financial Inclusion Symposium last July 19-20, 2013 at Turin.
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.
Indian Cooperative featured the introduction of financial literacy in SEWA Bank’s services.
Congratulations to SWWB Board Member Samit Ghosh for being elected as the new president of the Microfinance Institutions Network!
In the three decades he worked for CitiGroup and Bank Muscat, Samit Ghosh picked up every nuance of the banking business.
We are proud to share with you that two of the first MFIs to be certified by the Smart Campaign are members of the Women’s World Banking network. Please join me in congratulating MI-BOSPO (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Ujjivan Financial Services (India) on receiving the Client Protection Certification.
Ela Bhatt receives Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace; “her work reflects Indira’s ideals”
Congratulations to Sudha Suresh, Chief Financial Officer of network member Ujjivan Financial Services, for being recognized as by the Indian CFO Institute’s 2013 Roll of Honour Awards.
We congratulate network member Ujjivan Financial Services for making the Great Place to Work and Economic Times’ “India’s Best Companies to Work for 2013”!
Ujjivan was invited for the Pacific Regional Forum held at Auckland, New Zealand from February 28 to March 1, 2013 to share best practices in building an organizational culture that values human capital and creative ways of building capacity in a resource-constrained environment.
‘It all started at the world conference of the international women’s year in Mexico City in 1975. There I met with Esther Afua Ocloo from Ghana. She shared her stories about the position of market women in the capital city Accra and their need for economic empowerment.’
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.
