Better access to financial services may boost the employment opportunities of individuals, the
building of wealth and the chance of establishing a company. Despite this, women across the
globe are still under-banked or unbanked compared with men. But for women in Bangladesh, it
is long been a success story with 90% of MFI customers representing women. 35% of
Bangladeshi Women have a bank account in terms of formal financial services that is above
South Asia’s regional average (Global Findex).
Meanwhile, new financial technology or ‘fintech’ is being hailed as a way to improve financial
inclusion and reduce the gender gap in access to financial services all over the world.
Conventional financial institutions and rising fintech companies say that by using new
technology and non-traditional information, they are able to provide innovative solutions better
tailored to customer needs for a lower cost.
In Bangladesh, however, the situation is quite different. Women account for just 18% of digital
financing users, with less accounts registered. This is confusing, given that digital financial
services have expanded enormously, now owning more than 21 million registered accounts. So
the question arises, where are the women?
Despite substantial investments in mobile platforms and some notable achievements in
digitizing payments and transfers, women often encounter challenges in accessing and utilizing
digital financial services. Indeed, according to the GSMA (2015), women are 14 per cent less
likely than males to possess a mobile phone. So, why do gender gaps persist in the fintech
ecosystem?
There answer lies in these concerns:
- WOMEN’S PHONE OWNERSHIP AND USE:
According to the GSMA, Bangladesh has approximately 50% unique subscriber penetration.
MFI field workers, on the other hand, indicate that the majority of low-income families have just
one phone. Bangladesh society is primarily a male dominant society and as a consequence of
this, most families are headed by males. So the mobile is typically carried by the spouse or older male children.
- VERY FEW FEMALE AGENTS:
Women have less mobility than males, and there are cultural obstacles to reaching out to agents
in male-dominated marketplaces. Also, there is a clear preference for female agents among
women as they feel comfortable making transactions. As only 3% of the agents are female, so
the women user base is lower in Bangladesh.
- THINKS IT’S RISKY:
Women are less likely to embrace new financial technology, regardless of whether it is provided
by new or existing companies. Also, attitudes may reflect societal norms that influence the
cost-benefit trade-off differently across genders within a culture. For example, if women are
more concerned about the implications of a data breach, it may be prudent to avoid services
that involve personal data collecting and processing, even if they provide cheaper or better
goods.
- POOR FINANCIAL LITERACY:
According to IFC, only 4 per cent of respondents had received formal financial literacy training.
Those who received training were more likely to have bank accounts and performed more
transactions compared to those who did not.
So what to do now? Firstly, ensuring accessibility. The service providers need to proactively
recruit female agents At the same time, introducing a digital credit product and a recurring
deposit product, as well as forming relationships with MFIs, are the suggestions that would have
the most effect in terms of increasing the number of registered female users. Finally, MFS
should focus on strengthening existing and prospective clients’ financial capabilities by initiating
MFS awareness and use initiatives as part of the financial literacy program.
About the writer:
Asir Faisal is a technology enthusiast and seasoned entrepreneur who believes in building a bigger table by utilising the power of data for good, wherever he goes. Currently, he is working as the Operation Lead of a reputed firm in Bangladesh.
Reference Research & Data:
- Closing the Gender Gap: Opportunities for the Women’s Mobile Financial Services
Market in Bangladesh – IFC
- Microfinance and Women Empowerment: A Panel Data Analysis Using Evidence from
Rural Bangladesh;DOI: 10.5539/ijef.v3n5p86
Images used in the articles are under the copyright of Amit Rudro
