©Shutterstock

REACHING
FINANCIALEQUALITY
FOR WOMEN
A 10-point action plan forgovernments, companies, andinternational organizations to help
end women's economic exclusion
2023 edition

10 ACTIONS TO REACH FINANCIAL EQUALITY FOR WOMEN

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Digitize private
sector payments

Hire women at banks andmobile network operators

Digitize paymentsof governmentsocial benefits

Outlaw discrimination
against womenCollect, analyze and use
sex-disaggregated data

Design appropriate andaffordable financial
products for women

Ensure universal accessto identification

Help women benefit
from e-commerce
opportunities

End the gender gap in
mobile phone ownership

Create and enforce strong
digital finance consumer
protection mechanisms

REACHING FINANCIAL EQUALITY
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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

3CHAMPION VOICES
Since launching this call to action over two years ago, leaders from across governments, companies, as well as civil society
and international organizations, have taken swift action and inspired others to follow suit. Champions include:

Ethiopia has achieved digital wallet andbanking system interoperability, licensed
new digital products and services, enhanced
regulatory capacity, and launched data
automation initiatives to collect genderdisaggregated data for advancing financial
inclusion. As a result, over 438 million paymenttransactions took place through the traditionalbanking system and mobile money worth
5 trillion Ethiopian birr (USD$ 89.5 billion).

Women comprise more than half of the
population in Africa. It's no longer just a'nice-to-do' gesture; it's a crucial choice.
When we develop solutions and implement
policy interventions to bridge the financial
divide, prioritizing inclusion must be at thecore of our efforts.

Digitization played a crucial role in maintaining
resilience in the Philippines during the COVID-19
pandemic. Despite the significant disruptionsin economic activities, earlier investments inbuilding our national payments infrastructure
enabled us to sustain business transactions,especially via e-commerce. This kept theeconomy functioning, and in turn, facilitatedefficient taxation and allocation of resources,
especially for supporting women throughsocial services.

H.E. Mr. Demeke Mekonnen
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister
Republic of Ethiopia

Hon. Ms. Paula Ingabire
Minister of Information and Communications
Technology and Innovation
Republic of Rwanda

H.E. Dr. Benjamin E. Diokno
Secretary of FinanceRepublic of the Philippines

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

4CHAMPION VOICESIn our pursuit of inclusive global economic
growth, women's role in key areas including in
MSMEs is paramount. Innovative technologies,
including Digital Public Infrastructure, could
enhance economic inclusion for women
entrepreneurs significantly. By ensuring digital
identity and innovative systems including fast
payment systems and access to key financial
services, we can foster a future where womenled MSMEs thrive for a sustainable andinclusive growth.

The National Banking and Securities
Commission of Mexico has promoted theanalysis of sex-disaggregated data to visualize
the differentiated financial behaviors between
women and men. We have also encouraged
the design and supply of financial products
and services adapted to the needs of women.
Meanwhile, we are pushing for greater
representation of women in management
positions within financial government entities
and financial institutions, where brokerage
houses and investment funds
are no exception.

At Gap Inc., we were the first apparel retailer
to require our suppliers to pay workers
digitally, leveraging the scale of our businessto boost financial inclusion for millions
of people – especially women – in the
global supply chain. This commitment also
complements our women’s empowerment
initiatives that have so far provided financial
literacy and other essential life skills to morethan 1.5 million women around the world.

Mr. Chanchal Sarkar
Economic Advisor, Department of
Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance
India
Co-Chair of the Global Partnership for
Financial Inclusion (GPFI) under the 2023
India G20 Presidency

Mr. Jesús de la Fuente Rodríguez
President of the National Banking and
Securities Commission of Mexico (CNBV)
United Mexican States

Mr. Richard Dickson
CEO, Gap Inc.

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

5CHAMPION VOICESWith full and equal digital financial inclusion,
women are able to effortlessly receive digital
payments, access credit, control their finances,build assets, and become dynamic catalysts
for economic growth. But these opportunities
still elude the women and girls who lackinternet access, depriving both them and theircommunities of vital growth. With appropriately
designed solutions in digital infrastructure
and mobile financial services, we can bridge
this opportunity gap for the unconnected
and unbanked women of the world, bringing
important gains where they are most needed
for women and driving vital progress towards
gender equality and the achievement of
the Sustainable Development Goals.

In Huairou's global membership in Africa,
Asia, the Americas and S.E. Europe, grassroots
women-led collective producer associations
ensure food and livelihood security for ourfamilies and communities. Our constituency
base and contributions to local development
are significant. Financial equality, for us,
requires government and private sector
leaders to co-plan value chain, marketing,technology and financial inclusion initiatives
with us. We invite partners to join us in
co-producing gender just, financial equality.

At Aisyiyah, we believe nurturing women's
digital financial inclusion at the grassroots levelis like planting seeds of prosperity, equality,
and resilience. It's a beacon of hope in our fightagainst gender inequality, ignites increased
participation, and unleashes the full potentialof women in our economy. As we break down
barriers, we pave the way for prosperity anddismantle the foundations of violence, conflict,
and war. In our pursuit of global peace, women's
digital financial inclusion plays a vital role.

Ms. Sima Sami Bahous
United Nations Under-Secretary-General andExecutive Director
UN Women

Ms. Godavari Dange
Maharashtra Women's Farmers Network
Global Board Member, Huairou Commision

Dr. Arifah Rahmawati
Secretary of the Economic and Employment
Council of the Central Leadership 'Aisyiyah’
Indonesia

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6INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSIONINTRODUCTION

7©UNCDF Bangladesh

During the past decade, women’s economic andfinancial inclusion has become an increasingpriority for governments and companies aroundthe world. This is because of evidence documenting
benefits that include job creation; greater businessresilience; customer retention and expansion;increased agricultural output; poverty reduction;
as well as women’s economic empowerment.
The results have reinforced the importance ofremoving structural barriers to women’s active
participation in the formal economy and achieving
equality in access to responsible and sustainablefinancial services, provided in a well-regulated
environment.
Despite this evidence, the unfortunate truth
about the challenges of providing digital financial
services to women was revealed in a 2020
G20 report. It is a sad fact that in many countries,
women’s financial and economic rights are still
not protected under the law. In 2022, theWorld Bank found only 14 countries (out of 190)
have gender equality under the law for vital
financial and economic indicators. Too many
women lack access to formal identification,and thus are unable to open a bank account,own property, or develop a credit history,
which are essential to save, build assets,
secure a loan, or open or expand a business.

Many cannot even buy a basic mobile phone to send and receive money. Financial service providersof all kinds operate without women in leadership or equal numbers of women agents and bank tellers.
Many financial service providers have not yet realized how women clients can be a strong, profitablecustomer segment, and have not invested in products, services or channels that meet women’s needs.

UN Women estimates that there were at least 383 million
women and girls living in extreme poverty in 2022.
At least 16 million more women and girls than men and boys were in extreme poverty in 2022. This means
26 million more women were living in extreme poverty in 2022 than in 2019. Furthermore, the negative
economic and social consequences of climate shocks in all their forms disproportionately affect women.
The UN estimates that four times as many women than men are displaced by climate change.

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

The response to financial inequality has beenwell-intentioned but fragmented. Success isdependent on everybody doing their part.
Drawing on decades of experience, research,and in-field activity, the following

8©Better Than Cash Alliance

10-point action plan to reachfinancial equality for womenaims to help end the continued economic exclusionof half the world’s population and to build more
resilient national economies. All 10 actions areequally important: they are not sequential steps
but mutually reinforcing actions for all stakeholders
committed to reaching financial equality. This
10 point action plan builds on the G20 Global
Partnership for Financial Inclusion 2020 policy
recommendations and was first launched in thebuild-up to the 2021 Generation Equality Forum.

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

910 ACTIONS

9INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

10©Better Than Cash Alliance/M.M. Zahidur Rahman

01

DIGITIZE PRIVATESECTOR PAYMENTS
Businesses of all sizes, in every country, can help women
get bank accounts, mobile money accounts, or payment
accounts by paying their employees, suppliers, anddistributors digitally, rather than in cash. According to
the Global Findex, around 1.5 billion adults in low- andmiddle-income countries opened their first account toreceive digital private sector wage payments, including
approximately 650 million women.

OVER 50 MILLION

unbanked women continued to receive		private sector wage payments in cash

in 2021 according to the Global Findex.

such as the garment industry, can help shrink the gender gap in account ownership. For example, garment firms in Jordan,
which have approximately 70 percent women workers, are requiring employees to open and use digital financial accounts.
Research in Bangladesh suggests that digital wage payments help factory workers boost their savings and become morefinancially savvy, and improve their ability to manage financial emergencies.
Training women workers in budgeting, saving, and responsible use of financial products, such as through the BSR
HERfinance digital wages tools, can also enable women to meet their financial goals and be more in control of household
finance. In addition to increasing financial inclusion for employees, digital payments cut costs and improve efficiency.
After moving its Indian supplier factories to digital payments, Gap Inc. reported time savings equivalent to having 16
additional full-time workers on production lines per month, plus a reduction in employee turnover of up to 20 percent.

Governments also have an important role to playin making sure the policy framework encourages
businesses to digitize payments. For example, Brazil’s
policy framework encourages private sector payment
digitization, particularly through PIX.

The onset of COVID-19 brought a surge in digital wage payments to avoid the health concerns of lining up to collect
cash payments and handling cash. As a result, millions more factory workers around the world are receiving payments
into mobile money accounts. For example, in Bangladesh, a government mandate for all salaries to be paid digitallyto receive a relief fund resulted in the opening of 2.5 million new accounts.

The garment industry—which tends to have a significant
population of female workers—is a good example of the
impact the private sector can have on women and theeconomy. Digitizing wages in female-dominated industries,“Before I had a bank account I wasn’t saving money on a regular basis. I used to just bringmy entire salary home as cash and give it to my family. Now with every paycheque I put
some money into the account, and I can start thinking about plans for the future.”
Taslima Sultana Khanam, Chair, Brahminbaria Sadar Women Development Forum, Bangladesh
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02

DIGITIZE PAYMENTS OF
GOVERNMENT SOCIAL BENEFITS

While the COVID-19 pandemic threatened hard-won gains in global development
and gender equality, it facilitated greater financial inclusion for both men and women.
In response to the pandemic, World Bank data (2022) indicate that 223 countries andterritories planned or implemented 3,856 safety net payments and other social protection
measures for the most vulnerable populations. Digitizing these payments is a provenway to boost financial inclusion and help women recipients strengthen their household
decision-making power and bolster their labor force participation. According to the
Global Findex, 423 million women opened their first account to receive money fromthe government.
Yet more opportunities remain, as

45 MILLION UNBANKED WOMEN
receive government payments in cash.

While many COVID-19 digital payment schemes were successful, it is still importantfor governments to manage potential risks when digitizing payments, particularly therisk of excluding women. Instead, women’s agency needs to be established at every step,
including choice of payment service providers and appropriate digital and financial
capabilities. Experience shows it is essential to apply a gender lens to the whole design
and implementation of government payment digitization, including emergency
and social protection schemes.
1

Ensuring cash-based transfers are delivered digitally to women in emergency responsecontexts can also accelerate financial inclusion. In June 2023, the World Food Programmeapproved a new cash policy1 committing to the digital disbursement of funds throughmobile wallets or banks accounts directly to women, which aims to build resilience in theface of health, economic, or climate-related shocks.
Evidence suggests that digital financial training is more fruitful when provided during
moments when women have a specific reason for learning these skills, such as when receiving
government payments. Also, technology, including text messages, has the potential to provide
information cheaply and improve financial behavior. For example, in Colombia, rural recipientsof conditional financial transfers, who were mostly women, were loaned tablets pre-loadedwith compelling financial capability content, and positive outcomes in financial health werestill observable two years later.
Digital government payments may be more efficient and better able to help recipients
than other forms of assistance. A 2023 study in Indonesia found that households receiving
electronic vouchers as opposed to in-kind food received significantly more assistance, andamong those in the poorest 15 percent, saw a 20 percent reduction in poverty.

For the humanitarian sector, the provision of assistance to individuals, households, and communities can take the form of physical currency or digital money in a range of forms (these two are typically referred to as "cash"), vouchers, or in-kind assistance.
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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

12WHAT POWERS HER LOOM?

A story of women’s digital financial inclusion from Manipur, India
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION©UNCDF

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OUTLAW DISCRIMINATIONAGAINST WOMEN
Research shows that women’s financial inclusion tends
to be higher in economies where there is legal equality
between women and men in finance and economics –such as equal treatment by financial service providers
or requiring equal pay for equal work. According to theWorld Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law database:

176 COUNTRIES(OUT OF 190) MAINTAINLEGAL BARRIERS
that prevent women's fulleconomic participation; and101 ECONOMIES

do not have laws that explicitly
prohibit gender-based
discrimination in accessto credit.

For example, in several countries around the world, women cannot legally apply for identity documents or bank accounts
in the same manner as men. One main challenge is norms underlying the laws: “Money is [viewed as] the domain of men.
Society doesn’t view it as her role to earn money or her right to make financial decisions." Removing legal discrimination is,therefore, an essential building block to women’s financial inclusion.
Governments, regulators, companies, and civil society all have valuable roles to play in overcoming discrimination. It is also
particularly important that women are free to advocate to improve their social, political and economic rights, as women’s
rights organizations and feminist movements have played a critical role in reducing gender inequality in many sectors.
Policymakers can also invite feedback from women’s groups through public–private policy dialogues, as for example,
the Central Bank of Sierra Leone has done in partnership with UNCDF. In Ethiopia, through the Women’s Digital Financial
Inclusion Advocacy Hub (WDFI), women’s voices are included in the implementation of the National Financial Inclusion
Strategy (NFIS) and National Digital Payment Strategy (NDPS).
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ENSURE UNIVERSALACCESS TO
IDENTIFICATION
Having a national identification document istypically a requirement for obtaining financial andmobile phone services.

Globally, more than

ONE IN FIVEUNBANKED
WOMEN say lackof ID is a key barrier
to opening an account.
Among unbanked individuals in sub-Saharan Africa,
overall ID ownership stands at just over 35 percent for
both women and men. Women in sub-Saharan Africa
are 5 percentage points less likely than men to have ID.
According to Global Findex-ID4D data, the mostcommon use of ID in sub-Saharan Africa is to obtaina SIM card or mobile phone service—essential foraccessing digital financial services.

Governments should remove barriers to women accessing formal identification. Barriers include requiring a married
woman to provide documentation of her husband’s name in addition to her own, as well as the need to travel far, waitin long lines, and pay high fees to register and obtain an ID. Leveraging mobile registration to reach women, creating
female-friendly registration sites, developing trusted digital interfaces, and providing targeted information to women
about where and how to register, as well as the benefits of having an ID, are all effective ways to increase access.
Digital ID is one key element of “digital public infrastructure” (DPI) being advocated by the G20 Indian Presidency,
to drive inclusive growth. The key elements of DPI are digital ID, digital payments and consent-based data exchange.
The Indian government’s national digital ID, Adhaar, issued for 1.3 billion people, together with its interoperable
digital payments and the new Data Exchange law, is one of the world’s leading examples of how DPI can be successfullyrolled out.
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15©UNCDF/John Rae

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END THE GENDER GAP IN
MOBILE PHONE OWNERSHIP
Mobile phones are a game-changer in expanding
access to financial services—from paying,to getting paid, to sending money.

Approximately

8 IN 10 WOMEN

in low- and middle-income
economies have their own
mobile phone, as of 2023.
However, a digital divide persists, withmen’s phone ownership outpacing womenby 7 percentage points, and women are

19 PERCENT LESS LIKELY
THAN MEN to use mobile internet.

With improved access to mobile phones, women would bebetter positioned to receive wage and transfer payments,
and remittances, an important revenue source in low- andmiddle-income economies and a disproportionate share ofwomen’s income. World Bank data show that mobile-based
services offer the cheapest remittance prices, while banks
are the most expensive.

But women are unlikely to use their mobile phones for digital financial transactions unless they have reliable andaffordable access to both data and connectivity, and digital financial capability. There is wide variation in the costof mobile data within sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to 6 of the 10 most expensive countries for mobile data.
A lack of infrastructure in the region is a significant driver of these high costs, as overburdened networks result insmaller and costlier data bundles. Market competition or the lack thereof also contributes to these costs, as countries
such as Nigeria, with multiple competing networks, experience lower costs. Digital financial capability interventions,advancing the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to confidently conduct digital financial transactions overmobile-based internet, are most effective when delivered at the time of transaction.
Governments can take action to end the mobile phone gender gap by building the infrastructure needed to support
universal mobile connectivity and facilitate competition and consumer choice, and by leveraging relevant Universal
Service Funds to increase women’s access to broadband internet. Mobile network operators (MNOs) can also increase
handset availability in non-urban markets, increase asset financing (installment payment) options for handsets, andfacilitate the creation of “bundled” handset/data/talk/text options.
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HIRE WOMEN AT BANKSAND MOBILE NETWORKOPERATORS
Evidence suggests that women use financial services
more often when they are served by female bank
employees and mobile money agents. However, there
are too few women employees at these businesses.

For example,
in India, womenmake up only

The UN Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) provide a comprehensive framework for the finance and techsectors to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace, and community.
With nearly 8,500 WEPs signatories across 150 countries, of which 22 percent are in the finance and tech industries,
these companies are important allies in hiring more women in their workplaces.

of microfinance institution employees.

Research finds a positive relationship between a higher percentage of women employees and a firm’s innovationlevel, which is critical to the design and development of new products or marketing of existing products for women.
More women are also needed at the management, executive and Board levels in banks and mobile network operators.
IMF research found that a greater share of women on the boards of banks is associated with greater financial resilience,
while a higher share of women on boards of supervisory agencies is associated with greater banking sector stability.
Regulators would similarly benefit from more women in decision-making positions.

22 PERCENT OF BANKEMPLOYEES and 12 percent

Financial service providers can make a big differenceby hiring more women to work at banks and mobile
money agent outlets, which can encourage women
to become clients and join the formal economy.
A few banks in Asia and Africa have “women-only
branches” where all-women staff provide a safe andharassment-free environment to women customers
for financial transactions.

“For a woman, being able to ride a motorcycle to my garden and to Village Savings and Loans
Association meetings is a mystery to some of my peers. People ask me how I managed toachieve all this. I encourage women to believe in themselves because they are the steering
wheel of their families.”
Berna Mirembe, Digital Community Entrepreneur with UNCDF partner MobiPay
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THE STORIES BEHIND DIGITAL FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Elase, a mobile money entrepreneur in Zambia

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

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07

COLLECT, ANALYZE, AND USE
SEX-DISAGGREGATED DATA ON
ALL TYPES OF FINANCIAL SERVICES,TOGETHER WITH DATA ON ACCESS TO
IDENTITY, CONNECTIVITY, AND DEVICES
If financial institutions and telecoms first collected sex-disaggregated data and thenprovided data on their customers and operations, policymakers would be better able
to identify the impediments to women’s financial inclusion and better able to address
those barriers—for example, data on the number of women customers, the numberof women agents in their network, and phone/internet coverage. The Gender Data
Playbook and Sex Disaggregated Data Guide show how this can be done.
An additional advantage would be that financial service providers could better trackthe direct benefits of employing more women, such as loan performance andtransaction volumes.
Governments should incentivize financial institutions and telecoms companies to provide
anonymized sex-disaggregated data as part of fiduciary reporting requirements and makethese data available to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. In addition, governments
should incentivize financial providers to use these data to increase the number of female
customers. In Chile, the regulator has been collecting and publishing sex-disaggregated
supply-side data reports annually for the last 21 years. Using insights from these data, theChilean state-owned commercial bank, BancoEstado, created a program providing women
entrepreneurs with access to business capital, education, and networking opportunities.

SEX-DISAGGREGATED DATA GUIDE FOR POLICYMAKERS AND REGULATORSStrengthening evidence-based policymaking through sex-disaggregated data

This guide, created by UNCDF, is designed for policymakers and regulators to assess
their capacity for the collection, analysis, and utilization of sex-disaggregated data.
By supporting prioritization of actions across the data journey, this guide can inform
decision-making and help design targeted interventions.
Step 1
Identify themain issue

THIS GUIDE TAKES INTO ACCOUNT:Step 3
Prioritize
next step

Step 2
Define objective

Implement
priority
actions• National objectives to use
sex-disaggregated data
• Levels of awareness among institutions• Different roles and responsibilities• Staff competences• Availability of sex-disaggregated data
• Data discrimination and reporting
strategies• State of technology and data architecture18

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08

DESIGN APPROPRIATE AND
AFFORDABLE FINANCIAL PRODUCTS
FOR WOMEN
Financial service providers can take action to address financial inequality andincrease their customer base by designing appropriate and affordable financial
products specifically for women.

Women are typically responsible for managing
daily household expenses. They tend to havelower and more irregular income, and are typicallymore price-sensitive than men.
Compared with men, women earn a higher share of their income from remittances
and transfers. Women are also typically responsible for caring for older relatives,
raising children, looking after family farms, organizing side businesses to raise
extra money, and financing family events such as funerals and weddings.
Each of these realities poses financial challenges and opportunities. Furthermore,
over the past decade, 80 percent of the 250 million people forcibly displaced bynatural disasters in emerging economies were women. Yet they have less accessto technology and productive resources and less capacity to adapt their livelihoods.
Products that work for those on low, irregular incomes with high-frequency,
low-denomination transactions are especially relevant to women. Built-in
savings mechanisms and ongoing financial capability resources create long-term
benefits for women. For example, in Zambia researchers found high demand forsavings products designed for pregnant women.

Women can also be served by existing products if they are marketed properly toshow they address women’s needs. Given the high prevalence of dormant accounts
in many countries, digital financial products appropriate for women customers arelikely to provide a “double bottom line” win for the private sector: an increased
number of customers and customer retention, as well as improved formal economic
participation for women.
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09

HELP WOMEN BENEFIT FROM
E-COMMERCE OPPORTUNITIESThe flexible nature of e-commerce can help women access economic opportunities
on their own terms and participate in the growing digital economy. Given thedisproportionate household and childcare responsibilities shouldered by women,
this flexibility is particularly important. E-commerce platforms that work for
women entrepreneurs are a key first step, as women are usually far outnumberedby men on e-commerce platforms.
Setting up virtual or in-person incubators and providing business mentorship
can also play a vital role in encouraging women entrepreneurs to strengthen theire-commerce business models, digital payments capability, and digital marketing skills.
Governments, companies, and civil society can all make important contributions toenable women to access and use these opportunities.
Three examples illustrate the importance of e-commerce for women. In Indonesia,
research by Women’s World Banking showed that linking value chain digitizationand internet entrepreneurship for women helped those women get better credit access,
improve record-keeping, save time, and build savings. In Uganda, food delivery start-up
Jumia Food, Uganda, partnered with UNDP, and connected 3,000 market vendors
to its platform to sell their produce—60 percent of whom are women, people withdisabilities, and youth. UNCTAD is also successfully delivering courses specifically for
women digital entrepreneurs to help them harness the digital transformation of
their economies and societies.

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CREATE AND ENFORCE STRONGCONSUMER PROTECTION, INCLUDING
UNIVERSAL DISPUTE MECHANISMS
Fewer than 6 in 10 adults in low- and middle-income countries report confidencein financial institutions, compared to approximately 7 in 10 adults globally. Governments
and regulators need to focus on protecting consumers, particularly women, as
recommended by the G20 High Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion.
Banks and other financial service providers need to focus on building trust with
consumers, including by offering greater transparency around their products.
The Better Than Cash Alliance’s Responsible Digital Payment Guidelines offer specificguidance on how to build trust, which will be more relevant than ever post-COVID-19.
Specifically, they recommend governmental action requiring that financial service
providers clearly disclose prices and terms of their products and enact appropriate
measures while ensuring data privacy and security (Guidelines 2, 4). Consumers shouldbe able to identify whether a given service is fit for its intended use, appropriate for
their particular needs, and fairly priced (Guidelines 1, 5, 6). Pilots in Mexico and Peru
suggest that responsible practices can be as simple as requiring providers to clearlystate key facts about their credit and savings products. It is also important for financial
service providers to create universal grievance redressal (or recourse) mechanisms thatare well communicated to staff and customers (Guideline 8). If well-established disputeand grievance redressal mechanisms are a norm in the market, it is more likely thatwomen will trust and use digital financial services. In the Philippines, the Central Bank
(Bangko Sentral ng Filipinas) BOB is a chat bot that handles questions and concerns byconsumers via SMS, Facebook Messenger, and web chat. Automation enables real-time

follow-up with financial institutions and shortens the turnaround time for complaints
resolution and user-experience improvements.
Additionally, helping financial service providers to detect and address potential
gender-based bias in lending practices can help ensure fairness and inclusion.

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22HOW TO ENSURE PAYMENTS ARE MADE RESPONSIBLY
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

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CONCLUSION

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IN SHORT…
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest reverse in poverty since theSecond World War. The UN estimates that at least 388 million women and girls were
living in extreme poverty in 2022. Climate shocks are increasing in frequency, withdisproportionate impacts on women. Responsible digital finance offers an importantavenue to eradicate financial inequality. Unified and urgent action is needed fromthe public and private sectors alike:
Governments can prioritize gender-intentional financial sector policymaking, including
by digitizing payments of government social benefits directly into the accounts ofwomen. It is also necessary to invest in digital public infrastructure to support women’s
digital financial inclusion. This includes regulation supporting DFS, and promoting digital
identification and interoperable payment infrastructure. Reliable and affordable accessto data and connectivity will help end gaps in smartphone ownership which prevent
women from accessing financial services and digital economic opportunities.
Financial-sector regulators can prioritize the collection and usage of
gender-disaggregated data to inform gender-intentional policymaking by financial
service providers. They can also issue regulatory guidance to encourage financial service
providers to design and scale appropriate and affordable financial products for women.
Creating and enforcing strong consumer protection regimes, including universal disputemechanisms, will also contribute to greater financial equality.
Companies can lead by digitizing salaries and private sector payments, which is provento make concrete progress in getting women financially included. Financial service
providers must invest in gender-transformative business models, both by hiring female
staff and bank agents, and by designing responsible financial products for women andwomen-owned businesses.
Donors and technical partners have a responsibility to build gender-intentionality
into program design, as well as develop innovative financial mechanisms, which works
to de-risk capital and get financial products into the hands of women and women-led
businesses.
Civil society organizations play an important role in raising awareness of thebarriers to women’s digital financial inclusion and advocating for action. They canensure the voices and experiences of diverse groups of women are represented andintegrated in the design of policies, financial services, and initiatives.
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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSIONPROPOSED INDICATORS TO TRACK PROGRESSTOWARDS REACHING FINANCIAL EQUALITYACTIONPROPOSED INDICATORS

Action 1:
Digitize private sector payments• Receive wages into an account - women, % age 15+

Action 2:
Digitize payments of government social benefits• Receive government transfers into an account - women, % age 15+

Action 3:
Outlaw discrimination against women• Women, Business and the Law: WBL Indicators

TO BE MEASURED BY• World Bank Global Findex• Receive wages into an account - men, % age 15+• World Bank Global Findex• Receive government transfers into an account - men, % age 15+• Women, Business and the Law: Entrepreneurship Indicators• World Bank Women, Businessand the Law• Women, Business and the Law: Assets Indicators
Action 4:
Ensure universal access to identification• Has a national identity card - women, % age 15+

Action 5:
End the gender gap in mobile phone ownership• Has a mobile phone - women, % age 15+• Has a national identity card - men, % age 15+• World Bank Global Findex(ID4D series)• Gallup World Poll

• Has a mobile phone - men, % age 15+• Access to the internet - women, % age 15+• Gallup World Poll

• Access to the internet - men, % age 15+
Action 6:
Hire women at banks and mobile network operators• Women on bank boards (%)• Boardex

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSIONPROPOSED INDICATORS TO TRACK PROGRESSTOWARDS REACHING FINANCIAL EQUALITYACTIONPROPOSED INDICATORS

Action 7:
Collect, analyze and use sex-disaggregated data on all typesof financial services, together with data on access to identity,
connectivity, and devices• Women-owned deposit accounts - per 1,000 female adults

Action 8:
Design appropriate and affordable financial products for women•U se of a debit or a credit card to make a purchase - women, % age 15• Men-owned deposit accounts - per 1,000 male adults

TO BE MEASURED BY• International Monetary Fund
Financial Access Survey• World Bank Global Findex• Use of a debit or a credit card to make a purchase - men, % age 15+•U se of mobile phone or the internet to make bill payments or
buy something online - women, % age 15+• World Bank Global Findex•U se of mobile phone or the internet to make bill payments or
buy something online - men, % age 15+• S mall and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with at least one
female owner with an account at a formal financial institution (%)• World Bank Enterprise Surveys• S MEs with at least one female owner with an outstanding loan orline of credit (%)• World Bank Enterprise Surveys• S MEs with at least one female owner with a proportion of loans
requiring collateral (%)• World Bank Enterprise Surveys

Action 9:
Help women benefit from e-commerce opportunities• S MEs with at least one female owner selling one or more products
on local, regional or global e-commerce platforms (%)• World Bank Enterprise Surveys(limited data availability)

Action 10:
Create and enforce strong consumer protection, including
universal dispute mechanisms• Number of countries with consumer protection laws

• World Bank Global Payments
System Survey• Number of countries supporting grievance redressal systems

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INTRODUCTION | 10 ACTIONS | ACTION 1 | ACTION 2 | ACTION 3 | ACTION 4 | ACTION 5 | ACTION 6 | ACTION 7 | ACTION 8 | ACTION 9 | ACTION 10 | CONCLUSION

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AUTHORS:The primary authors are Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen (Better Than Cash Alliance) and Dr. Leora Klapper (World Bank Group).
Significant contributions were also made by other members of the Reaching Financial Equality for Women Coalition: Gisela Davico (Better Than Cash Alliance), Anna Falth (UN Women),
Sonja Kelly (Women’s World Banking), Mariana Lopez (UN Capital Development Fund), Peter McConaghy (Office of the UN Secretary General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Financefor Development), and Alexandra Norris (World Bank Group).
Publication design, editing, and production by Angela Corbalan, Fareeza Ibrahim and Diego Mendiburu, with administrative support from Meron Tamrat (Better Than Cash Alliance).
This update draws extensively on Reaching Financial Equality 2021 and the 2020 G20 report on Advancing Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion which Nandini Harihareswara(UN Capital Development Fund) and Andy Woolnough (Women´s World Banking) co-authored.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The Reaching Financial Equality Coalition members would like to thank the visionary champions from governments, companies, civil society and international organizations quoted
in this publication who are implementing the Ten Actions. They are contributing to help end the continued economic exclusion of half of the world’s population and to build more
resilient national economies.
A last word of appreciation goes to women who wage a daily battle for a brighter future for themselves and their families. We hope these Ten Actions can evolve into lasting
policies and innovative financial products that catalyse change on an unprecedented scale to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality), leaving no one behind.

©2023 Better Than Cash Alliance.
This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license.
To view, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/
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