Women’s Financial Inclusion Is Rising, but Equal Access and Use Still Lag – World Bank Blogs

Advancing Sustainable Development Goals through Women’s Financial Inclusion

Progress and Persistent Gaps in Financial Account Ownership

Financial inclusion is a critical enabler for achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Recent data from the Global Findex indicates progress in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), where more women are utilizing financial accounts for formal savings and digital payments.

• Formal savings among women increased from 22% in 2021 to 36% in 2024.
• The use of accounts for making or receiving digital payments rose from 50% to 58%.
• Digital merchant payments by women saw an increase from 32% to 38%.

Despite these gains, a significant challenge persists. Approximately 700 million women globally lack a financial account, which severely limits their economic participation and resilience. This gap represents a substantial barrier to achieving SDG 5 and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), as it prevents women from accessing services that foster financial health.

Identifying Barriers to Achieving SDG 5: Gender Equality in Financial Access

Understanding the obstacles to account ownership is essential for designing interventions that target unbanked women and advance gender equality. Across developing economies, several key barriers have been identified:

• Insufficient Funds: This is the most frequently cited reason for not opening an account.
• Cost of Services: High fees associated with financial services are a significant deterrent.
• Reliance on a Family Member’s Account: This practice is particularly common in regions like Latin America and the Caribbean, where high account fees can make multiple household accounts unaffordable.
• Geographical Distance: The physical distance to a bank branch or mobile money agent remains a common obstacle.

Leveraging Digital Innovation for Inclusive Growth (SDG 9)

The strategic application of technology and innovative infrastructure, as outlined in SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), offers a powerful solution to overcome traditional barriers to financial inclusion. Digital connectivity and mobile accounts can effectively mitigate the challenges of cost and distance.

The Role of Mobile Technology in Bridging the Gender Gap

Digital financial services provide women with the autonomy to manage their finances anytime and anywhere. Current data reveals a strong foundation for digital expansion:

• Over half of women with accounts in LMICs possess a digitally enabled account, accessible via a card or phone.
• Approximately 80% of women in developing economies own a mobile phone, creating a vast potential user base for digital financial services.

Mobile money accounts, a specific type of digitally enabled service popular in Sub-Saharan Africa and Bangladesh, are particularly effective. These accounts can be operated with basic mobile phones and typically have lower fees than traditional bank accounts. In Sub-Saharan Africa, while women are 12 percentage points less likely than men to have any type of financial account, they are equally likely to exclusively own a mobile money account. This finding underscores the potential of targeted digital solutions to close the gender gap and accelerate progress toward SDG 5 and SDG 10.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 1: No Poverty

  The article connects financial inclusion directly to improving financial health and resilience, which are crucial for poverty reduction. Providing women with access to savings and payment services helps them manage economic shocks and build assets.

• SDG 5: Gender Equality

  This is a central theme. The article focuses explicitly on the financial inclusion gender gap, stating that “700 million women worldwide still do not have a financial account” and highlighting the goal of leveraging digital services to “improve women’s financial lives.”

• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

  By promoting access to financial services, the article implicitly supports broader economic participation. Account ownership allows women to engage in commerce, save for business investments, and contribute more formally to economic growth.

• SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure

  The article emphasizes the role of technology and infrastructure, noting how “phones and mobile money are changing the game.” It discusses how mobile connectivity and digital accounts are essential innovations for overcoming traditional barriers to financial services.

• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

  The article’s core focus is on reducing the inequality in financial access between men and women. It points out that in Sub-Saharan Africa, “women are 12 percentage points less likely than men to have any type of account,” directly addressing the need to close this gap.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 1.4: By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services… and financial services, including microfinance.

  The article directly addresses this by focusing on the “700 million women” who lack a financial account and exploring ways to overcome barriers to access financial services.

• Target 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to… financial services.

  This target is central to the article, which analyzes the persistent barriers women face in accessing financial accounts and proposes solutions to ensure they can harness financial services for their benefit.

• Target 5.b: Enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology, to promote the empowerment of women.

  The article highlights this target by explaining how “mobile connectivity and digital accounts can help overcome the barriers of cost and distance” and how mobile money offers “particular benefits to women.”

• Target 8.10: Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all.

  The discussion on overcoming barriers like “cost of financial service fees” and “distance to a branch” and the promotion of lower-cost mobile money accounts directly relates to expanding financial access for all.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Proportion of population with a financial account: The article provides several direct metrics for this indicator.
  • The absolute number of unbanked women is stated as “about 700 million women worldwide.”
  • The gender gap is quantified: “In Sub-Saharan Africa, women are 12 percentage points less likely than men to have any type of account.”
• Proportion of population using digital financial services: The article tracks the growth in the use of accounts for specific purposes.
  • Percentage of women in LMICs using accounts to save formally: “36% in 2024, up from 22% in 2021.”
  • Percentage of women in LMICs making or receiving digital payments: “58% from 50%.”
  • Percentage of women in LMICs making digital merchant payments: “38% from 32%.”
• Proportion of individuals who own a mobile telephone, by sex: This is a key enabling factor mentioned in the article.
  • The article states that “about 80% of women in developing economies owning a mobile phone,” which serves as a direct measure for this indicator.

4. Create a table with three columns titled ‘SDGs, Targets and Indicators” to present the findings from analyzing the article.

Source: blogs.worldbank.org