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.
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
Did you know that 840 million women in climate-vulnerable countries would find it difficult or impossible to cover the cost of an emergency? In this episode of the Making Finance Work for Women Podcast, we sit down with an economist turned fintech founder, Rose Goslinga (President & Co-Founder, Pula) who returned to her African roots to protect farmers against weather shocks.
The 2024 Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Policy Forum, held in El Salvador between 2 – 5 September, was a week of rich discussion and collaboration. The highlight of the event for Women’s World Banking, was the Leadership & Diversity Program for Regulators (LDR) graduation ceremony on the morning
At Women’s World Banking, we are dedicated to building evidence on the relationship between women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment. Our definition of financial inclusion goes beyond access; it encompasses the choice to access a full suite of responsibly delivered financial services and the capability to use them effectively. Over
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
For over a decade, Women’s World Banking Asset Management (WAM) has been leading the charge in gender lens investing (GLI). Our mission is to enhance gender diversity within our portfolio companies’ customer bases and workforces. By collaborating closely with our portfolio companies, we have implemented strategies to reach more women customers
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
In this policy brief, Women’s World Banking reviews the landscape of sex-disaggregated data and offers recommendations for the Indonesian Government to enhance its collection, management, and use. The focus is on leveraging supply-side sex-disaggregated data from the financial sector to meet regulatory objectives and promote women’s financial inclusion. Globally, financial
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 the Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women till today. These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s
Women-led businesses account for 28% of businesses globally but face significant challenges in accessing credit, growing their enterprises, and overcoming legal, social, and financial barriers. This policy diagnostic outlines key approaches aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs, particularly in micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). The report presents case studies from
Climate Change is hitting hard, and women are bearing the brunt of it, facing increased economic hardship, health crisis, and displacement. Worse still, an increased number of women – 880 million – don’t have any way of receiving emergency relief payments in case of a climate crisis because they
Did you know that 753 million women in climate-vulnerable countries do not have an active bank account or e-wallet and women who are financially excluded are most likely to live in a climate-vulnerable region? In this episode of Making Finance Work for Women, we sit down with one of Reuters’ “Trailblazing Women in Climate for 2024” to challenge the traditional focus on resilience and survival during climate shocks.
Beneath Nigeria’s vibrant marketplaces, women micro-entrepreneurs navigate a complex financial landscape. 70% of trading in Nigerian markets is carried out by women (IFC), but despite their significant economic contributions, these women remain underappreciated, often overlooked by financial institutions—at their own risk. In 2022, Women’s World Banking collaborated with three Nigerian
By Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO, Women’s World Banking and Dhivya O’Connor, CEO, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women Politics aside: keep momentum in women’s digital financial inclusion 2024 is a mega year for elections across the globe. Almost a quarter of the world’s population is heading to the polls
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’s 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 from
In Episode 14 of the Making Finance Work for Women podcast, we’re exploring the cutting edge of fintech, where innovation meets inclusion. We’ll unpack the gender gap among fintech founders, delve into how emerging technologies like AI are reshaping the industry, and tackle the crucial issues of privacy, trust, and financial health.
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 the Women’s World Banking journey since its inception in 1979 at Commission on the Status of Women till today. These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s
By Maria Serenade Sinurat, Ker Thao, Elwyn Panggabean A visit to Samut Prakan, an industrial zone located 30 kilometers from Bangkok, offers a glimpse into the lives of Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand. This town is one of Thailand’s economic zones that attract low-skilled, low-wage Cambodian migrants, particularly women, who
In celebration of Women’s World Banking’s 45th anniversary, we are highlighting the voices of individuals from across the globe who have significantly contributed to and influenced the organization’s journey since its inception at the 1979 Commission on the Status of Women. Meet Janet Truncale. In a world where women’s empowerment
Transforming Lives Through Women’s Financial Inclusion Introducing the 2023 Impact Report. Women’s World Banking is a global non-profit organization with a mission to address the financial exclusion of the 1 billion women who remain underserved by the formal financial sector. For decades, financial exclusion has been a barrier to women’s
In Episode 13 of the Making Finance Work for Women podcast, we explore the groundbreaking Global Gender-Smart Fund (GGSF) with Ruurd Brouwer, Board Chair of GGSF and CEO of TCX. Discover Ruurd’s journey into gender lens investing and learn about the innovative fund designed to achieve $700 million in assets
How Women’s World Banking’s new TechEquity Program for women policymakers, regulators, and supervisors is leveraging new research to tackle wicked industry problems By Sonja Kelly (Vice President, Research & Advocacy) and Elizabeth Ingerfield (Manager, Leadership & Diversity Programs) Tech jobs are not a tool for exclusion—they are a radical new
As we commemorate World Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) Day, we honor the instrumental contributions of MSMEs, especially those led by women in driving economic growth and social progress. These businesses are crucial in income generation and job creation by fostering economic resilience within their communities. Women-led MSMEs, in
In Episode 12 of the Making Finance Work for Women podcast, we dive into the transformative potential of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and their implications for women worldwide. With over 120 CBDC pilots and projects currently in development, these digital currencies promise to revolutionize financial inclusion.
by Elizabeth Ingerfield, Manager, Leadership & Diversity Programs In a world of greater unpredictability and climate impacts, insurance can be a challenging product to deploy. Forward-thinking regulators, policymakers, and supervisors are changing their tactics, ensuring insurance can be a tool for inclusion. In a recent event bringing together alumni from
Nigeria boasts a thriving community of women entrepreneurs. In fact, the country has the world’s highest proportion of activity by women entrepreneurs, comprising a remarkable 23 million women who command 41% of the country’s micro-businesses. Beyond the statistics, these women are the unsung heroes of resilience, contributing to their families
As we commemorate Juneteenth, reflecting on the hard-fought eradication of slavery in the United States, it reminds us of what civil rights activist Coretta Scott King said: “Freedom is never really won. You earn it and win it in every generation.” Remembering Coretta’s vision of freedom, we must acknowledge the
Meet Marilou van Golstein Brouwers, a former Women’s World Banking Board Member and an undoubtedly instrumental figure in founding Women’s World Banking Asset Management (WAM) and managing its first fund. Investing and making money doesn’t have to come at the expense of the greater good, and when done properly, these
Women’s engagement with financial services leads to their greater economic empowerment, including greater control over financial decisions and increased independence. However, three-quarters of the world’s women are still excluded from financial services. In Indonesia, rural women are among the most financially unserved and underserved populations. Women alone make up 63.8%
In Episode 11 of the Making Finance Work for Women podcast, Jo Ann Barefoot, CEO of AIR, discusses integrating a gendered perspective into financial consumer protection, strategies for inclusion, and balancing innovation with regulation as nearly one billion women enter the formal financial system.
Women’s World Banking is explaining the Five Insights on Enhancing Credit Fairness. One of the least expensive ways financial institutions can increase their credit portfolio profitability is by improving the accuracy of their approval mechanisms. “Reject inference” techniques help financial institutions to do just that, with implications for offering credit
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
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
Financial products and services are crucial for empowering women financially, yet rapid innovation and digitalization pose risks, especially for those with low digital financial capability. Women often receive lower quality services or none at all due to societal norms. Vulnerable populations, particularly low-income women and rural communities, face amplified risks
This Policy Diagnostic on Women in Leadership underscores the importance of gender diversity in leadership positions within the financial sector and highlights persistent disparities in women’s representation. While research demonstrates the positive impact of women in top roles on financial performance, achieving gender parity remains a distant goal. Women’s World
In an increasingly digitalized world, policymakers and regulators hold a critical role in advancing digital financial inclusion, particularly for women. Recognizing the pivotal role of financial capability and digital literacy, policymakers are urged to prioritize the development of women’s digital financial capability (DFC) to foster the widespread adoption of digital
In Episode 10 of the Making Finance Work for Women podcast, Dr. Jennifer Riria discusses the intersection of climate change and digital financial inclusion. Learn about innovative solutions to combat climate change while empowering women through financial inclusion, and explore the transformative potential of climate-conscious finance.
Esther Afua Ocloo, a young woman who transformed a mere sixpence into 12 jars of marmalade, marking the genesis of her entrepreneurial journey, eventually emerged as one of Ghana’s foremost business leaders and a staunch advocate for women’s economic participation. As Women’s World Banking’s inaugural chairwoman, she etched her name
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
To celebrate Women’s World Banking’s (WWB) 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
The Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub team recently met with coalition members and the larger women’s financial inclusion ecosystem in Addis Ababa. Ethiopia is home to one of the local coalitions, and two coalition members joined from Indonesia, home to the other local coalition (Dr. Arifah Rahmawati, Secretary
In episode 9 of The Making Finance Work for Women Podcast, we embark on a compelling exploration of the evolution of fintech, recognizing the pivotal yet underrepresented role of women leaders in this burgeoning industry. As fintech matures, it is crucial to acknowledge the responsibility that accompanies its growth.
Women’s financial well-being requires agency, and a gender lens on financial well-being is critical to ensuring it is a relevant outcome for women. Financial well-being and related concepts like financial health, financial security, and resilience are gaining prominence as important outcomes of financial services access and use. Getting these interconnected
By Dr. Sonja Kelly, Global Vice President, Research & Advocacy, Women’s World Banking The early release of the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap 2024 headlines, the World Bank Global Digital Summit, and the preparations for Brazil’s G20 focus on digital identity and data governance converged this past week, with important insights
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 till today! These are stories from across Women’s World Banking’s reach
An unchartered path always held an allure for her. While it was unusual for a girl from Kansas City to go to college on the East Coast in the 50’s, she took the risk anyway. After her freshman year at Manhattanville College in 1952, she jumpstarted her career and secured
This toolkit is designed to empower financial service providers in refining and enhancing their digital credit solutions to better serve low-income women, particularly micro-entrepreneurs. Providers will be equipped with strategies to design and implement initiatives aimed at improving access to credit for women, addressing the unique challenges they face in
In episode 8 of Making Finance Work for Women, we delve into cryptocurrency’s potential for financial inclusion. Explore its promises and challenges, from decentralization to market volatility. Join Sonja Kelly and Sheila Warren as they discuss whether crypto can bridge economic gaps or faces fundamental obstacles.
The Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub, launched in July 2022, is a catalyst for collective action joining together public and private sector organizations to accelerate progress in women’s digital financial inclusion. At the start of 2024, we are looking back at our first full year and the progress
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, and Mehrdad Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst The discussion around artificial intelligence (AI) as a driving force for the economy and society has become increasingly popular, as evidenced by more than two dozen AI-focused sessions at the 2024 World Economic Forum in Davos.
Credit has always been a fundamental part of both formal and informal financial services. In the last three decades, however, the exponential growth in data and computing power has led to new ways of assessing creditworthiness. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have opened up the possibility of scoring
Sonja Kelly from Women’s World Banking and Leora Klapper from the World Bank highlight global progress made by fintechs, regulators, and others in financial inclusion. They also provide insights on anticipated developments in the finance ecosystem for 2024. Tune in to Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast for expert discussions on transformative finance solutions.
This episode delves into the pivotal role of physical touch points in the digital age for engaging women customers and promoting their financial inclusion. Sonja Kelly (Global VP, Women’s World Banking) and Simone di Castri (Co-Head, Cambridge Suptech Labs) discuss fintech innovations, banking agents, financial capability, and digital solutions for reaching last-mile customers. Join us in exploring these crucial issues on Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast.
This episode explores gender-focused investment strategies and their role in ESG investing, with a focus on social impact. Sonja Kelly (Global VP, Women’s World Banking) and Ivan Chew, CFA (Director of Impact, BrightLight Group) discuss the transformative potential of investing in women’s economic empowerment. Join us on Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast for expert insights into financial inclusion and social impact investing.
In this episode, we examine how women are disproportionately impacted by economic crises and conflicts, focusing on their struggle to maintain financial stability during displacement. Join Sonja Kelly (Global VP, Women’s World Banking) and Inna Bielianska (GM, MetLife Ukraine) as they discuss solutions for women’s financial inclusion in crises on Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast.
Host Sonja Kelly (Global VP, Women’s World Banking) and guest Aniqa Sandhu (CEO, Digicel Group) discuss mobile network companies’ role in boosting women’s internet usage and effective financial capability building. Despite improved coverage, 3.2 billion people remain unconnected, disproportionately impacting women. Join us on Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast as we delve into solutions for women’s financial inclusion.
Join Sonja Kelly, Global VP of Women’s World Banking, as she discusses blockchain’s potential for financial inclusion with expert Conor Svensson. Explore how blockchain and cryptocurrency can empower women financially on Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast.
Join Sonja Kelly, Global VP of Women’s World Banking, as she discusses with ethicist Reid Blackman the ethical implications of AI in financial services. Explore how to mitigate biases in algorithm-enabled credit decisions to promote financial inclusion for women on Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women (MFWW) Podcast.
By Ker Thao, Maria Serenade, and Elwyn Panggabean Globally, the emerging youth population presents a potential for economic growth. However, youth in developing countries also still face barriers to access financial services, such as three of 10 million Cambodian young adults who remain financially underserved. Youth savings, in particular, has
Report can be downloaded at the end of this article. When women have access to savings accounts, loans, and digital financial services, they gain greater control over their finances, make informed decisions, and have a safety net during emergencies. Yet, there exists a substantial global opportunity – $700 billion dollars’ worth
A Longitudinal Study of Displaced Ukrainian Women’s Financial and Economic Lives Scroll down to download the report. Financial Inclusion and Financial Displacement for Women in Ukraine. Forced displacement is a harrowing experience that disrupts not only the lives of individuals but also their financial stability, livelihoods, and social networks. This
By Tayler Nelson (Graduate Research Intern, Doctoral Candidate in Sociology at the University of Minnesota), Megan Dwyer Baumann (Regional Research Lead, Latin America, Women’s World Banking), Soraya Husain-Talero (Research Director, Fundación WWB Colombia) Despite gains in women’s rights and agency throughout the past century, violence against women remains a prevalent
Scroll down to download the case study. In 2022, the fourth cohort graduated from our Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators (the LDR program). For this case study, we interviewed three participants who share their experience of developing a gender inclusive policy initiative during the program. The LDR program, created
Scroll down to download the report. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the largest reverse in poverty since the Second 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, with disproportionate impacts on women.
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
Financial inclusion is not an end in itself, but an enabler of other positive financial, economic and social outcomes for groups historically excluded from financial and other services. This diagnostic focuses specifically on women’s financial inclusion in rural areas, including demand-side challenges and customer needs often experienced by women more
Digital financial services (DFS) are rapidly becoming a transformative force in driving financial inclusion and economic growth and empowerment. Low-income women often face specific challenges in accessing financial services, which hinders their economic empowerment. By enabling women’s participation in DFS, we address gender inequality, promote economic participation and bolster overall
Women’s World Banking is closing the access to skills gap, learn more here. As part of our work focused on closing the skills gap, we are collating in one place resources from Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion (WDFI) Advocacy Hub coalition members to help governments, financial service providers and civil society
By Ade Ashaye, Regional Head for Africa, Women’s World Banking If you ever find yourself in Lagos, particularly Marina, you’ll encounter a bustling financial hub. Picture a towering 30-story marble tower, which serves as the headquarters for one of the largest banks in Africa. Right next door is an open
In October 2017, Visa Foundation granted $20 million to Women’s World Banking over five years. Immediately prior to receiving the Visa Foundation grant, Women’s World Banking launched an ambitious 10-year strategy to work at a greater scale to achieve greater impact. The Visa Foundation grant was fundamental to the successful
Scroll down to download the research agenda. By 2050, climate change effects are expected to cause the internal displacement of 216 million people (IOM, 2023); sea level rise of multiple feet and associated flooding in New York City and other global coastal cities (Oppenheimer et al., 2019; NY DEC, n.d.);
Fintech companies are reshaping the way we interact with money and financial services, and their impact goes beyond just convenience and efficiency. A fintech, or financial technology company, is an innovative organization that leverages digital technology to provide a wide range of financial services, including digital banking, mobile payments and
By Ker Thao, Maria Serenade, and Elwyn Panggabean In Cambodia, three million out of 10 million young adults remain financially underserved, hindering their ability to plan and invest for their futures. As part of its drive for greater financial inclusion, Women’s World Banking is working with AMK Microfinance Institution –
The World Bank Global Findex Database 2021 reports a gender gap of 6% in account ownership across developing economies. While it is encouraging to see the gender gap fall from 9% over the last ten years, women still constitute a significant proportion of the unbanked population in low and lower
Women’s representation in leadership positions remains a pressing issue globally. According to OMFIF’s 2023 Gender Balance Index, at the current rate of progress, it would take over a century to achieve gender parity in leadership roles for central banks and major financial institutions. Despite significant advancements in recent years, women
Phnom Penh – Dr. Sonja Kelly, Global Vice President for Research and Advocacy at Women’s World Banking, conducted a workshop on “Leveraging the Power of Data for Effective Credit Risk Assessment” for financial services providers in Cambodia, at the Hyatt Regency in Phnom Penh, on 11 August 2023. This workshop
What is Gender Lens Investing? Gender lens investing has emerged as a powerful impact investment strategy that combines pursuing financial returns with pursuing gender equality and social well-being. It recognizes the importance of investing in women as business owners, as purchasers/customers, as well as in their workforce and leadership roles,
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
Read Part 1, From Exclusion to Empowerment: The Meaning of Financial Inclusion The Cost of Financial Exclusion of Women Despite women’s increasing influence in the global economy and their significant contribution to consumer spending, the fact remains that nearly a billion women worldwide are unbanked and lack access to essential
“Although three-quarters of a billion women are still excluded from the formal financial system, we remain steadfast in the mission to usher in universal financial inclusion to unlock the potential of women worldwide.” – Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President and CEO of Women’s World Banking What is Financial Inclusion? Our world
Adekunle Alarapon (ACIB, CDEF) is Head of Retail Segments for Wema Bank Plc, where he holds responsibilities for Agent Banking & Financial Inclusion, Gaming & Entertainment Business, Workplace Banking and Female Gender (Sara) Propositions. Mr. Alarapon has more than 20 years of banking experience in operations, control, commercial, retail and
As Women’s World Banking President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, puts it: “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.” Even more, the World Economic Forum estimates
2022 proved to be a pivotal year for Women’s World Banking, as we increased our influence and reach across all our activities.
Dr. Marek Dubovec is the Director of Law Reform Programs at the International Law Institute, as well as Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Recognized for his international expertise in commercial law reform and especially secured transactions, Marek works with governments, policymakers
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
In Indonesia, five of every ten working-age women are engaged in the workforce compared to nine of every ten working-age men, the largest labor-force participation gap in Southeast Asia. This gap persists despite strong progress in education and health for women in Indonesia. Within leadership positions in the banking and
6 Questions with 6 Female Fintech Founders By Marina Dimova (Director, Financial Industry & Network Advocacy) & Dan Truong (Marketing Specialist, Financial Industry & Network Advocacy) Although women make up nearly 30% of the fintech workforce, they continue to earn only 2% of all venture capital, despite evidence indicating that
Women’s World Banking is pleased to announce the second call for applications from civil society organizations in the Women’s Digital Financial Inclusion Indonesia Coalition. The due date for the grant application is 30 April 2023. Grants will be disbursed in amounts of USD $10,000-$20,000 and will be announced by June 2023. The
When Agnes Salyanty, Southeast Asia Research Lead for Women’s World Banking, interviewed Indonesian women e-commerce entrepreneurs on how they use online platforms, two respondents stuck out as representatives of the innovation, flexibility, and boldness of the sector. “What impressed me was their willingness to experiment with both their products and
Until early 2023, 64.2 million MSMEs in Indonesia represented 96% of the labor force. Of these businesses, about two-thirds are women-owned. While not all of these are e-commerce businesses, 24% of MSMEs (~17.5 million MSMEs) have used e-commerce in marketing their products in 2021. This growing sub-segment of Indonesian businesses
By Vitasari Anggraeni, Elwyn Panggabean, Freya Nadira Women’s World Banking identifies regulations, mandates, or country level priorities such as presidential mandates or G20 recommendations that can be the driving force for women’s financial inclusion and engagement. During the 2022 G20 Presidency, held by Indonesia, women’s entrepreneurship served as one of
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 –
Women’s World Banking is thrilled to announce the top four finalists of this year’s Fintech Innovation Challenge. The four finalists will compete for the Grand Prize in a live pitch event on May 25, 2023 in Mumbai, India, as part of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit. This year,
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 last year’s Global Findex Report, digital financial inclusion isn’t just an urgent moral imperative, but an economic
Few financial products and services are developed with the needs of the low-income woman customer in mind or account for the challenges that a low-income woman might face. Many financial products are not set up to sustain the continued interaction required to create the trust that the low-income woman needs
The Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators (LDR) is a multi-week learning program taught by Women’s World Banking and Oxford University’s Saïd Business School. It equips senior officials and high-potential women leaders from government ministries, central banks and regulators in emerging markets with the skills to create an enabling environment
Globally, there is a $1.7 trillion credit gap between for women MSMEs. At all points in the lending process–from customer acquisition to retention–there are opportunities to serve women customers better. Women’s World Banking has worked with dozens of financial institutions on their lending processes, successfully increasing representation of women applicants,
Scroll down to download the report. In the last decade, Nigeria’s finance industry has made significant strides in increasing the representation of women. No sector’s success is more quantifiable than that of the banking sector. At the publishing of this report, of Nigeria’s 24 commercial banks, eight have women as
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
We are deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Ms. Ela Ramesh Bhatt, an iconic leader and a Founding Member of Women’s World Banking. Elaben (“ben” meaning “ sister”), as she was known, was a true trailblazer in advancing women’s empowerment and financial inclusion – first in India,
10 later stage fintechs pioneering innovative financial solutions for the low-income women’s market announced as semifinalists; first-ever Female Founder’s Circle participants named November 2, 2022 – At the Singapore FinTech Festival today, Women’s World Banking announced the 10 semifinalists for the 2023 Fintech Innovation Challenge, a global competition to highlight
By the Leadership & Diversity Team: Francesca Brown, Sarah Buitoni, Elizabeth Ingerfield, & Nana Ampah On the 5th and 6th September our Leadership & Diversity Team attended the 2022 AFI Global Policy Forum in Jordan. Here the team met with our 2022 Leadership & Diversity Program for Regulators (LDR) participants
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
By Nithya Sharma (Women’s World Banking); Carolanne Boughton, and Sasha Polikarpova (Baringa) The impact of climate change is reverberating around the world, with increasing frequency and severity of weather events, rising temperatures, and loss of biodiversity. While multilateral governance bodies including the United Nations emphasize that the world’s wealthiest countries,
By Dr. Megan Dwyer Baumann and Dr. Sonja Kelly Download the report at the end of the blog. In late February 2022, Ukrainians left their homes as Russia invaded, preparing to flee to neighboring countries like Poland, Moldova, and Romania. To date, there have been nearly 12 million border crossings
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
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 face significant barriers when it comes to accessing credit, largely due to the fact that they are less likely than men to own fixed assets such as land or property. Fixed assets are commonly used as collateral in traditional lending models, which puts women at a disadvantage. Compounding this
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
For Women’s World Banking, 2021 marked a year of scale and expanded impact. Our new structure reflects our mission to advance financial inclusion as a global and advocacy-focused organization: Global Client Services expands our in-market presence and builds capabilities and decision-making authority in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Mexico.
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
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
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
Six Insights from the 2021 World Bank Global Findex Data By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research & Advocacy For those of us in the financial inclusion world, the release of the Global Findex is a pivotal moment. The data are typically compiled every three years – this time, due to Covid,
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
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
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
By Angela Ang and Elwyn Panggabean, Women’s World Banking Last year, we collaborated with Bank Rakyat Indonesia (BRI), one of Indonesia’s largest state-owned banks involved in distributing benefits of the PKH (Program Keluarga Harapan or Family Hope Program), a conditional cash transfer program for low-income families. Together, we developed an
Spanning operations in 35 countries and comprised of 62 diverse financial services providers, Women’s World Banking’s Global Network is the only network focused on driving inclusive access to and usage of financial services for low-income women across the globe. In honor of Women’s History Month in March, we are proudly
Why it takes more than microloans to empower women and promote sustainable, inclusive economic growth. “In her book, Mary Ellen Iskenderian reminds us to ask where our bank finance flows and how much is used for building unequal wealth or destructive institutions that harm humans and the natural environment. How
Impact performance measurement of microfinance institutions in 41 countries will launch in Q2 2022 with support from sector leaders. April 13, 2022 – In a global effort to promote standard, comparable impact outcomes data for the microfinance industry, 60 Decibels will release the first microfinance index driven entirely by end
Indonesia has the largest number of Muslims of any country in the world, at 237 million. In recent years, the national Government of Indonesia and some of its province-level governments have shown interest in increasing the availability of Sharia-compliant financial products and services for Indonesians. Indonesia aims to reach 90
Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) play a significant role in Indonesia’s economy, accounting for 61% of its gross domestic product. An even smaller segment—ultra-micro businesses—is helping drive economic growth, as well. Since 2017, Pusat Investasi Pemerintah (PIP), an Indonesian government agency, has disbursed loans to 5.4 million ultra-micro entrepreneurs,
Given COVID-19’s economic impact, this study is timely. The labour market force is shifting as employers reduce their workforce and childcare needs at home increase. Women’s livelihoods have changed. It is more critical now than ever to harness the power of digital platforms for women’s economic empowerment. This report summarizes
New York, NY, March 30, 2022 – Women’s World Banking Asset Management (“WAM”) has announced the final closing of its second fund, WWB Capital Partners II, L.P. (“WWBCP II” or “the Fund”). Following its first closing of $75 million in March 2020, WWBCP II held a final closing in March
For 43 years, Women’s World Banking’s Global Network has played a vital role in advancing our mission of empowering low-income women through financial inclusion. This Women’s History Month, we are celebrating milestone anniversaries of eight of our Network Members, showcasing their achievements in advancing women’s financial inclusion and gender equality.
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
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Andy Woolnough, Global Head of Advocacy at Women’s World Banking, and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, discussed the importance of male allyship in breaking gender biases in the workplace and creating more inclusive environments for women to thrive. Watch the full video
SME Finance Forum and Women’s World Banking’s hosted panel explores how financial service providers can leverage business support services to empower women-led businesses with the skills, networks, and resources needed to reach their growth potential. For micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), monetary support is not the sole determinant of
As part of our Leadership & Diversity programs, Women’s World Banking tracks the career paths of high-potential women leaders, both to enhance our future program offerings for new generations of leaders and to share their experiences with others. With funding support from Credit Suisse, Women’s World Banking conducted case study
In financial institutions around the world, women continue to be underrepresented in senior leadership, with only 14 holding the governorship at a Central Bank. Previously in this series, Women’s World Banking spoke with the Governors of the Central Banks of Malaysia, San Marino, Serbia, and Seychelles about navigating success and
Across the globe, central banks and other regulatory agencies face a persistent and significant gender gap in leadership. Today, the number of women serving as Governor—the most senior position—at a Central Bank totals only 14, illustrating a clear need for greater diversity in leadership. In Part I of this Q&A,
This report provides an analysis of the levels of financial awareness, financial behaviors, and economic empowerment of women factory workers in Cambodia. The findings are based on a survey of 2,781 female research participants, a majority of whom are migrants from rural or remote areas and all of whom are
Whether in the day-to-day context or amid the upheaval wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the struggles of leadership are universal. For women, who continue to battle gender stereotypes in the workplace and shoulder a disproportionate share of care responsibilities (among other obstacles), the choice to exercise leadership comes with additional
This is the second in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao For domestic workers in Indonesia, remittances provide a critical means of support for their families. As we noted in our first blog, domestic workers need
By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, Ker Thao, and Razaq Manan It’s a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. Irma* is cleaning her sister’s house, while also looking after her four-year-old son. She is worried whether this week’s income from cleaning sufficient to cover her household expenses. Her husband, a local fisherman, gave her
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 will use funds to create economic opportunities for women and girls amidst COVID-19 recovery New York, NY, November 8, 2021: Women’s World Banking has been named one of 34 selected organizations to receive funds from the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls out of nearly 8,000
Nearly two years into the pandemic, the economic shocks of COVID-19 are still felt across the globe and particularly by women, who have been disproportionately affected by the crisis. In 2020, Women’s World Banking amplified its efforts to create greater economic stability and security for low-income women, adapting and innovating
Janet Truncale is Vice Chair and Regional Managing Partner of the Americas Financial Services Organization (FSO), EY and Women’s World Banking’s Board Chair. A seasoned business leader, she oversees a diverse team of more than 14,000 professionals who are based in over 90 cities across the Americas. Janet works closely
This is the first in a three-part series examining a fresh approach to digital remittances in Indonesia. By Angela Ang, Elwyn Panggabean, and Ker Thao In Asia, Indonesia has the second largest migrant population, with international migrant workers comprising a large portion of the economy. There are approximately 4.5 million
Women’s World Banking: In Conversation with… Ms. Pia Tayag is the Director of the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA). She leads a team that provides technical and operational support to Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who has served as the
Applying Angrist and Imbens’ research methodologies enable Women’s World Banking to explore the impacts of its products and solutions on women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment across the globe in the context of real-world conditions By Sonja Kelly (Director of Research & Advocacy) and Justin Archer (Global Research Lead, Quantitative)
Women’s World Banking Capital Partners (“WWBCP”) has successfully completed the sale of its stake in Enda Tamweel to Maghrebia Vie, part of UFI Group, one of the leading Tunisian groups. Enda Tamweel has been part of the Women’s World Banking global network of inclusive financial service providers for decades, and
Third annual global fintech competition celebrates trail-blazing solutions for women’s financial inclusion NEW YORK, NY, October 12, 2021 — Women’s World Banking announced today Boost Capital and People’s Pension Trust as the winners of its Third Annual Fintech Innovation Challenge, part of the organization’s Making Finance Work for Women Thought
Today we celebrate Day of the Girl, because every young woman carries with her the potential to change the world and drive economies that prosper. Donate today and help us continue to honor International Day of the Girl through our youth savings work: Women’s World Banking is proud to work
By Whitney Mapes, Elwyn Panggabean For low-income women worldwide, digital financial services can act as a stepping stone to greater financial inclusion, yet barriers to activating usage have prevented women from realizing their full benefits. Among the many obstacles women face to using digital financial services are a lack of
Enliven Indonesia’s Independence Day Through Digital Financial Service Education Program Jakarta, August 2021 – The informal sector, which comprises domestic workers, plays a critical role in Indonesia’s economy. Referring to Statistics Indonesia’s (BPS) data, there are 78.14 million informal workers as of February 2021, making up 60 percent of Indonesia’s
This award recognizes the growing leadership of women in fintech and their impact in advancing gender equality NEW YORK — September 27, 2021 – Women’s World Banking today announced Alexa Varsavsky, CEO and head of product, and Isabel Oriol, COO and head of business development, at ADA Impacto, as the
On September 8, 2021, Women’s World Banking hosted a virtual panel discussion on “Using AI to Develop Gender Sensitive Solutions” as part of its Making Finance Work for Women Thought Leadership Series. Moderated by Janet Truncale, Vice Chair and Regional Managing Partner of EY’s Americas Financial Services Organization, the panel included
NEW YORK, September 15, 2021 – Women’s World Banking is pleased to announce the four finalists of its third annual Making Finance Work for Women Fintech Innovation Challenge. The finalists, chosen from a pool of applicants from 34 countries, represent a critical wave of innovative fintech solutions designed to support low-income women’s
By Whitney Mapes, Elwyn Panggabean, Angela Ang, and Agnes Salyanty Over the past year and a half, Women’s World Banking has collaborated with Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI), one of the Indonesia’s largest state-owned banks involved in distributing benefits of the PKH (Program Keluarga Harapan or Family Hope Program), a conditional
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,
The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) has recently launched the Inclusive Digital Economies and Gender Equality Playbook. This playbook is a practical how-to guide on leveraging the market system development approach to decrease the digital and financial divide for women and girls, use technology to improve women’s economic opportunities,
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
In 2020 and 2021, Women’s World Banking conducted exploratory research — both qualitative and quantitative — to map the linkages between women’s financial inclusion and women’s economic empowerment in Indonesia. Grounded in an analysis of norms governing women’s agency, ability to enact preferences, bargaining power, and financial independence, this resulting
Mexico’s 6.3 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) generate nearly half of Mexico’s GDP and employ 37 percent of the workforce. Of MSMEs, 94.2 percent are microenterprises, and over half of these are women-owned or women-led. Despite this segment’s dominance in the economy, the majority of MSMEs transactions are
Over the last six years, Women’s World Banking has supported leaders of financial service providers (FSPs) through our Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program (LDIP). The LDIP seeks to develop the skills of senior executives and high-potential women leaders to enable them to successfully serve low-income women, while charting a
Women around the world are less likely to own fixed assets than men. They are also are less likely to access credit for their businesses, resulting in an often cited $17 billion credit gender gap among entrepreneurs. And when they do get credit, they are given smaller loans than their
Mexico’s burgeoning micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) customer segment needs stronger financial products and services. Over the last decade, the Unique Registry of Gaurantees (RUG) in Mexico has sought to meet this need, with limited success. The RUG is Mexico’s current record to establish, protect, and mobilize movable collateral
Fintechs that Serve Unbanked and Underserved Women Encouraged to Apply NEW YORK – Today, Women’s World Banking announced that the application period is now open for the 2021 Fintech Innovation Challenge, a global competition that aims to highlight fintech innovations serving unbanked and underserved women in order to build women’s
A Q & A with Sonja Kelly of Women’s World Banking and Alex Rizzi of CFI, building on Women’s World Banking’s report and CFI’s report on algorithmic bias It seems conversations around biased AI have been around for some time. Is it too late to address this? Alex: It’s just
By Marina Dimova, Managing Director of Design and Innovation, Women’s World Banking and Julia Arnold, Senior Research Director, Women’s Financial Inclusion, Center for Financial Inclusion Informed and empowered men and women make fewer risky financial decisions than those with less knowledge. And for a low-income woman, having the right knowledge
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, and Mehrdad Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst Not everything that matters can be measured. The data surrounding financially marginalized groups is sparse. This lack of data limits financial service providers and policymakers’ ability to design for women’s needs. However, many significant issues, like
Convening globally diverse advocates for women’s economic empowerment has always been a core aspect of Women’s World Banking’s work, and now more than ever, with so many women facing the negative economic consequences of a global pandemic, it is so crucial that we continue to do so. Our flagship platform
By Angela Ang, Andi Setianto, Whitney Mapes, and Elwyn Panggabean As COVID-19 has exposed economic fault lines around the world, governments have responded by extending economic lifelines to the most vulnerable populations. According to the World Bank, at least 200 countries and territories have offered some kind of COVID-19-related financial
In May 2020, Women’s World Banking conducted its first remote research during the Covid-19 pandemic with 44 beneficiaries, PKH facilitators, and bank agents across 11 districts of Indonesia. The research reveals that further efforts are needed to ensure beneficiaries have critical information about the program to support their financial planning and
With support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in partnership with the International Labour Organization, Women’s World Banking assessed the awareness, use, and acceptance of digital wage payments among enterprises and workers in the Philippines. The Philippines’ thriving digital economy and proliferation of new digital solutions,
Women’s World Banking is deeply concerned that the Turkish government is withdrawing from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (the “Istanbul Convention”). The Convention was designed to protect women from the types of abuses that are the manifestation of unequal societies,
The impact of COVID-19 has hit women and girls hard. The World Bank reports that 2021 will bring the first increase in extreme poverty since 1998, with a minimum of 71 million people expected to fall into destitution, and UN Women estimates that at least 47 million more women and girls will fall below the
Financial inclusion is becoming more and more digital. To accelerate this journey to digitization, and not let women customers be left even further behind, we need to ensure policymakers and financial service providers focus on effectively supporting women customers build their digital financial capabilities, so they can use digital financial services with ease and confidence. This report
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are changing financial services offerings to customers across the globe. Historically, women have been the victims of unconscious bias in lending decisions. Algorithm-enabled credit decisions have the potential to create a level playing field for female customers worldwide—but only if we find and mitigate biases
By Julie-Ann Guivarra, Ambassador for Gender Equality, DFAT and Mary Ellen Iskenderian, CEO & President, Women’s World Banking In 2016, Women’s World Banking and the Australian Government, through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), teamed up to build a more secure and prosperous future for low-income women in
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 Victoria Johnson, Research Associate and Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy Investing in women is smart business. Data shows that having women leaders improves financial performance, increases sales, leads to better decision-making, and creates a more inclusive corporate culture. On the other hand, women customers are often underserved,
Why do we focus on women as both leaders and customers? Organizations that invest in women leaders invest in women clients. With this connection between women leaders and customers in mind, Women’s World Banking conducted an in-depth case study of AMK Cambodia, or Angkor Mikroheranhvatho Kampuchea Co., one of the
Funding and support from data.org will facilitate data-driven projects for social impact around the world New York, NY (January 19, 2021): Today, data.org announced the eight global awardees of the $10 million Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge. Launched in partnership with the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and The Rockefeller Foundation,
By Jennifer Iwueze, Women’s World Banking Research Specialist Among Nigerian consumers, spending on e-commerce currently accounts for an estimated $12 billion per year. By 2025, that spending is projected to swell to $75 billion in annual revenues. Numerous factors are driving significant growth in this sector, including an increase in
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, and Mehrdad Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst Women’s World Banking is starting on a journey to find out if data can predict the future of women’s economic empowerment—and we’d like you to follow along. The task is daunting, even for a team of
By Tokunboh Ishmael, Managing Director and co-Founder, Alitheia Capital What is good for gender equality is good for the economy and society as well. – McKinsey & Company An estimated 120 million Nigerian women are susceptible to the health consequences of firewood use. Of this, about 95,000 die each year
Important findings for post-COVD recovery show how a mix of financial and business support from Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) empowered women-owned MSMEs Nairobi, December 1, 2020 – Financial institutions need to tailor financial services to support women business customers and fuel women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise (MSME) growth according
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking One of the most elusive questions in financial inclusion is how to facilitate growth of small businesses—and particularly of women-owned businesses. With this question in mind, in 2016 Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) and Women’s World Banking set out on
Women’s World Banking partnered with Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) from 2016 to 2019 to optimize financial and business support services for women-led micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya. An accompanying research effort evaluated the effectiveness of program implementation and the resulting outcomes for KCB’s MSME customers, especially women.
By Sonja Kelly, Director of Research and Advocacy, Women’s World Banking Bias happens. It is widely discussed across the world as different industries use machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase efficiency in their processes. I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines. Amazon’s hiring algorithm systematically screened out women candidates. Microsoft’s
By Ana Maria Prieto Mrs. Ana Maria Prieto is currently Deputy Director at the Unit of Financial Regulation of Colombia where she has actively worked on the design and implementation of the strategy of financial inclusion and of financial education in Colombia. She was a panelist on the Making Finance
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Connie Collingsworth and Microfund for Women’s Muna Sukhtian step down as Co-Chairs New York, October 23, 2020 — Women’s World Banking today announced a change in its board leadership, as Co-Chairs Connie Collingsworth, Chief Operating Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), and
This is cross-posted from DC Fintech Week where our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian spoke on the panel “Building Equity into Start-Ups: Lessons from Women in Fintech.” We also want to congratulate our winners from our Making Finance Work for Women Fintech Innovation Challenge 2020 winners, Tyme and myAgro! Co-Authors: Mary Ellen Iskenderian,
This renewed, four-year partnership will enable Women’s World Banking to accelerate its support for low-income women throughout Southeast Asia, with a focus on COVID-19 recovery and resilience New York, October 22, 2020 – Women’s World Banking announces that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has renewed its support
This post is provided by the Better than Cash Alliance, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), in support of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit’s Ask the Experts session “Driving the Potential of Digitized Wages” in which Marjo Chaintreau, Private Sector Digital Innovation Lead, Better Than Cash Alliance UNCDF, served as
Exploring Covid-19’s impact on women’s economic empowerment and building resilience through equitable and inclusive financial systems NEW YORK, NY — The Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on gender equality, and years of progress could be reversed. From losing their jobs faster than men, to increases in domestic violence,
By Sophie Theis, Victoria Johnson, Rahmi Yunaningsih, and Elwyn Panggabean Indonesia’s Ministry of Social Affairs (MoSA) was uniquely positioned to rapidly modify its conditional cash transfer program in response to the Covid-19 outbreak. As government-to-person (G2P) payment programs around the world adjust to accommodate the reality of the pandemic, Women’s
Partnership aims to accelerate access to, and usage of, digital financial tools, services and enabling technologies to help low-income women build economic resilience. Women’s World Banking and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) today announced a strategic partnership to enhance financial inclusion and access to digital financial services for
Press Release NEW YORK, September 24, 2020 – Women’s World Banking is pleased to announce the four finalists of its second annual Making Finance Work for Women Fintech Innovation Challenge. The finalists, chosen from a record-breaking pool of competitive and diverse applicants, represent an exciting new wave of innovative solutions
By Sophie Theis, Qualitative Research Specialist at Women’s World Banking Qualitative user research (also known as UX or user experience research) is a suite of strategies and methods that are essential in our work to design financial services for low-income women in emerging markets. User research infuses the design process
Women’s economic empowerment will be essential for a global economic recovery. Given pre-existing gender gaps, there are concerns about exclusion for many of the social assistance programs already being rolled out around the world. Social protection systems that ignore gender inequality will likely fail to mitigate the risks of COVID-19
Financial institutions and governments have been working for years to leverage digitized G2P for women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment. COVID-19 has increased the stakes, as governments look to use G2P programs to strengthen women’s resilience. New research from Women’s World Banking offers insights on Indonesia’s PKH program, the country’s largest conditional cash transfer. Click here to download the
By Sophie Theis, Giudy Rusconi, Elwyn Panggabean, Sonja Kelly Women’s World Banking’s research shows government-to-person payments, if well-designed, hold potential for women’s economic empowerment and inclusion in Indonesia. With Covid-19, the stakes are even higher. For more than a decade, the financial inclusion community has recognized the potential of digitizing
By Nithya Sharma, Manager, Strategy, at Women’s World Banking Over the past decade, Vietnam’s economy has been surging – with strong GDP growth, a reduction in poverty, and an increase in formal employment to 30% of the active labor force.[1] Vietnam also has a thriving digital economy, with a regulatory
By Mehrdad (Mehi) Mirpourian, Senior Data Analyst, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation, at Women’s World Banking “There have been as many plagues as wars in history; yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” – Albert Camus, The Plague Introduction Businesses function in environments that are agile and hard
With support from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in partnership with the International Labour Organization, Women’s World Banking assessed the awareness, use and acceptance of digital wage payments among enterprises and workers in Vietnam. The resulting study includes an analysis of the financial behaviors and attitudes
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,
By Marina Dimova, Managing Director of Design and Innovation and Diana Boncheva Gooley, Manager of Digital Financial Services, Women’s World Banking The Covid-19 global pandemic has heightened the strategic importance of integrating digital channels into how financial services providers engage with customers. How can financial services providers respond to the
During this time of uncertainty, it is important for us to convene as a community and focus on the economic impact that COVID-19 will have on underserved and unbanked women. To ensure that this vital conversation takes place and out of an abundance of caution, Women’s World Banking is shifting
By Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO of Women’s World Banking Covid-19 has laid bare the fault lines of inequality around the world, revealing stark discrepancies in the manner and extent to which people experience the effects of a global pandemic. In the United States this is brought into sharp relief
By Andy Woolnough, Global Head of Advocacy and Ade Ashaye, Executive Vice President, Women’s World Banking This blog was written with the kind support of the Visa Foundation. The impact of the Covid-19 outbreak on the global economy will only become fully known in the coming months, as government responses
By Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President & CEO of Women’s World Banking This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is #EachforEqual, calling all of us to join together in building a gender equal world. As the IWD website notes, it’s time to make room for “the gender equal boardroom, a gender
Scroll down for Spanish translation (DESPLAZARSE HACIA ABAJO PARA LA TRADUCCIÓN AL ESPAÑOL) By Sophie Theis and Alexandre Berthaud To promote savings for group loan clients in Mexico, Women’s World Banking designed a solution integrated into the Compartamos group loan model. In this blog, we share lessons learned from user
All of us at Women’s World Banking are devastated to learn the sad news of Viji Das’ passing. Throughout her life she was a strong, clear and brave voice for women’s empowerment at a time when it was hard, and sometimes even dangerous, for such views to be expressed. Indian
This report summarizes efforts by Women’s World Banking to answer three key questions: Which value chains in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam represent priority opportunities to develop increased credit offerings for women-owned MSMEs (micro-, small- & medium-sized enterprises) through value chain digitization? What forms of value chain digitization would
On January 15 UN Women, in partnership with the governments of Mexico and France, announced coalition themes supporting the 2020 Generation Equality Forums to be held in Mexico City in May and Paris in July 2020. The announcement is intended as a catalyst for accelerated progress against gender equality goals.
Intro clip (Dr. Tosan Oruwariye): When you have an idea, you really need to have passion for that idea and know the mission. What you’re trying to do if you’re mission driven. Because there’ll be shocks and bumps along the way. That’s guaranteed. So, you need to be persistent. You
“You get to hear what works for other organizations, other commercial banks like ourselves, and get to meet up with Fintechs. A lot of good ideas: It’s mind-blowing. The perspective that Women’s World Banking itself brings in, it’s a complete solution.” For low-income women who are running their own business
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
Elisabeth Ballreich, Principal Investment Officer & Operations Manager at Women’s World Banking, is featured in this Lëtzebuerger Journal interview during European Microfinance Week.
Intro clip (Dr. Monique Nsanzabaganwa): If I have this opportunity, let’s use it not for my own privilege, my own benefit, to get a nice salary, drive a nice car, and that’s it. So, I have really to see what else I can do to uplift them knowing that as
Women’s World Banking brought together more than 300 participants from more than 60 countries to hold its most recent edition of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit. Throughout the two days, attendees tackled the social and cultural barriers preventing finance from working for women as well as the wide
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.
Women’s World Banking, AID:Tech, and Binance Charity Foundation sign memorandum of understanding (MOU) to design new technology platform to accelerate scale of Caregiver microinsurance product New York, USA – November 8, 2019 —Women’s World Banking, AID:Tech, and Binance Charity Foundation today announced a partnership to design a new technology platform
Project overview: Women’s World Banking partnered with Dutch Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) in Bangladesh with generous support from the MetLife foundation to understand why women are not engaging with digital financial services. Specifically, we looked at DBBL’s Rocket mobile wallet account usage. This work with DBBL will not only help
The organization celebrates its 40th anniversary with the inaugural FinTech Innovation Challenge, 18th Network Member Day, and launch of new She Counts cohort SINGAPORE—Global NGO Women’s World Banking brings its biennial international gathering, the Making Finance Work for Women Summit, to Singapore on 22-23 October 2019. The Summit features leading
Key Findings from a Women’s World Banking Literature Review Exploring the Connection Many of us who work to advance women’s access to and use of financial services do so to improve women’s economic empowerment. A clear indicator of women’s lack of empowerment is her exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV).
Intro clip (Viji Das): Women should get the kind of a safe space to contribute to their society. And they have to have equal access to all the resources. This is my dream. TRANSCRIPT Karen Miller, Host: Women’s World Banking is bringing you a series of podcasts about trailblazing
Contact: Karen Miller klm@womensworldbanking.org +1.212.556.3149 Winners will participate in the Singapore FinTech Festival’s Global Hackcelerator Demo Day New York — Women’s World Banking announced the four finalists of its inaugural Making Finance Work for Women FinTech Innovation Challenge today. The finalists, chosen from more than 80 applications, represent FinTech solutions
Intro clip (Samit Ghosh): In Bengali there is a song, which is a very famous song, which is “Ekla Chalo Re.” Which means be ready to walk alone, even if no one hears your song. Just walk alone and go achieve your purpose. TRANSCRIPT Karen Miller, Host: Women’s World
Gender lens investing (GLI) is interpreted and implemented in many different ways, from investing in women-owned and -led enterprises to investing in enterprises specifically targeting women, and more. Shuyin Tang is a Partner at Patamar Capital, a venture capital firm focused on Series A and Series B investments in South
Just a couple of months ago, Women’s World Banking brought some of our closest friends and supporters together in New York to celebrate our 40th anniversary. The celebration provided an opportune moment to reflect on our legacy and our goals for the future. How fitting that our founders first conceived
By H.E. Serey Chea from the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC); H.E. Ibu Nurhaida from Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK); Pia Roman, Head Inclusive Finance from The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BsP) The 2017 World Bank’s Global Findex report reveals that true financial inclusion for women has not yet been realized
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook, together with 27 partners ranging from Visa to Mercy Corps, has unveiled a new global currency built on blockchain. The company has been working on Libra for more than a year, but it is distancing itself from directly managing the cryptocurrency. Facebook created Calibra, the digital wallet that will store
This post was written in collaboration with CBN In January this year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) unveiled the revised National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS 2.0). NFIS 2.0 has set a target of a national exclusion rate of 20% by 2020 (down from 46.3% in 2010). In order to
In order to better serve low-income women in Sub-Saharan Africa with financial products, Women’s World Banking and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA) partnered together to increase the capacity of leading financial institutions in Nigeria, Tanzania and Malawi.
Through the careful analysis of these unfiltered, cognitive interviews, Women’s World Banking is better positioned to understand the reasoning behind the financial decisions that low-income women make.
We are excited to see what will happen when the most creative and innovative minds in financial services address the challenge of women’s 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.
Women’s World Banking partnered with the Central Bank of Nigeria to convene key stakeholders in Lagos to discuss current barriers and forward-thinking strategies that will make financial services and products more accessible for women.
The lessons we’ve learned from this work have formed the foundation for our new strategy to advance financial inclusion for women at scale globally.
Lotte Schou-Zibell is the Chief of Finance Sector Group, Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department at the Asian Development Bank. She also serves as a member of Women’s World Banking’s Southeast Asia Advisory Council. This post was originally published on the Asian Development Blog. In Asia and the Pacific 9
Understanding clients must remain at the center for microinsurance solutions to truly serve as a good pair of running shoes.
The gender agnostic approach has gone on for too long, and that needs to change.
In order to better serve low-income women in Sub-Saharan Africa with financial products, Women’s World Banking and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA) partnered together to increase the capacity of leading financial institutions in Nigeria, Tanzania and Malawi.
Women’s World Banking has appointed four new leaders to its Board of Directors: Patsy Doerr, Martin Ihrig, Anjali Kumar, and Janet Truncale. Their expertise in growth strategies, finance, law, and leadership and diversity will contribute to the effective delivery of Women’s World Banking’s strategy of driving greater scale in providing access to finance to low-income women in the coming years.
MEDIA RELEASE April 2, 2019 Contact: Karen Miller, +1 212 556 3149 or klm@womensworldbanking.org Women’s World Banking and Alliance for Financial Inclusion gather Central Bankers and Senior Policymakers from around the world to kick off its inaugural Leadership and Diversity Program for Regulators Oxford, England – Women’s World
Women’s World Banking and NMB worked together to develop the WAJIBU youth savings proposition.
In the face of a stubborn gender gap across industries, Women’s World Banking is advocating for more sponsors on this year’s International Women’s Day.
In the our latest podcast, we explore lessons learned from building gender-diverse teams externally and how we strive for gender diversity within Women’s World Banking.
Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.
Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.
Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.
Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.
Jennifer Riria: A Model Leader for Women’s Empowerment Few women in the microfinance world are as recognizable as Jennifer Riria. She is the CEO of Kenya Women Holding, twice- voted Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year (East Africa and Kenya respectively in 2013 and 2014) and a Ford Foundation
Essma Ben Hamida: Building a Movement for the Women of Tunisia By Sandy Salama Essma Ben Hamida is the co-founder and CEO of enda inter-arabe in Tunisia. When she was a young girl, her dream was to be a singer like Egypt’s Umm Kulthum. But due to limitations imposed by
Muna Sukthian: I am Very Happy When I See Other Women Succeed “As a woman who has been lucky enough to pursue my education and my interests, it is my responsibility to give this opportunity back to my community. I am very happy when I see other women succeed,” says
Nejira Nalic: Overcoming challenges to empower women As the director of MI-BOSPO, a Bosnian microcredit organization, Nejira Nalic has helped empower over 20,000 low- income women in this post-conflict country by providing them with access to microloans for their small businesses. While her native Bosnia legally grants women equal rights,
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.
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.
Women’s World Banking applied different approaches in Nigeria and Pakistan to increase both the acquisition of women customers as well as women’s engagement with digital financial services.
Our President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, shares her thoughts on the future of impact investing in this Forbes interview.
With a growing gender gap in financial inclusion in Bangladesh, it is imperative to understand the behavioral barriers women face when engaging with digital financial services.
In this podcast, Veronica Karpoich, Project Manager at Women’s World Banking discusses Women’s World Banking’s progress in closing the gap of financial access for one of the most challenging segments to reach, rural women.
Women’s World Banking has appointed four new leaders to its Board of Directors: Patsy Doerr, Martin Ihrig, Anjali Kumar, and Janet Truncale. Their expertise in growth strategies, finance, law, and leadership and diversity will contribute to the effective delivery of Women’s World Banking’s strategy of driving greater scale in providing access to finance to low-income women in the coming years.
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
She Counts, a global platform that harnesses the power of financial services to put savings and financial tools in the hands of women, enabling them to plan for a more prosperous future.
The opening Plenary Session at the Making Finance Work for Women Summit discussed the progress and the opportunities ahead in financially empowering low-income women in the developing world
Women’s World Banking’s recent Making Finance Work for Women Summit brought together leaders from the public and private sectors, investors, and researchers to discuss, debate and create the solutions to drive women’s financial inclusion globally.
A room full of eager participants at Women’s World Banking’s Making Finance Work for Women summit in early November gathered for a deeper dive into the topic of gender lens investing.
Women’s World Banking undertook research to determine why women aren’t saving actively in a bank and tested prototypes to change that behavior.
Women’s World Banking’s strategy for closing the financial inclusion gender gap in Egypt targets the players and the solutions that will ensure women benefit from, and contribute to, Egypt’s potential for robust growth.
Women’s World Banking’s strategy for Bangladesh addresses why women are getting left out of the country’s financial inclusion gains, and sets out ambitious, workable solutions to shrink the gender gap.
An important editorial on widening women’s access to financial services by Taimur Baig, Chief Economist of DBS Bank and member of Women’s World Banking’s Southeast Advisory Council, has been published in a special IMF edition of The Jakarta Post.
At her food stall in the largest open-air market in Lagos, Nigeria, Amaka Charles regularly checks her cell phone for her bank account balance.
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.
Women’s World Banking worked with Jazz to partner with Unilever’s women entrepreneur training program to leverage each companies core competencies to increase value for their products and drive financial inclusion for low-income women in Pakistan.
Policymakers have the opportunity to play game changer in driving women’s financial inclusion efforts. However, a strong, gender-diverse team within the regulatory body needs to be in place to amplify these efforts. Women’s World Banking and AFI’s Leadership & Diversity for Regulators program provides the tools to design inclusive policies
In order to serve the massive market of women-led enterprises, financial service providers must adopt women-centered model that often requires massive change throughout their operations.
Often, many financial services providers only superficially tailor their products in order to reach the women’s market. If f they are to reach this untapped segment, they must articulate a clear business case, avoid being “gender-neutral” and use gender segmentation during product design and to meet women’s needs.
Women, especially the low-income segment, are often overlooked by traditional financial service providers in Egypt. Women’s World Banking and Lead Foundation developed an innovative individual lending methodology that successfully reached women entrepreneurs.
Vietnam has millions of economically active women who interact with the formal financial sector at a superficial level. Women’s World Banking worked with Maritime Bank to develop a strategy to deepen its outreach the women’s market.
With support from MetLife Foundation, Women’s World Banking has partnered with Dutch-Bangla Bank (DBBL) to increase the usage of mobile financial services by low-income women in Bangladesh.
While Mexico has made great strides in driving financial inclusion for low-income women but many more barriers, albeit surmountable, need to be addressed before the country can realize the economic benefit of financial inclusion.
One year on, a look back at our CEO’s House Foreign Affairs Committee testimony on the importance of promoting women’s financial inclusion globally to unlock economic growth.
The Central Bank of Nigeria announced that the country would not be meeting its 2020 financial inclusion targets. Nevertheless, developments in biometric ID, regulatory sandbox, industry partnerships and agent network growth are on the horizon to put the country back on track.
A public service announcement concerning investments, fundraising and representation of our gender lens impact investment fund, Capital Partners.
Women’s World Banking and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) to collaborate in delivering a Leadership and Diversity for Regulators Program.
Behavioral design is an important new tool in helping the financial services industry see women (and low-income women in particular) as a viable market segment.
Women’s World Banking in 2017: Architects of Financial Inclusion for Women
Can microinsurance be meaningful for clients and sustainable for the provider? Our woman-centered, client-centric approach in Egypt shows it can.
With only a high school diploma and the work experience of harvesting in rice paddies, this woman microentrepreneur started growing her small idea into a diversified business.
13 high-profile leaders have gathered at the Southeast Asia Advisory Council this week to advocate for women in financial inclusion throughout the region.
Using our women-centered design approach, we worked with ideas42 to figure out how to get more women to sign up for JazzCash mobile accounts through referrals.
She Counts aims to help unbanked women micro-entrepreneurs access mobile savings accounts and business training services.
Women’s World Banking launched the Southeast Asia Advisory Council in May, supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Women’s World Banking hosted a Twitter chat to hear from three organizations about how they’re helping women build a better future through digital savings while creating a more sustainable business.
FSD Africa’s Paul Musoke chats with CNC about how Women’s World Banking’s partnership with Diamond Bank demonstrates how to serve the informal sector.
Global NGO Women’s World Banking today announced the launch of their Southeast Asia Advisory Council, a group of 13 high-profile leaders with the common goal of advancing women’s financial inclusion throughout the region.
Diamond Bank CEO Uzoma Dozie chats with CNBC Africa on the bank’s partnership with Women’s World Banking and FSDAfrica.
This Mother’s Day, a look at how Women’s World Banking has developed financial tools and resources for mothers to build a more secure future for herself and her family.
La visita facilitó el intercambio de las mejores prácticas y lecciones aprendidas por Fundación delamujer a Lead Foundation, en las etapas de diseño e implementación de productos de crédito rural y microseguros.
Initial thoughts on what the data from the just-released Global Findex means for women’s financial inclusion around the world.
Four lessons on building inclusive value chains for the fast-moving consumer goods industry.
An exposure visit to Colombia unveiled Fundación delamujer’s client-centric approach toward innovating for the women’s market.
Perspectives from Unilever, the World Cocoa Foundation and Mastercard on ways to create a global supply chain that includes women.
How our gender lens impact investing fund Capital Partners delivered returns for gender equality for low-income women and gender diversity for the institutions that serve them.
Women’s World Banking, the Center for Global Development, and ExxonMobil Foundation launched She Counts, a global initiative convening and harnessing the power of financial service providers committed to serving women.
Program supporter Credit Suisse reflects on the evolution of the Leadership and Diversity for Innovation program to better build diverse institutions.
FSDA guest blogs on their support for our partnership with Diamond Bank and the transformational effect access to a savings account has on women’s lives.
Aspen Institute México and Women’s World Banking host the first of a series of events focused on women’s financial inclusion in Mexico. This event is supported by the Prosperity Fund run by the British Embassy in Mexico City. For Immediate Release: March 8, 2018 Contact: Maura Hart, +1 212 556 3156
On International Women’s Day, read why Australia is committed to advancing gender equality by driving financial inclusion for women.
Women, especially in emerging markets, are expected to rely on their husbands for income. But what if their husband isn’t there anymore?
Emerging data from our projects in Nigeria and Pakistan counters bank leaders’ perception that women aren’t good bank clients.
What needs to happen in Bangladesh before digital financial services become the financial inclusion solution for women in the country?
A government opens a bank account for citizens receiving welfare payments. How can we turn recipients from “withdrawal-only” users to financially included?
Danida, the term used for Denmark’s development cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has announced a seven partner consortia to receive a total of DKK 60 million (approximately USD 10.04 million) for partnership projects. The partnerships will contribute to local economic growth, job and income opportunities with a focus on women and girls.
Why blockchain can be a game changer for women’s financial inclusion, even in the village.
In this podcast featuring Women’s World Banking Asset Management’s Chief Investment Officer CJ Juhasz, we discuss our approach to impact investing: a strategy called gender lens investing.
Investors can use a gender lens to deploy capital that advances a social good—gender equality—and earning a financial return simultaneously.
Digital financial services has, in just the past ten years, changed the landscape of financial inclusion. But has it done much for women?
Players, new and old, are beginning to recognize their critical and interconnected roles in advancing women’s financial inclusion.
Make serving the women’s market the New Year’s Resolution that drives your institution’s double bottom-line.
We feature the closing conversation of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit, which looks ahead to the future for women’s financial inclusion.
Enabling regulation and competition in Mozambique’s digital finance market bodes well for financial inclusion. Women must be a part of that revolution.
Our partner NMB Bank Plc. is highlighted in this study on good practice sin developing inclusive and sustainable products and services for the youth segment.
Cathleen Tobin on why considering women’s financial inclusion is critical in the development of digital and crypto currencies.
A collaboration amongst four Pakistan and multi-national organizations aims to enhance the availability of financial services to low-income women across Pakistan. The partnership brings together the technical expertise of Pakistan’s premiere mobile financial services provider JazzCash and consumer products giant Unilever Pakistan Limited.
What our digital financial services peer exchange participants learned about defining the problem from behavioral design firm ideas42.
Women in Tanzania who never thought to save in a bank are opening accounts with NMB Bank Plc because their daughters are taking the lead.
How a payments giant, tech giant, “alternative” lending disruptor and “alternative” electricity provider use FinTech to serve the low-income market.
Three takeaways from the Making Finance Work for Women Summit.
What the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s Global Policy Forum says about progress towards women’s financial inclusion on the national level.
View or download the Research Presentations shared at the Making Finance Work for Women Summit.
Essential considerations for successful youth banking propositions that increase youth’s economic opportunity and offer a valuable business case to banks.
One year on, what has the effect of demonetization on India been? Thoughts from our Chief Investment Officer.
Watch highlights of our recently concluded Making Finance Work for Women Summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Original post date of Beyond Financial Inclusion, Learning About Life ٢٨ فبراير ٢٠١٧ تدعى فاطمة، وبمجرد أن خطت أخيراً إلى الحجرة التي نعقد فيها جلسات المناقشات البؤرية الجماعية عن التأمين على الصحة في المغرب، كان من الواضح أنها الأكبر بين الخمس نساء الجالسات حول الطاولة، ترتدي فاطمة الزي التقليدي الفضفاض المزين بالتطريز،
How does Data Collection help financial service providers serve low-income women profitably and sustainably?
How does Customer Centricity help financial service providers serve low-income women profitably and sustainably?
How does Branding and Marketing help financial service providers serve low-income women profitably and sustainably?
With support from the Metlife Foundation, Women’s World Banking documented four best practices in serving low-income women profitably and sustainably.
Tanzanian Vice President H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan joins biennial gathering of global leaders to advance financial inclusion for women For Immediate Release: October 24, 2017 Contact: Maura Hart, +1 212 556 3156 or meh@womensworldbanking.org DAR ES SALAAM—Global NGO Women’s World Banking brings its biennial international gathering, the Making Finance Work for Women
At the Making Finance Work for Women Summit today in Dar es Salaam, Visa announced the newly-incorporated Visa Foundation, established as part of Visa’ larger social impact strategy to support the growth of micro and small enterprises around the world, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive.
How does Leadership and Change Management help financial service providers serve low-income women profitably and sustainably?
Original Post Date for How to Turn Your Microinsurance Product Into a Success Story: ٣ فبراير ٢٠١٦ بقلم مازن ايهم نمري، نائب المدير العام بقسم التأمين الصحي والتأمين على الحياة بالشركة الأردنية للتأمين عندما تواصل “صندوق المرأة” في الأردن مع فريق عمل “شركة التأمين الأردنية”، بهدف التعاون معاً لأجل منتج
The incredible potential for impact when working with a government that understands the importance of women’s financial inclusion & puts resources behind it.
This year’s SME Finance Forum will include interactive sessions, study tours to high-performing institutions, fintech demos, a B2B marketplace & networking sessions.
VICE President Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to grace the Women’s World Banking that will feature leading international experts driving the innovations in women’s financial inclusion.
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.
With every loan from Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Shirley was able to grow and expand her business from an informal market stall to a buzzing, formal operation.
A recap of the panel on women leading the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian on new evidence from the Business and Sustainable Development Commission that companies with gender diverse leadership perform better.
Our Product Development director explains the crucial elements of design to ensure financial product that works for women.
New regulation has inspired a renaissance for mobile money in Morocco. But competition is tight. How can a new player win in this market?
The next installment in the blog series, Meet the Women’s World Banking team: an interview with one of our newest team members, Diana Boncheva Gooley.
Women’s World Banking hosted a workshop in Nigeria for our partners on advancing women’s financial inclusion through digital financial services.
Women’s World Banking hosted a digital financial services workshop in Nigeria to facilitate peer learning among financial institutions leveraging digital technology to serve low-income women.
Diamond Bank today joins Women’s World Banking to host a global discussion on the role of digital financial services in empowering low-income women who do not have access to formal financial products. During a three-day workshop, discussants from the Central Bank of Nigeria, MTN Nigeria, Diamond Bank Plc, Jazz of Pakistan, BIMA of Cambodia and Women’s World Banking will examine the best practices in developing, enhancing and delivering world-class digital financial services to women.
A case study on NBS Bank’s Pafupi savings account, a mobile and agent-led savings product to reach low-income women in rural Malawi.
A new case study on our work with NBS Bank designing a digital savings account that addresses the barriers to banking facing low-income women in rural Malawi.
Parveen took her family from the brink of poverty to business success with her microentrepreneur’s spirit and the support of Kashf Foundation.
The success of women-focused products depends on front-line staff resonating with the objective to serve women as much as it does having leaders’ buy-in.
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.
The comprehensive leadership training program we delivered for NBS Bank reinforced the institutional “must-haves” for programs to have a long-term impact.
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 President and CEO testified in front of the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing, “Beyond Microfinance: Empowering Women in the Developing World.”
Financial services providers in Pakistan risk losing out on an untapped market opportunity by continuing to believe myths about serving the women’s market.
Women’s World Banking adds three new senior positions, strengthening the global nonprofit’s leadership in addressing the most critical issues for women’s financial inclusion. With decades of experience in cutting edge technology, human-centered design and strategic partnerships, these three new leaders will help scale innovative, commercially viable financial solutions to meet women’s needs across regions and cultures.
Women’s World Banking is pleased to present its 2016 Annual Report in dynamic, digital format.
How has Women’s World Banking impacted the lives of low-income women around the world? Find out in our annual report.
Women’s World Banking tested an innovative social communications strategy: using a popular TV show to help change social attitudes about women and banking.
Supported by FSD Africa, we uncovered the must-haves for any financial service provider looking to give women-owned SMEs with access to credit.
Select excerpts from our comprehensive publication on inclusive health microinsurance products offer an overview of our approach to design and delivery of insurance that works for women.
A series of one-pagers highlighting select topics from our comprehensive publication, “Health Microinsurance: An Inclusive Approach.”
Women’s World Banking was recommended as a partner for the U.S. government in its efforts to promote women’s economic empowerment.
Our new research approach looks at forces at work in women’s lives, allowing us to develop more impactful financial solutions. Take the case of India.
Women’s World Banking used data analysis to counter sales agents’ unconscious biases that were keeping women from accessing financial services.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian highlights the importance of ensuring gender equality across the corporate sourcing networks.
Giving low-income women like Rathnamma access to a business microloan allows her to work for herself and make a better life for her family.
Diamond Bank (Nigeria) added more options to the BETA Savings mobile app but clients weren’t using them. How user experience testing solved this mystery.
Africa.com highlights our Africa Advisory Council meeting which focused on women’s financial inclusion, held during WEF Africa.
Our microinsurance specialist shares best practices in sales training for microinsurance to ensure maximum outreach and uptake for low-income women.
The publication highlights how the insurance industry can play a major role in increasing financial protection for women—including those from low-income levels—through approaches that target their specific needs.
Google Doodle made Women’s World Banking co-founder Esther Ocloo famous on April 18, 2017. What part did she play in our story?
A roundtable on how those in the business of financial inclusion can and should proceed to ensure women are part of the digital future.
Agency banking is one of the most promising that can overcome women’s obstacles to financial access.
JazzCash, Pakistan’s premiere financial services provider and global nonprofit Women’s World Banking announce a partnership to promote women’s financial inclusion across Pakistan. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the partners will work to increase low-income women’s adoption and use of digital financial services, particularly the JazzCash mobile account.
Our Management Development Program at NBS Bank (Malawi) helped managers understand their core values and leverage their differences to better work together to serve women.
Supported by Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Catalina built a fried chicken business that supports her family and lets her give back to the community.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian wrote a piece on The Guardian on how empowering women is non-negotiable when it comes to promoting sustainable global growth.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian on how giving low-income women access to finance can help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
We’re working with Diamond Bank and MTN to leverage big data in improving women’s access to digital financial inclusion. It is not without its challenges.
An interview with our President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian.
Una grabación de seminario web: El liderazgo de la mujer en América Latina: ¿Caso de éxito o situación crítica?
On gender-lens investing and how Women’s World Banking’s Capital Partners Fund is demonstrating the business case for investing in women-focused companies.
You’ve read a dozen stories of women who have empowered themselves through financial inclusion. What about a story about one who has not?
On International Women’s Day, the Secretariat of the National Council for Financial Inclusion of Indonesia (Secretariat) and global nonprofit Women’s World Banking announce a partnership to promote women’s financial inclusion in Indonesia. The project, made possible with funding from the Department of Foreign and Trade of Australia (DFAT), will support Indonesia’s goal to reach 75 percent financial inclusion by 2019.
On International Women’s Day, Women’s World Banking announces that Banco de Ahorro y Crédito ADOPEM, S.A. (Banco ADOPEM) of the Dominican Republic receives the Excellence in Leadership Award. The award recognizes Banco ADOPEM’s commitment to promoting gender diversity among the organization’s staff, leadership and governance alongside its mission to serve low-income women.
En français: In this video, Women’s World Banking and its partners share their experience in building a meaningful and sustainable product for low-income women in Jordan, Morocco and Uganda .
We sought to examine the current state of gender-diverse leadership around the world to see just how far the needle has moved and what remains to be done.
Our microinsurance director on meeting and hearing the stories of the incredible women our partners serve.
While microinsurance appears to be moving into the mainstream, it’s focus on client-centricity make success a trickier proposition.
Our Chief Product Development Officer wrote a piece on serving rural women sustainably with financial services for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.
Last year, I was invited to be a part of the Business & Sustainable Development Commission which brings together leaders from business, finance, civil society, labor, and international organizations to develop a private sector response to the challenges presented by the Global Goals. Specifically, the Commission has the “twin aims
A bank and regulator share how they were able to partner effectively to bring digital financial services to low-income rural women in Malawi.
Gilles Renouil, Director, Product Development (Microinsurance) wrote an article on Women’s World Banking’s approach to managing fraud in microinsurance.
Using Martha Chen’s Empowerment Framework, we evaluated whether our leadership training for low-income women had empowerment effects to their lives.
Read the recap of the webinar hosted by The World Bank’s Agrifin Facility, featuring our Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman.
The GSMA today announced the nominees for the Global Mobile Awards 2017. Women’s World Banking is honored to be nominated with our partner Diamond Bank in the “Best Mobile Product, Application or Service for Women in Emerging Markets” category for the BETA Savings account.
Meet Siddika, a tailor of bespoke and ready-to-wear clothes in Dhaka City, Bangladesh. Read her story of empowerment through financial inclusion.
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.
In its flagship report Better Business, Better World, the Commission recognizes that while the last few decades have lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, they have also led to unequal growth, increasing job insecurity, ever more debt and ever greater environmental risks.
Leadership & Diversity for Innovation Program alumni share how supportive training helped them become transformational women leaders in their institutions.
Our research on leadership and diversity in financial services is highlighted.
How can a world leader in gender equality have trouble closing the gender gap in financial inclusion? What we found in Rwanda.
Our Savings Manager Ryan Newton co-authored a post with UNCDF YouthStart’s Ata Cisse on what we learned from our youth savings project in Ethiopia.
Our President and CEO reflects on what has changed and what has stayed the same since she took the helm of Women’s World Banking in 2006.
On Women’s World Banking’s Gender Performance Initiative, its development and how financial institutions can use this data to improve their service to women.
Our research, monitoring and evaluation specialist is quoted in this piece on what is keeping Southeast Asian women from rising to the top.
In this video, Women’s World Banking and its partners share their experience in building a meaningful and sustainable product for low-income women in Jordan, Morocco and Uganda.
Read the story of Nirvana Ademović, a dough production entrepreneur from Gradačac, Bosnia and client of our network member MI-BOSPO.
A co-authored an op-ed on the implications of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s Denarau Action Plan on financial inclusion for women around the world.
Our BETA Savings project with Diamond Bank (Nigeria) is highlighted in this CFR Women Around the World blog.
Despite all the evidence that women leaders are good for business, what keeps more women from reaching the top tiers of their organizations?
Gender diversity is driving strong financial performance in many institutions. What can impact investors do to address what impedes achieving the double bottom-line?
Introducing our newest publication where we outline our research-driven approach to developing inclusive health microinsurance products in varied markets.
Our team applied user experience testing to optimize mobile banking services for low-income women in Nigeria.
Women’s World Banking outlines its approach to developing inclusive health microinsurance products in varied markets, with support from Agence Française de Développement.
An interview with the Head of Financial Inclusion at Diamond Bank (Nigeria) on the bank’s push to serving the unbanked, especially low-income women.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian was interviewed as part of Thomson Reuters’ special multi-media feature, “Leaders of Sustainable Development.”
The rise of Southeast Asian economies have not escaped the world’s attention. We’re making sure women are included in the growth of the region.
Two new Co-Chairs take the helm as four leaders in financial services, business leadership and investing join global nonprofit devoted to giving more low-income women access to financial services.
Women’s World Banking staff attended the most recent Leadership Conference, hosted by The Wharton School of Business. What were the lessons they took home?
Meet Haifaa, a successful microentrepreneur in Lebanon and client of our network member in Lebanon, Al Majmoua.
Women’s World Banking added several new faces to the team this year, making us better able to empower low-income women with financial services.
Women’s World Banking went to Lagos to join Diamond Bank in launching their agency banking model for Nigeria’s un- and underbanked population.
In this guest post, Sutapa Banerjee argues that India’s new law reinforces gender bias in the workforce more than it counteracts it.
The pilot assessment of our project in Mexico revealed the keys to successful delivery individual lending for women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises.
Women’s World Banking outlines specific recommendations for public and private sector players to address the challenges to women’s financial inclusion.
Women’s World Banking outlines specific recommendations for public and private sector players to address the challenges to women’s financial inclusion.
Banks know that Tanzania’s growing youth population are eager savers and enthusiastic users of mobile money but younger teens are ignored. That’s a big mistake.
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.
How firsthand experience with our clients and partners is helping Women’s World Banking’s fundraisers accurately and authentically communicate our work.
Our President and CEO, Mary Ellen Iskenderian extends birthday wishes to one of the “founding mothers” of Women’s World Banking, Swiss entrepreneur and women’s advocate on her 85th birthday.
A microfinance client success story from our network member in Lebanon, Al Majmoua.
Our team trained staff at two partner institutions on our research methodology, building their capacity to gather and use insights to better serve women.
Knowledge and Communications Associate Ashleigh DeLuca blogs about how we “refreshed” our storytelling to better communicate the value of serving women.
National Microfinance Bank Plc (NMB) in collaboration with global nonprofit Women’s World Banking is launching WAJIBU, a family of youth savings accounts paired with a financial capability program designed to help youth and parents in schools across Tanzania save and manage money together for a bright future.
Our Chief Knowledge and Communications Officer reflects on the shift in how regulators are regarding advancing financial inclusion in their countries.
While savings groups satisfy some of low-income Malawians’ financial needs, they could really benefit from a private, individual savings account.
Our President and CEO comments on the UK Treasury’s “Women In Finance Charter” and what it represents in the move to increase gender diversity in the leadership ranks of financial institutions.
Findings and experiences on advancing gender diversity in corporate leadership from Women’s World Banking, Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index and Deutsche Bank.
In a conversation moderated by Women’s World Banking with panelists from Bloomberg LP and Deutsche Bank AG discussed some of the issues raised by the launch of the Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index.
How can women-focused financial institutions mitigate the challenges in keeping their outreach to women when expanding to individual lending?
Despite huge efforts dedicated to advancing women in leadership across all industries, gender parity still has a long way to go. What’s missing is culture.
Experience our annual report in this dynamic, digital format and learn how we are learning, leading and investing in women’s financial inclusion.
Our President and CEO is proud to introduce our digital annual report for 2015.
Microfund for Women is a pioneering financial institution in the Middle East serving women clients and promoting women’s employment and leadership.
Dendev’s tailoring business hit a familiar trap: she needs money to grow her business and she needs to grow her business to make money. Enter Xacbank.
Training financial inclusion-focused companies over the years has taught us that most technical challenges are actually management and leadership challenges.
We recently welcomed a new research director to our team, Erin McDonald. Associate Ashleigh DeLuca talks to her about her passion for data and more.
Women’s World Banking gathered partners in Jordan to discuss, debate and learn about microinsurance best practices.
Liz Kellison of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation reflects on visiting women clients in the Lagos markets during the launch event for Diamond Y’ello.
The inaugural 2016 BFGEI recognizes 26 financial services firms with strong commitments to gender equality, including dedicated social disclosure policies and practices.
A case study on the experience of Nigeria in implementing promising approaches to gender-focused financial inclusion policies.
A case study on the experience of Tanzania in implementing promising approaches to gender-focused financial inclusion policies.
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.
Without a thoughtfully designed and well-executed sales training for your staff before roll-out, your innovative new product will go nowhere.
Women’s World Banking studied the staff composition and hiring practices of banks in Southeast Asia to find how to best promote diversity in the labor force.
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.
How did Al Majmoua achieve impressive gender diversity numbers–more than half the staff are female and 60% of senior leaders are women–in a challenging environment?
Thank you for registering for the “Financial Performance of Insurance Products” webinar on Thursday, April 28th at 7:30 AM EDT. Your confirmation should be in your inbox within the next ten minutes.
A mother abandoned by her husband with four children to raise all on her own. An unlikely candidate for Microentrepreneur of the Year.
As more financial institutions offer savings accounts for women, we updated our Gender Performance Indicators to ensure that women are still served well.
Jordan’s Microfund for Women and global nonprofit Women’s World Banking will host representatives from around the world for an intensive workshop on microinsurance in Amman. Microfund for Women, a Women’s World Banking network member, created the first private health microinsurance offering in Jordan.
Two financial institutions in the Middle East are succeeding in advancing gender diversity within their institutions, How they’re doing it.
Our project w/ Diamond Bank in Nigeria is highlighted in this Tech Tank piece.
We conducted a Management Development Program at Ujjivan (India) to support their leaders through the institution’s transformation into a small finance bank.
Our Women in Leadership program was only for women leaders in financial institutions. This visionary leader thought her low-income clients should get it too.
Our product development director and our BETA Savings project in Nigeria is cited in this article about the economic impact of empowering women.
Our latest project with Diamond Bank in Nigeria, Y’ello, is highlighted.
Our research on the financial needs of low-income women are cited in this article about fintech and the financial inclusion of women.
Read the microfinance client success story of Suzan, a client of our network member in Lebanon, Al Majmoua.
Our work on the paper “Digital Financial Solutions to Advance Women’s Economic Participation” was highlighted.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was interviewed by ONEArmenia, a for-purpose platform based in Yerevan and New York City
Maura Hart, Manager, Knowledge and Communications, guest blogged on Ericsson’s Mobile Financial Services blog in honor of International Women’s Day.
Our leadership and gender diversity work is cited in an article about how to invest in women, in honor of International Women’s Day 2016.
Our guest post for the Microfinance Gateway in honor of International Women’s Day: a lookback and look ahead for women’s financial inclusion.
We condensed our model of helping financial institutions begin offering individual loans to low-income women entrepreneurs into a handy guide.
Women’s World Banking, with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, examined enabling policy and regulatory frameworks for women’s financial inclusion .
Amy Herman shares how to use art to enhance observation and promote articulation to participants of the Making Finance Work for Women Summit.
Diamond Bank, in collaboration with ICT company, MTN and global nonprofit; Women’s World Banking, is unveiling the next phase of the Diamond Y’ello account through an innovative partnership aimed at deepening the financial inclusion of women in Nigeria.
Experts from the nonprofit sector and financial institutions to discuss the role of pensions in the field of financial inclusion.
Watch this video on our work developing financial services built on digital technology.
The women’s microinsurance market is a trillion dollar opportunity for insurers. Experts on how to tap this market while ensuring meaningful value for clients.
Financial inclusion for low-income women has for years meant group loans. Three financial institutions on why the tide is shifting towards individual loans.
There are 10 million women-owned SMEs globally, 30% of the total. 70% are un- or underbanked, presenting a $300 billion market opportunity.
Providing savings for low-income segments is a valuable opportunity for commercial banks. Three CEOs share how they made the strategic decision to serve this market.
Experts from the impact investment community discuss the challenges to women-focused investing.
Women are a critical part of any business’ growth strategy. Experts from the consumer product industry share how they market to them it better than anyone.
Mazen Nimri of Jordan Insurance Company shares what it’s like to develop insurance for low-income people, from the insurer’s perspective.
Experts on the value proposition for multinational companies investing in women in the global supply chain and share examples of successful initiatives.
Kashf Foundation’s research team blogs about their findings from an impact assessment report of their services in 2015.
Ursula Dalinghaus of IMTFI on what she learned during our Making Finance Work for Women Summit in Berlin in November 2015.
The pilot assessment of the BETA Target Savers revealed the challenges of reaching women, even with the help of digital financial services.
Using data to inform policy, strategy and product design will enable financial inclusion stakeholders to more effectively serve women.
Leora Klapper (World Bank) and Neli Espiova (Gallup Word Poll) share new ways of looking at financial inclusion data that reveal real insight on women, money and well-being.
Comments from our Chief Knowledge and Communications officer on the importance of including financial education in financial services for low-income markets.
Martha Oluwatobi is the proud owner of a market stall in Lagos, Nigeria. She sells minerals used for health benefits by expectant mothers who routinely buy small amounts of clay-like ingredients a few times a week.
The study looks at opportunities for workforce participation and advancement for women at select multinational and local banks in five countries in Southeast Asia.
The Center for Financial Inclusion at ACCION featured our story collection of pioneering women leaders in financial inclusion, a collaboration with Ujjivan.
The promise of women’s financial inclusion through technology has not yet been fulfilled. Experts on why, and how we can fix it.
Comments from our Chief Knowledge and Communications officer on the most important things to watch in 2016 for financial inclusion.
Technology has accelerated financial inclusion to exponential levels while undoing and remaking long-standing industries. A focus on women too, is at risk.
A collection of stories highlighting the women leaders who blazed the trail for women’s financial inclusion globally.
Viji Das is an unstoppable force for the financial inclusion of low-income women in India. A profile of her life and work.
Good Return and Women’s World Banking marked the commencement of their strategic partnership at the Asia Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit in Manila (27-29 Oct).
A profile of one of Colombia’s pre-eminent and pioneering microfinance institutions dedicated to women’s financial inclusion.
The next installment in the blog series, Meet the Women’s World Banking team: an interview with one of our newest team members, Rachel Field.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO co-authored a blog on one of the biggest barriers facing financial access for low-income women: ID’s.
Our research specialist blogs about the recent McGraw-Hill study on the financial literacy gender gap and how we’ve been addressing it with our partners.
Australia’s Minister for Women welcomed participants at a reception in honor of our CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was interviewed on Australian radio show, RN Drive by Patricia Karvelas.
The next installment in the blog series, Meet the Women’s World Banking team: an interview with one of our newest team members, Carlos Hornillos.
The Gender Performance Indicators workshop we hosted at the recent Asia Pacific Financial Inclusion Summit was highlighted by our strategic partner, Good Return.
Our work consulting on Bloomberg’s Financial Services Gender-Equality Index was highlighted.
Our research on the health needs and behaviors of low-income men and women in Egypt found many barriers—cost, priorities—as barriers to accessing healthcare.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian contributed to the latest edition of Innovations: Technology | Governance | Globalization Vol. 10 Issue 12.
Highlights and key takeaways from our recently concluded Making Finance Work for Women Summit in Berlin.
Women’s World Banking, together with The World Bank, the UN-housed Better Than Cash Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation authored the report “Digital Financial Solutions to Advance Women’s Economic Participation” for the Turkish G20 Presidency.
Our “visioning” exercise gives high-potential women leaders the time and opportunity to think, plan and grow into strong leaders in financial inclusion.
Al Majmoua has received Women’s World Banking’s 2015 Excellence in Leadership Award. The award, supported by Oliver Wyman, recognizes Al Majmoua’s commitment to promoting gender diversity among the organization’s staff, leadership and governance alongside its mission to serve low-income women.
Leaders from finance, mobile technology, payments and consumer brands will join government representatives, microfinance pioneers and more in Berlin this week to examine the latest and most promising trends in financial services for low-income women. The Making Finance Work for Women Summit, hosted by global nonprofit Women’s World Banking, will take place November 11-12 at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
Maintaining a bank account adds another level of complexity to managing your hard-earned cash, a complexity that people who are barely getting by have neither the time nor resources to address.
Our Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program concluded with a series of events in India that corporate America can learn from to enhance their own corporate diversity.
The poor are vulnerable to risk, a cause of persistent poverty. Microinsurance is one solution to mitigate risk, yet demand remains disappointingly low. This article looks at lessons learned and selective recommendations for increasing demand, based on academic studies and the experiences of over 60 innovation partners of the ILO’s Impact Insurance Facility.
This guide focuses on microentrepreneurs and documents Women’s World Banking’s framework for developing individual lending products for women, outlining specific aspects of the methodology that are necessary to reach the low-income women’s market.
The article, “What Happens When a Bank Bets on Women” from Chief Knowledge and Communications Officer Karen Miller appears in this publication.
Women’s World Banking conducted research on low-income women at risk for domestic violence in Colombia to see whether savings can bring physical, emotional and psychological well-being, as well as financial security.
The International Day of Rural Women was established by the General Assembley in 2007, and this year was celebrated on the October 15. Over the past few years, MI-BOSPO has marked this day by organizing trade fairs with our clients and members of the Women’s in Business Network.
A profile of Frances Sinha, co-founder of one of the largest social enterprises in India, Economic Development Associates, on her life’s work in financial inclusion.
Kashf Foundation guestblogs on their approach to client-centricity: a singular focus on clients’ needs and welfare, powered by research and client feedback.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian participated in a Guardian and Opportunity International-hosted roundtable on women’s economic exclusion and how to help them overcome it.
The next installment in the blog series, Meet the Women’s World Banking team: an interview with one of our newest team members, Shilpi Shastri.
Women’s World Banking is cited for its work developing digital financial services tailored to the needs of low-income women.
New research on women-owned SMEs in Southeast Asia, their barriers to accessing finance and recommendations for stakeholders to overcome barriers and enable access.
The comments of our Chief Knowledge and Communications Officer, Karen Miller, were highlighted in this piece on craftswomen and their global economic impact.
Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation is a semi-finalist in this year’s award recognizing excellence in serving clients in post-disaster/ conflict areas and fragile states.
Women’s World Banking’s Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program, supported by Credit Suisse, was highlighted in the Economic Times.
Women’s World Banking conducted research to examine the profile of women-owned SMEs in five countries in Southeast Asia, surveyed the landscape of their access to finance and, based on these findings, give recommendations in order for stakeholders to create an enabling financing environment for women.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian guestblogged for CFR.org’s Women Around the World blog in honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
A summary of the chat hosted by Women’s World Banking, featuring The Clinton Foundation’s No Ceilings and UN Women’s Empower Women in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
We blogged for Huffington Post Impact on the progress made on women’s financial inclusion since 1995, the year of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for action.
Thirteen high-performing women employees from financial institutions around the world will join Women’s World Banking in Mumbai this week as part of a year-long Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program.
A photo essay of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 1995 where Women’s World Banking worked with advocates like Ela Bhatt, Muhammad Yunus to advance women’s economic empowerment.
Highlights from Eyad Nino’s (Microfund for Women, Jordan) “Ask Me Anything” on Women’s World Banking’s exclusive online Leadership Community.
Low-income women are diligent savers but often face tremendous barriers to saving safely with a bank. Digital savings can be a game-changing opportunity to introduce women to savings accounts and enable their financial inclusion.
Roundtable participants share their thoughts on the importance of giving low-income women access to financial services through digital savings and how this delivery channel addresses the specific needs of women.
On our experience developing products tailored to women’s needs; what financial institutions should do; and how financial products should be designed to ensure that it meets women’s needs.
This report outlines Women’s World Banking’s research into the landscape of digital savings for women and emerging best practice in the space.
The next installment in the blog series, Meet the Women’s World Banking team: an interview with one of our newest team members, Kate Glynn-Broderick.
Participants in our Digital Savings Roundtable Discussion in New York City share their thoughts on the conversation.
Meet a client of Al Majmoua (Lebanon), Jamila. The financial and non-financial services she has received from the institution has helped her become a self-sufficient businessowner.
Women’s World Banking Fellow Sandy Salama profiles head of our Tunisia network member, Enda inter-arabe, from her early history in journalism to a prominent financial inclusion advocate for women.
A profile of our Leadership and Diversity for Innovation program which helps financial institutions serving low-income women develop useful, sustainable products to increase women’s financial inclusion.
The pilot evaluation of our youth savings project in India reveals the structural barriers women and girls face when accessing financial services. Could youth savings help?
Women’s World Banking participated in the Alliance for Financial Inclusion’s (AFI) meeting “Bridging the Gap: Financial Inclusion Policy Solutions for Women in Africa.”
On insights from a perception expert, a high school principal and an underdog researcher on our work developing gender diverse leadership in financial institutions.
Norah Prida Bay, CEO of Kitty 10, highlighted our BETA Savings product with Diamond Bank in Nigeria in an article highlighting the gender gap in access to credit.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian participated in a panel to answer “is microfinance – as a tool to empower women – really working?”
Thoughts on recent attempts by US financial advisors to tailor messaging so they better appeal to women–something Women’s World Banking has known for years.
Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman blogs on the importance of client research in building meaningful microinsurance products that meet women’s needs.
How our Philippine network member Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation has been helping low-income women entrepreneurs in its community through small loans.
Shahida Pervin, Deputy Director of Shakti Foundation for Disadvantaged Women in Bangladesh interviews the founder of the organization, Humaira Islam.
La fecha límite para inscribirse en la Reunión Global es el 8 de agosto de 2015. Si tenga cualquier duda, por favor comuníquese con Meghan Flaherty. [[formassembly formid=278576 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net” ]] La fecha límite para inscribirse en la Reunión Global es el 8 de agosto de 2015. Si tenga cualquier duda,
The Global Meeting is an opportunity for the head of an organization and a high-potential leader. The high-potential leader should be already occupying a leadership role within the organization and reporting directly to the CEO.
Estimado/a Miembro de la red, Muchas gracias por inscribirse en la 16a Reunión Global. Este mensaje confirma su inscripción. El equipo de Women’s World Banking le contactará pronto con información sobre los siguientes pasos que Usted debería tomar, incluso cómo obtener una visa alemana. Si tenga cualquier duda, por favor comuníquese
Women’s World Banking is known for the in-depth customer research that precedes all our product development work. Our new insurance director witnesses this first hand during his first trip to the field.
If you have any questions please contact Meghan Flaherty [[formassembly formid=278574 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net” ]] If you have any questions please contact Meghan Flaherty
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?
Dear Network Member, Thank you for registering for the 16th Global Meeting. This is message is a confirmation of your registration. The Women’s World Banking team will be in touch in in regards to next steps including visa letters. If you have any questions, please contact Meghan Flaherty mjf@womensworldbanking.org We look
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was cited in this Ernst & Young report on the barriers to women’s financial inclusion.
What do a typhoon and a refugee crisis have in common?
Julia Graham of the Microinsurance Network interviewed two members of our microinsurance team about the marketing and client education component of our work in Morocco.
Thank you for purchasing your ticket for the Making Finance Work for Women Conference. The event will take place at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) located at Stresemannstraße 92, 10963 Berlin, Germany November 11-12, 2015. Directions to the offices can be found here. Registration will open
Tilman Ehrbeck mentions the roundtable we held this past April on digital savings products for low-income women entitled, “Going Digital: The key to women’s financial inclusion?”
Deprived of an education, Kalpana parlayed her disappointment into a lucrative business as a pattachitra painter, with help from Ujjivan.
Today, Women’s World Banking is reaching more clients with a greater variety of products than in the past, and are partnering with a greater number and range of institutions to do so.
Eva Gantz of Stellar highlighted our Bank On Her blogpost featured in the Huffington Post last month.
Why is it important to serve low-income women with microinsurance products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.
Why is it important to serve low-income rural women with individual lending products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.Modify your meta description by editing it right here
Why is it important to serve low-income women with savings products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.
Why is it important to serve low-income youth with savings products? In this one-pager, we provide a brief summary of our product development approach and an example of a successful product rollout.
Women’s World Banking worked with Diamond Bank to design a loan that uses clients savings behavior to help them get access to credit quickly and easily.
Women’s World Banking and Visa created a program there called “BETA friends” that helped women set up mobile savings accounts that required no minimum deposit, no monthly fees and awarded weekly cash prizes to promote the program and sent weekly text messages reminding clients to save on schedule.
Women’s World Banking worked with Diamond Bank to conduct extensive research on the Nigerian youth market to design savings accounts that fit their specific needs.
What did the 14 leaders from women-focused financial institutions from around the world learn at the kick-off forum of the Leadership and Diversity for Innovation program?
Women’s World Banking was invited by e-MFP to contribute to this publication and we have shared our lessons learned from implementing a youth savings program in the Dominican Republic with Banco ADOPEM.
Knowledge and Communications Manager Maura Hart shares stories of five women and the success they achieved through access to basic financial services.
Women’s World Banking support Diamond Bank (Nigeria) in developing savings accounts to meet the needs of low-income youth.
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?
Savings Specialist Ryan Newton blogs about the five key lessons about designing sustainable youth savings programs, based on an evaluation of Banco ADOPEM’s (Dominican Republic) youth savings program, developed together with Women’s World Banking.
A story of success in giving low-income women access to credit to start a business: Monowara lacked skills and education, but she wanted to help her family.
Georgetown student Mike Fox reflects on Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian’s visit to the school to discuss the importance of leveraging diverse, cross-sector experience to achieve meaningful outcomes.
Shini Ashok of Ujjivan interviews Dr. Medha Purao Samant, a widely acclaimed livelihood practitioner and pioneer in bringing microfinance to the slums of Mumbai and Pune.
Women’s World Banking, with support from UNCDF, worked with NBS Bank in Malawi to research, understand and design a digital financial product to increase access to financial services to low-income communities, particularly women, in rural areas.
When crisis strikes, whether it is the result of a natural disaster or political unrest, what can financial institutions that serve low-income clients do to support their clients and the community?
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian is cited on the role of technology regarding the persistent gender gap in financial inclusion globally.
Our new microinsurance director blogs about his shift from managing risk in corporate insurance to developing meaningful insurance for low-income women.
Our goal is to remind our allies and supporters that financial inclusion must include the one billion women that don’t have access to basic financial products and services. The current interventions are working, but mostly for men.
Research Specialist Jaclyn Berfond blogs about Women’s World Banking’s new research agenda, going beyond product studies to exploring new markets, segments and services.
Produced by Diamond Bank (2015)
Women’s World Banking is welcoming 14 senior leaders from financial institutions around the world to New York this week, kicking off a one-year Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program.
Leadership and Diversity Specialist Sarah Buitoni introduces our one-of-a-kind leadership program for senior leaders of financial institutions dedicated to serving the low-income market.
Chief Strategy Officer Harsha Rodrigues will be interviewed on the Sirius XM Wharton Business Radio show “Dollars and Change.”
Martina Quirino narrates the story behind the founding of Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation, Inc (Philippines) and the women leaders behind our network member institution.
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
Manager of Knowledge and Communications Julie Slama blogs about a recent trip to Ghana with Credit Suisse volunteers to understand the local microfinance market.
Kashf Foundation has been awarded with client protection certification by Smart Campaign for meeting excellent standards of customer care which are globally recognized.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was interviewed for an article in The Guardian about closing the persistent gender gap in access to finance.
Women’s World Banking contributed an article on how to best serve women-led small-to-medium enterprises for Wall Street Journal/ MetLife Foundation initiative Multipliers of Prosperity.
Head of consumer business at NBS Bank (Malawi) shares his key takeaways from an agency banking training in Tanzania led by Women’s World Banking and Helix Institute.
Women’s World Banking network members participating in a virtual learning community compiled key insights on successfully marketing to women to share with the wider financial services industry
In January 2015, Women’s World Banking moved from our longtime home in Bryant Park to a new office space. Our Chief Operating Officer shares how he led the organization through the big move.
In-depth market research is the foundation for a financial product that meets the needs of women. Properly conducting and applying market research enables financial institutions to understand customer needs and develop appropriate, responsive solutions. This practitioner-driven learning community will convene mid-level managers who are interested in learning how they can
Anjali Banthia interviews Shorebank co-founder and Women’s World Banking board of trustee Mary Houghton on her work with Women’s World Banking and what it takes to be a good leader.
KfW shares it’s support of Women’s World Banking.
The Young & Rubicam’s Sustainability Marketing Practice, INSPIRE highlighted our article on the UN Women WEInspire blog which discussed our social soap-opera approach to financial education.
Women’s World Banking shared the stage with Visa’s Doug Sabo at te U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s International Women’s Day Forum.
Women’s World Banking’s Susan Gao wrote a piece for the Better Than Cash Alliance blog about our recent agency banking training in Tanzania
Throughout March you’ll see videos of our amazing network members, partners and advocates talking about how they’re making it happen for women around the world, in honor of International Women’s Day and more.
Senior Associate for Knowledge and Communications Gayle Gatchalian wrote about our research into the healthcare needs of Egyptians and Ugandans for The Huffington Post ImpactX blog, through the support of the Cisco Foundation.
Volunteer Melisa Nunez reviews the recent webinar Women’s World Banking hosted on best practices in marketing microinsurance based on extensive research and application of these insights.
Cathleen Tobin is cited in this article about financial inclusion in Nigeria.
Director of Product Development Cathleen Tobin discusses how Diamond Bank leveraged technology to reach the low-income market.
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania joins Women’s World Banking to announce the Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program, which will launch in April 2015.
Women’s World Banking’s membership to the Smart Campaign, global movement to embed a set of client-protection principles into the fabric of the microfinance industry, was highlighted.
Developing a meaningful insurance product for Finance Trust Bank’s low-income clients was not enough. We needed to develop an educational marketing campaign to help their clients understand (and make use of!) the TrustCare product.
The Microfinance CEO Working Group welcomes two new members: : Lauren Hendricks (CARE’s Access Africa program) and Shameran Abed (BRAC).
Women’s World Banking held the inaugural meeting of its Africa Advisory Council, a group helping refine its strategic work who serve as ambassadors for women’s financial inclusion issues within their personal and professional circles.
Our Pafupi mobile savings project in Malawi with NBS Bank and supported by UNCDF was highlighted on OECD Insights.
March 8th is International Women’s Day (IWD), a global celebration commemorating the advancements in women’s equality. This year’s theme is “Make it Happen,” encouraging effective action for advancing and recognizing women. To celebrate IWD this year Women’s World Banking is asking each of our network members to show your work
Women’s World Banking co-authored a piece on the market opportunity of financing women-led SMEs with the SME Finance Forum and the World Economic Forum.
A profile of the CEO of Kenya Women Holding and strong advocate for women’s financial inclusion.
Four years after collaborating with Banco ADOPEM to develop its youth savings program, Women’s World Banking returned to the bank to evaluate the impact of the program on the bank.
Women’s World Banking and NBS Bank (Malawi) toured TEB (Turkey), a best practice bank serving SMEs to learn from its approach and innovations in serving this segment.
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.
Women’s World Banking CFO Michael Mohr meets rural women clients in Colombia and doffs his finance cap to understand risk and success in micro-agribusiness.
For individuals, the new year is typically the time to make resolutions and vow to practice new, better habits. For businesses, the new year might be a good time to look for new opportunity.
Nithya Palanisami of Ujjivan Financial Services (India) shares her exclusive interview with Vinatha Reddy, founder of GrameenKoota, in this guest post.
December 23, 2014 Link:http://www.liberation.fr/monde/2014/12/23/une-banquiere-qui-prend-les-emergentes-en-compte_1169449 Elle a le look corporate et efficace. Mary Ellen Iskenderian est présidente et directrice générale de Women’s World Banking, une banque différente. Ses profits sont exclusivement réinvestis dans des actions visant à émanciper et assurer la sécurité des femmes dans les pays émergents. «Nous nous attachons
Women’s World Banking has worked in several countries to develop innovative methods like soap operas to reach low-income women with financial education.
Senior Associate Jaclyn Berfond shares her thoughts on the themes that emerged from a recent e-workshop on using gender performance indicators.
Associate Susan Gao lists the top themes that emerged in a recent conference on empowering women in agribusiness.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian, current president of Women’s World Banking, was in London at the conference Trust Women, organized in November by Thomson Reuters, speaking on women and finance, showing how they are excluded from this sector virtually worldwide.
One of the key takeaways from our recent workshop on serving rural women is the importance of partnerships in providing for all the business needs of this market.
A dozen African government, finance and business leaders, including Nigeria’s Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, agreed surprisingly, earlier this week in Nairobi, that a partnership between women and mobile phones could be the next big thing for Africa’s growth story.
Rural women in Malawi provide significant earning power within their families but so many of them have no access to a safe place to save their money. Through a new innovative mobile savings account, Malawi’s NBS Bank Ltd. is working with global nonprofit Women’s World Banking to bring banking to the doorsteps of local low-income communities and families.
Nearly one billion women around the world do not have access to a bank account. Many of the barriers that these women face will sound familiar — lack of decision-making power within their families, lack of education, lack of formal employment.
BANKS are overlooking a major source of savings which could help them meet growing demand for credit – women, Nigerian Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has said.
New technology has “brought the bank” to millions of low-income women in a revolution that could help drive economic growth, according to an authority on women’s finance.
Speaking during the Africa Advisory Council press briefing at a Nairobi hotel, Iskenderian noted that only 20 percent of women in Africa have bank accounts and this continues to hinder their progress.
Mobile phone technology can help to bring financial services to the 80 percent of African women who do not have a bank account and bolster the growth of the world’s poorest continent.
Women’s World Banking convened institutions and organizations invested in serving rural women to discuss the successes and challenges of developing an innovative, responsible, and sustainable approach to serving clients in rural areas.
Twelve high-profile African leaders, including Nigerian Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, have joined with global nonprofit Women’s World Banking to form a new advisory council with the common goal of bringing economic empowerment to low-income African women.
Women’s World Banking CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian weighs in on The Economist’s Nov 14 feature on financial inclusion to ask, “what about women?”
Women’s World Banking co-hosted a roundtable with financial inclusion players in Mexico to the challenges to offering individual lending in the country and a path forward to begin.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) commissioned Women’s World Banking to conduct research on global practices of financial institutions in serving women-led SMEs and developed recommendations for banks to adopt the best practices.
With support from global nonprofit Women’s World Banking, three financial institutions in Peru, Colombia and Paraguay are successfully tapping a historically under-served market: low-income rural women.
Women’s World Banking helped network member institutions in Latin America develop loans that meet rural women’s needs and deepen inclusion for the rural market.
Women’s World Banking worked with three network member institutions to develop financial products for women in Latin America.
After investing her savings into a business that failed, Nang Edjing picked up the pieces and started another venture with the help of NWTF.
Apply to be part of Women’s World Banking’s Leadership and Diversity for Innovation 2016 Program.
Today Women’s World Banking, in partnership with UNIFIM A.C. and supported by McGraw Hill Financial, is hosting an exclusive roundtable in Mexico City to discuss how well-designed individual microenterprise loans can grow Mexico’s financial services sector, extending much-needed credit and growth opportunities to low-income microentrepreneurs.
Ujjivan’s Chandralekha Chaudhari profiles the accomplishments of one of the women who helped Muhammad Yunus found Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
This publication is a guide for deposit-taking institutions in any stage of youth savings program development.
On October 28, 2014, Women’s World Banking and UNIFIM A.C. host a roundtable to bring better loan opportunities to low-income Mexican microentrepreneurs.
By MI-BOSPO Before the Bosnian war, Mirjana Parhomov was a safety engineer living quietly in the town of Bijeljina, Bosnia. During the war’s aftermath however, she was one of many who were left without a job, an income and a home. “It”s hard when you are left without a home
Women’s World Banking is seeking an experienced firm or individual to develop a technology-based solution for monitoring and evaluating the success of the new Leadership and Diversity for Innovation Program (the Program), including recommendations on an optimal technology platform and build-out of the platform. The consultancy would be on a contract basis.
Mexico is one of the most populous countries in Latin America so it is not surprising that they have one of the largest number of microfinance clients: a whopping six million borrowers which is roughly 5% of the population (2013). Yet there is something distinct about how microfinance has developed
Mary Ellen Iskenderian discusses the prevalence of financial access inequality between genders for the Trust Women Conference.
With support from McGraw Hill Financial, Women’s World Banking sought to gain a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities for financial institutions to offer individual microenterprise lending to low-income entrepreneurs in Mexico. This report highlights findings that we hope will spur financial institutions to reach this underserved market.
A partnership between Women’s World Banking and BSR’s HERfinance program will increase workers’ financial skills and awareness and create new financial products and services tailored to the working poor.
[[formassembly formid=278537 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
Our Leadership Community members share best practices on what institutions and women themselves can do to promote greater gender equity.
“Promoting Women’s Leadership” is a collection of best practices that both companies and women leaders can implement to promote greater gender equity in their institution.
Product Research, Marketing and Financial Education Manager Cathleen Tobin will be participating at The Guardian Global Development Professionals Network’s morning seminar, in association with Visa. The panel will be held on Friday, October 10 from 8-11AM in Washington DC. A panel of speakers will cover the following topics: New models for reaching
An interview with the Managing Director of ACCION’s Center for Financial Inclusion by guest blogger Surabhi Shahi.
The financial education industry as a whole has stopped short in examining who or what kind of individual is most successful in delivering financial education. We share our experience of three different educator profiles in various projects around the world.
After launching our leadership and diversity program offerings in 2009, Women’s World Banking set out to study how leadership trainings can best translate into bigger and more sustained changes at the institutional level. We asked ourselves: what aspects of our program design most effectively drove this kind of change?
Low-income want to save, can save and need a safe place to save. While creating savings programs for the poor is not easy, we firmly believe that serving women makes business sense. Neither women nor banks can afford to miss this opportunity.
We guest posted on the Better than Cash Alliance blog about the agency banking learning tour we organized in Kenya for financial institutions we are working with.
Guest bloggers Prerna Padwal and Praneeta Kanchinadam tell the story of Roshaneh Zafar, founder and executive director of Pakistan network member Kashf Foundation.
Parveen took her family from the brink of poverty to business success with her microentrepreneur’s spirit and the support of Kashf Foundation.
Read the story of Rani, a livestock and dairy business owner and one of Kashf Foundation’s (Pakistan) successful clients.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian is one of the speakers at the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s annual Trust Conference from November 18-19 in London.
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.
Ujjivan (India) leaders visit fellow network member Fundación delamujer (Colombia) to learn individual lending best practices.
These “Select Five” key indicators are the starting point—the minimum that all industry stakeholders should use to track and improve gender performance.
Women’s World Banking staff members share reflections on the lessons they learned from attending this year’s Wharton Leadership Conference, “Preparing for a Complex and Uncertain World.”
International Banker Magazine features our youth savings work with SEWA Bank in India.
This is the story of Bahiya, a client of Women’s World Banking network member in Lebanon, Al Majmoua.
A woman with a bank account can dream, plan and hope for a better future for herself and for her family. Learn why you should help us bank on her.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian introduces our 2013 Annual Report: In the last three years we have completed 27 research studies on the lives of low-income women; reached 1.2 million clients in 24 financial institutions with new products; and trained more than 200 leaders of financial institutions.
Fellow Ines shares the lessons she took home with her from a week with the Women in Leadership Program in Mexico, supported by MetLife.
In the last three years we have completed 27 research studies on the lives of low-income women; reached 1.2 million clients in 24 financial institutions with new products; and trained more than 200 leaders of financial institutions.
The volunteers were in Bolivia as part of DB’s Corporate Community Partnership (CCP) Program, a volunteer program aimed at providing employees an opportunity to use their skills to support a DB partner organization in a meaningful way. Given Women’s World Banking’s long relationship with DB, we were honored to facilitate Pedro, Costina and Katharina’s engagement with FUNBODEM. This is the eighth time over the last six years that DB employees have volunteers to work work with a Women’s World Banking Network member.
Women’s World Banking has conducted more than a dozen Women in Leadership training programs around the world and each workshop manages to surprise and move us in different ways. This is the story of Mexico.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will be speaking on a panel on “Financial Inclusion as an Engine to Drive Economic Development of Women” at this year’s FORO.
Savings Specialist Ryan Newton will be presenting our youth savings work during the webinar “Banking on Girls: From Piggy Banks to Savings Accounts,” part of the SEEP Network’s Understanding Youth and their Financial Needs webinar series. The webinar will be held on June 10 at 10:00 AM EDT. Event info: This installment
Mobile money is gaining momentum in Tanzania. Would other financial services be able to catch up? Women’s World Banking visited Tanzania in October 2013 to conduct industry and customer research to understand what opportunities exist for mobile banking in Tanzania.
Kenya Women’s Microfinance Bank Declared Best Microfinance Bank at 2014 Banking Awards
Floods that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina last week inflicted enormous material damage to citizens. The real damage will not be known for a long time. MI-BOSPO launched emergency actions to assist its clients and employees. We have been collecting information on how many clients have lost their homes and property, in order for us to try to find ways to assist them.
With support from Agence Française de Développement, Women’s World Banking went to Morocco in March of this year to meet with rural and urban clients of the institution to help AlAmana solve the mystery of why clients weren’t using their microinsurance.
“How much did you spend on healthcare last time you were hospitalized?” That was the question Women’s World Banking’s research team posed to more than 70 participants of focus groups organized in Uganda early this year as part of our project to introduce a health microinsurance product with our local network member. The question seems straightforward enough, a simple matter of sums. As we found however, most of the participants were not aware of the full cost of their hospitalization and even severely underestimated it.
Finance Trust Bank and Women’s World Banking are working together to develop and offer a health microinsurance product to help alleviate the financial burden of major illness for their low-income clients. We began our product development work as all Women’s World Banking projects do: with in-depth market research. Specifically in Uganda, we needed to understand the usage, needs, financing and costs for healthcare among low-income people, as well as their awareness of insurance.
Women’s World Banking announced today that it has joined the Better Than Cash Alliance, committing to work with its 39 network members in 28 countries around the globe to ensure that at least one million low-income people shift to electronic money channels in the next five years.
Savings Specialist Ryan Newton blogged about our youth savings project in India with SEWA Bank for the Huffington Post/ Cisco ImpactX blog.
Summer intern Melisa had the opportunity to interview Chief Strategy Officer Harsha Thadhani soon after the Women’s World Banking Board approved the organization’s next strategy. They talked about Harsha’s work and Women’s World Banking’s approach to strategic planning.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian is speaking at an event at Chatham House in London on June 12, 2014 entitled “Unlocking the Potential: Promoting Women’s Financial Inclusion in Africa.” She will be joined by Craig Churchill, Chief of Social Finance Programme, International Labour Organization (ILO). Register Event
Support Women’s World Banking in honor of Mother’s Day and help low-income mothers worldwide build a better future for themselves, their families and communities.
Besides the extent of their outreach and their ability to offer diverse products, an MFI’s success is now being measured by operational, financial, social, and gender indicators. In February 2014, Women’s World Banking’s Leadership and Gender Diversity program team provided Crecer, Crédito con Educación Rural in Bolivia just this opportunity to strengthen its team of managers through the Management Development Training program.
When I tell people that I work at Women’s World Banking, I often get a curious look followed by strings of questions: “Is it a bank for women?” “Is it a CIA front?”, or my favorite, “Can I get a loan from you?” The truth is, besides reciting the standard
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian weighs in on Bloomberg”s latest look at the glass ceiling facing women around the world. Excerpt: Disparities exist at both ends of the economic scale around the world. In 2012, a Gallup poll for the World Bank showed that only 47 percent of
The Huffington Post”s ImpactX page featured a piece by Sarah Buitoni, a Specialist for our Leadership and Diversity programs, about the launch of Women”s World Banking”s Leadership Community.
Women’s World Banking hosts the Women in Leadership Program in Mexico City, Mexico. With support from MetLife Foundation, the five-day program aims to improve professional development among talented women microfinance leaders.
Our president and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian spoke with Devex Impact about how access to financial services has tremendous potential to improve prosperity and security — especially for women — if done correctly.
In celebration of International Women’s Day 2014, our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was featured on Huffington Post’s ImpactX page reflecting on ‘invisible’ women who need access to finance.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian blogged for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Corporate Citizenship Center blog as part of their International Women’s Day 2014 celebration. Here’s an excerpt of the post entitled “The Key to Successfully Banking the Poor: Start with Women”: “That would make us feel
Savings Specialist Ryan Newton will be moderating a panel at this year’s Mobile Money Americas 2014 conference in Mexico City. Mobile money and the battle for consumer adoption Hear the panelists’ views on the most effective method of driving consider adoption – is it building trust, consumer education, product development
We sat with Yolanda and Antonio on plastic chairs under a thatched roof hanging over the front of their house. They had lived on the same 5.5 acre land in Peru for decades and raised two boys by selling milk from their three cows, crops like tomatoes, paprika and corn,
In the MENA region, 18 percent of adults have an account at a formal financial institute compared to 42 percent in the rest of the developing world (Global Findex). The question “What does financial inclusion in MENA look like?” is an urgent one.
KWFT Celebrates 32 Years of Banking on Women
The Chair of Kenya Women’s Finance Trust (KWFT) and Women’s World Banking Board Chair, Dr. Jennifer Riria was nominated in the Masters category for the Ernst and Young Awards.
Fellow Ramatolie reflects on her experiences participating in the Women in Leadership Program held in Mumbai last November.
Dexex Impact interviewed Women’s World Banking’s President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian as part of the #SheBuilds campaign. In this interview, she talks about why financial inclusion is so important to women.
It is a rare sight to see a group of women leaders come together to spend a week reflecting on their lives, professions and leadership impact. Yet this is exactly what a group of high-potential women leaders and managers did in Mumbai, India last November to build their skills, confidence
Dexex Impact interviewed Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian as part of their #SheBuilds campaign.
Because International Women’s Day, March 8th, fell on a Saturday this year, we decided to dedicate our Twitter feed to the various ways we have been helping advance women’s economic empowerment through access to financial services and made our program experts available to anyone who wished to ask us anything about the topic of the day.
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.
El día de ayer en la sucursal de Concepción empezaron a desembolsar créditos para Mujeres que participan de un comité de mujeres denominado PACURI, que están en la zona de Loreto. Este comité cuenta con 25 mujeres y ya desembolsaron 10 créditos de g. 1.000.000 cada uno. Estas personas son
En la mañana de hoy en el local de nuestra Sucursal de Villa Morra, ejecutivos de Interfisa, Fondo Multilateral de Inversiones (FOMIN) y del CIRD- Centro de Información y Recursos para el Desarrollo, participaron de una Conferencia de Prensa para dar a conocer la firma de un importante convenio para
In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, Women’s World Banking hosted an online roundtable with three alumni from our signature Women in Leadership program to reflect on their learnings from the program, how they have implemented these to become better leaders in their institution and ways this has inspired positive change among their colleagues and clients.
In 2012, an estimated 64 percent of Nigerians were unbanked and had never accessed any formal financial services or products, a number that is higher for women: nearly 73 percent of all Nigerian women are unbanked. This number does not include figures for the underbanked—men and women who have had
Diamond Bank and Women’s World Banking, supported by Visa and EFInA, created an innovative and relevant savings product that crosses the barriers preventing low-income Nigerians from accessing formal financial services.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will give the Simmons College Warburg Lecture at the Linda K. Paresky Center. “There’s Nothing Micro About One Billion Women” How can we empower the one billion worldwide who have no access to basic banking services? Women’s World Banking is a
In honor of IWD, Women’s World Banking is holding a series of digital events throughout the week preceding the 8th.
Investing in Women: The Role of Finance in Women’s Empowerment Date: Wednesday March 12, 2014 Time: 8-9 a.m. PST Venue: Webinar Register Now → Despite significant progress through global commitments to gender equality and women’s empowerment, developed and developing countries still face significant challenges in ensuring the equal treatment of
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will preside over a meeting with the OECD Secretary General at the office of the Council on Foreign Relations. Tackling Inequality: Getting the Policy Challenges Right José Ángel Gurría Secretary-General, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Please join Secretary-General Gurría as
[[formassembly formid=278494 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
[[formassembly formid=278493 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
With 39 members across 28 countries, Women’s World Banking’s network is often faced with the tremendous challenge of operating in a crisis.
Women’s World Banking presents the five minimum indicators that financial institutions must track in order to measure and improve gender performance.
El Programa Mujeres en el Liderazgo se celebra en la Ciudad de México del 24 al 28 de marzo, 2014. Debemos recibir su pago para confirmar su participación en el programa. Puede completar su pago por tarjeta de crédito aquí: [[formassembly formid=278488 server=”womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
We’re glad you decided to keep hearing from us. Women’s World Banking is undertaking an exciting new strategy that will see us going into markets where we can make the biggest difference in affecting the gender gap in financial inclusion, partnering with the local innovators and amplifying that impact across the world.
Last November, I had the great privilege of joining Women’s World Banking’s closest supporters on a trip to India. Our agenda was ambitious: four financial institutions; five cities; eleven days. Throughout the trip, we met the inspiring women entrepreneurs who are at the heart of every product introduction, piece of research, and leadership training led by Women’s World Banking.
[[formassembly formid=278487 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
Women’s World Banking Fellow Ramatolie recounts a visit with a male client of network member Microfund for Women in Jordan.
Por favor, envíe un mensaje por correo electrónico a LeadershipAdmissions@womensworldbanking.org si tiene alguna pregunta. See how Women’s World Banking has impacted the lives of millions of women worldwide. Visit our News & Media page, read our blog and follow us on social media for the latest news about Women’s World Banking and our work: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube Pinterest
Estamos complacidos confirmar que usted ha sido aceptada en el próximo Programa Mujeres en el Liderazgo de Women´s World Banking que se llevará a cabo del 24 al 28 marzo de 2014 en la Ciudad de México. Es un honor contar con el patrocinio de Fundación MetLife el
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will be a guest at Wharton Business Radio’s “Leadership in Action” show on Sirius XM radio. he will be interviewed by Wharton professor and Women’s World Banking board member Mike Useem on her leadership journey.
Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman will be speaking at a cocktail reception hosted by MetLife and the Microinsurance Network: “Distribution in Microinsurance: Why the Right Partnerships Matter.” January 23, 2014 4:00-5:30 pm Vanderbilt Suites, MetLife Building Grand Central Terminal, 200 Park Ave. at E. 44th St. & Vanderbilt Ave.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will be speaking on a panel at George Washington University’s John Carroll Weekend in Miami.
Women’s World Banking financial education lead Cathleen Tobin recaps the low-income salaried employees panel at last November’s “Building Women-Focused Finance” in Amman, Jordan.
Meeting women microentrepreneurs inspires an NYC highschool student to seek new opportunities
Leslie Brokaw blogs about the features critical to making Women’s World Banking’s knowledge community for our leadership alumni a success
Chief Investment Officer CJ Juhasz will be speaking at this year’s International Microfinance Seminar to be held in Arequipa, Peru.
Our Senior Associate for Strategy responds to Maria Shriver’s essay on the Atlantic, “The Female Face of Poverty.”
Youth savings specialist Ryan Newton blogs about the youth panel during the “Building Women-Focused Finance” Conference in Amman, Jordan, November 20-21, 2013.
Isobel Coleman blogged about a recent panel conversation she moderated between Mary Ellen Iskenderian (Women’s World Banking) and Steve Hollingsworth (Freedom from Hunger) on the role of savings in financial inclusion.
Summer intern Melisa spoke with Gil Lacson, Manager at the Network Engagement Team, to understand how the Fellowship Program at Women’s World Banking works. They also talked about his experience working at the organization for over 14 years.
For poor women, access to a safe place to save and build assets is as important as access to loans. Women’s World Banking knows from its research that poor women are inherent savers. In this publication, we share the findings of our most recent savings work, including a three-year project with four of our network members.
Women’s World Banking’s work in Nigeria promoting financial inclusion for low-income women was featured in a recent article.
MFW is a client-centric institution that prides itself on striving to meet their clients’ needs. In the process of analyzing the life cycle of their clients, they realized that there are many circumstances where clients face health-related issues that involve many expenses and often loss of income, all of which have a negative impact on the financial stability of the household, maternity and child birth being the most common. With Women’s World Banking’s support and product development expertise, MFW set out to create a product to cover clients facing those health emergencies.
Women’s World Banking has been looking back on the past year as 2013 draws to a close—and what an incredible year it has been! Exciting new research on low-income garment employees in India and how to integrate financial education Launched the Gender Performance Initiative to help the industry prioritize and
Jaclyn Berfond, Senior Associate for Strategy at Women’s World Banking guest blogged on the Center for Financial Inclusion blog on the important of measuring a financial institution’s gender performance in order to know and track whether they are serving women well.
Antonique Koning, a microfinance specialist at CGAP, blogged about our work on promoting financial inclusion for low-income women in Nigeria through the use of savings products and innovative outreach and delivery strategies.
Chhavi Ghuliani , Manager of Partnership Development and Research at BSR blogged about participating at “Building Women-Focused Finance: The Global Local Experience,” held in Amman, Jordan in November of 2013.
Women’s World Banking guest blogs on NextBillion about the necessity of gender performance measurement in microfinance.
Sameera got a loan from MFW to start her business (the first one for 1,000 dinar, approximately US$ 1,400). The beginning was especially tough, as she was the first woman to open a storefront business in the Sahab neighborhood, and the male shop owners didn’t approve of her presence. It took all her perseverance and strength to endure this harassment, but finally, she managed to gain acceptance and her business started to thrive.
CFR Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman leads a conversation with Mary Ellen Iskenderian of Women’s World Banking and Steve Hollingworth of Freedom from Hunger about how savings are blazing the next frontier in poverty eradication.
Financial literacy for Hispanic women Twice a week I head down to volunteer at the Los Sures Social Services office, situated next to the local senior citizen home, to help at the food pantry. We distribute food to people in my neighborhood. Many are familiar faces. Many are middle-aged Hispanic
[[formassembly iframe=1 workflowid=11 server=”https://womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net” style=”width:100%; min-height: 1500px;”]]
Women’s World Banking considers clients’ financial goals and needs, the institution’s business objectives, and the existing market for financial services and information. We then work with the institution to develop a financial education strategy that uses existing delivery and communications channels and fits within client and business routines.
By Maura Hart, Manager, Public Relations Negros Women for Tomorrow Foundation (NWTF) was founded in time of crisis in the Philippines 29 years ago. Decades later, NWTF has seen its clients through countless typhoons (an average of 22 per year in the Philippines) and other natural disasters, experiences that proved invaluable when Typhoon Haiyan (known in the Philippines as Yolanda) hit in November.
We were in Amman, Jordan last week supporting Women’s World Banking’s 2013 Global Forum: Building Women-Focused Finance: The Global-Local Experience. Our first day began with a visit to the Amman headquarters of Microfund for Women (MFW), a Women’s World Banking network member and our gracious local host for the week.
Women’s World Banking’s conference, Building Women-Focused Finance: A Global Experience, was featured on JRTV Channel and Roya News of Jordan.
By Melisa Socorro-Nunez, Global Marketing and Communications Intern
Summer intern Melisa recently sat down with Liannette Perez and talked about her experience at Women’s World Banking, first as Compliance Associate, then as a Fellow. Fellows rotate through four departments of the organization over a two year period.
Our Savings Manager Jennifer McDonald attended Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access’s (EFInA) inaugural Women’s Financial Inclusion Forum in Lagos on November 14. Jennifer presented global best practices for women’s financial inclusion, sharing Women’s World Banking’s experience in developing products that enhance women’s financial inclusion.
Women’s World Banking conference Building Women-Focused Finance: The Global Experience was held under the patronage Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah. Queen Rania attended the session entitled “What do women-focused products and services look like?” moderated by President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian.
Social inequality and an unequal playing field can translate into a generation’s worth of lost dreams, and sometimes a lack of finances is the only thing standing between the youth and their dreams.
Being a junior and learning about different colleges and careers makes it hard for me to only be interested in one field, but in my eyes business is one of the few majors that will allow me to explore most of the careers that I am currently interested in. Ten
We just concluded our Building Women-Focused Finance: The Global Experience conference in Amman and we are so excited about the quality of the presenters and the level of engagement from the audience of over 300 people from around the world. As Mary Ellen Iskenderian, our president and CEO, said in
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah attended Women’s World Banking’s Building Women-Focused Finance: Middle East and North Africa Conference in Amman, Jordan. Queen Rania attends global conference to build women-focused finance by JT AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Tuesday attended a global conference that aims to promote financial
We have just concluded the first day of our best practices conference in Amman, Jordan for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, “Building Women-Focused Finance: the Global-Local Experience.” The agenda was packed with fascinating panels, bringing together Women’s World Banking staff, network members and industry experts to weigh
Under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, stakeholders from around the world gather in Amman to promote financial inclusion for low-income women
In less than 24 hours, Women’s World Banking will be kicking off its first conference for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in Amman, Jordan, “Building Women-Focused Finance: the Global-Local Experience.” The impetus for holding a women-focused finance conference in MENA could not be clearer: only 13% of women have a formal savings account with 4% of women accessing a loan – these numbers are the lowest in the world and if not addressed, will prevent any significant economic growth for the region.
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.
[[formassembly formid=278479 server=”womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
Research has shown that healthcare costs often exert the most financial pressure on poor families. The poor lack the resources to respond quickly in a health emergency, both with the cost of care and the ability to forfeit work to seek care.
With support from Citi Foundation, Women’s World Banking hosts women leaders from across South and Central Asia
Women’s World Banking believes that in order to serve women well, we must understand the social, cultural and political context in which they live and the distinct financial needs that they face. And while women’s experiences and needs vary, from the Middle East to South Asia, one common finding is this: women’s work – both domestic and income-generating – is undervalued, if not completely disregarded, especially in rural communities across the world.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian saw down for an interview with Yahoo! Finance’s The Daily Ticker blogger Aaron Tusk during the 2013 TEDxWallStreet event.
Britain will forge a new partnership between east Africa, leading businesses and the London Stock Exchange Group to boost development in the region, Justine Greening announced as she headed DFID’s first business delegation.
Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) today announced a new partnership with global non-profit Women’s World Banking to bring 1.3 million people from Sub-Saharan Africa into the formal financial services sector for the first time.
In an article that ran in the Times on October 28 (“Microcredit for Americans“), Jonathan Morduch made a bold statement, one we were glad to hear: Families in rural Africa are more like U.S. families than everyone wants to believe,” said Jonathan J. Morduch, the executive director of the Financial
Diamond Bank PLC has announced its 2013 Quarter 3 results, reporting a 10% growth in profit before tax when compared to the corresponding period of 2012. The bank posted a profit before tax of N25.6 billion.
Around the end of August, the weeks leading up to the Women in Leadership program (WIL) in Jordan, my team was glued to the news watching the events unfolding in Egypt, Syria and across the Middle East. Egypt had called a state of emergency and the Syrian crisis had come to a head with reports of chemical weapons and talk of a military strike. It was precisely this regional uncertainty that made it so important for us to go forward with the Women in Leadership program in Amman in September.
TEDxWallStreet: New Ideas Reaching New Markets Behind the scenes with TEDx speaker Mary Ellen Iskenderian of Women’s World Banking TEDx is about inspiring big ideas, and some of the biggest came under the spotlight on The Big Stage of the New York Stock Exchange this week at TEDxWallStreet. “It’s a great
The NYSE Big Stage website featured a summary of Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian’s talk at TEDxWallStreet on Wednesday, October 30, 2012. Microfinance is the ideal that small investments to reach those underserved by financial institutions can solve big problems. But Mary Ellen Iskendrian, CEO of
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian presented at this year’s TEDxWallStreet conference on the topic “Filling the Void.” Read the transcript of her talk.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will be speaking on a panel on financial inclusion for Blackrock employees.
Women’s World Banking worked with Visa. In Nigeria, just 26% of women and 12% of low-income adults have formal bank accounts, according to a 2012 report from the World Bank.
Women’s World Banking intern Melisa sat down with Chief Investment Officer CJ Juhasz and talked about her impact investing work and interest in women’s issues.
Women’s World Banking is among MetLife’s first round of grant recipients as part of their new global campaign to bring financial inclusion to low-income communities in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the U.S.
Youth Savings specialist Ryan Newton was cited as a resource for her work with our network member PEACE MFI S.CO on the UNDCF/ Mastercard Foundation report “Building the Business Case of Youth Services.”
Women’s World Banking is honored to award its 2013 Excellence in Leadership Award to Microfund for Women for championing women’s roles in the success of the organization.
El Comité de admisiones revisará todas las solicitudes y notificará sus decisiones a los solicitantes. Por favor, envíe un mensaje por correo electrónico a LeadershipAdmissions@womensworldbanking.org si tiene alguna pregunta. See how Women’s World Banking has impacted the lives of millions of women worldwide. Visit our News & Media page, read our blog and follow us on social
There is nothing like celebrating our collective accomplishments with our closest friends and supporters. We had just that honor at our annual benefit last October 9th at the IAC Building in New York City, kicking the night off with a rockstar panel of luminaries (Andrew Ross Sorkin, Anne Marie Slaughter,
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.
President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was interviewed by South Africa’s Financial Mail about Women’s World Banking’s pilot project with Diamond Bank in Nigeria to encourage underbanked women and small entrepreneurs to enter the banking system.
India network member Ujjivan has just released the results of an independent impact assessment survey.
For the second straight year, Kenya Women Finance Trust DTM has been recognized by Deloitte and ranked as the third “Best Company to Work For 2013” in Kenya. In the words of Mwangi Githaiga, Managing Director, “This award demonstrates the confidence that our employees have in the institution, board and management.”
Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman recently sat on a panel during a breakout session at the Concordia Summit held in New York City. The Summit posted a recap of the breakout session on its website.
Baboucarr Khan, CEO of Reliance Financial Services in the Gambia was joined by Reliance co-founder and COO Ismaila Faal along with Women’s World Banking team member Alejandra Rios to discuss the leadership implications of product innovation during a webinar hosted by Women’s World Banking.
Quotes from Women’s World Banking panelist Anne-Marie Slaughter were highlighted.
Bloomberg featured Women’s World Banking’s Annual Benefit at the IAC Building in New York City.
Women’s World Banking celebrated its work empowering low-income women worldwide at the IAC Building in New York City, featuring the powerhouse panel of Anne-Marie Slaughter, Melanne Verveer and John Gerzema, moderated by Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Women’s World Banking today announced the 2013 recipient of the Excellence in Leadership Award, funded by the Citi Foundation. Microfund for Women (MFW), based in Jordan, is honored for building an institution that ensures that women are well-represented in the organization’s workforce, leadership and governance while maintaining its commitment to serve every ambitious woman.
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.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian guest-blogged for CGAP’s ‘Gender and Finance’ blog series.
Women’s World Banking board member Anthony Noto was featured in the New York Times for securing the ” the most coveted tech banking assignment this year:” “leading the initial public offering of Twitter.”
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.
By: Nejira Nalic, head of MI-BOSPO, Women’s World Banking network member in Bosnia and Herzogovina, will participate in a live chat on Thursday, October 3 with the The Guardian Global Development Professionals Network. The chat will be held from 1 to 3pm, UK time. Introductory post here: “Back in black: has microfinance
Innovation in product development and internal processes allows institutions to deliver on the double bottom line of financial and social returns. Innovation requires strong leadership and a clear vision.
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.
Research specialist Anjali Banthia’s response blog to an op-ed about the link between domestic violence and microfinance was cited in a recent Guardian article on the state of the microfinance industry.
Thank you for your interest in joining Women’s World Banking in Morocco! You can join the trip by becoming a 2014 sponsor of Women’s World Banking at one of the following levels: Ambassador – $15,000 donation Benefactor – $10,000 donation Advocate – $5,000 donation There will be an additional estimated*
Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman was interviewed on Women’s World Banking’s youth savings work around the world.
September 23, 2013 Women’s World Banking had the privilege of participating in a collaborative workshop in Port Moresby, co-hosted by the Central Bank of Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the UNCDF Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme (PFIP), intended to generate ideas from a range of stakeholders to include in the strategy. This gave us a unique opportunity to utilize our research on the challenges and opportunities women face in accessing financial services in PNG to influence national policy, ensure that it includes a focus on women and to continue building our relationships with players in the Pacific region following our regional forum earlier this year.
It was heartening to see a Central Bank choosing to call together a diverse and mostly-local group of bankers, microfinance practitioners, women’s groups and representatives from savings and loan societies – alongside Women’s World Banking and the International Finance Corporation – to gather their perspectives on what the national strategy should look like. Each group presented their point of view and produced at the end of the workshop, a summary of recommendations that featured a wide range of opinions and targeting different constituencies.
We highlighted these key points from our research:
• There is an immense opportunity to serve women in PNG. Women are dramatically underserved by the financial services sector yet are just as likely as men to be earning. Women are important contributors to household. Our research showed that women need and want services to help them manage their money, including savings, loans and micro-insurance. Financial services providers should see serving women as not just a social cause but a real business opportunity.
• But women are tough customers. Winning the loyalty of PNG’s unbanked women will not be easy. Our research shows that to satisfy women, banking services need to be:
• Affordable and transparent: Women in PNG and elsewhere are unwilling to pay fees to save, such as the account maintenance fees and heavy withdrawal fees common in PNG. These fees effectively impact women more than men because they are usually poorer and have the responsibility of stretching their income to cover household expenses. Low fee, “no frills” accounts are offered by all of the PNG banks, yet there seem to be gaps in the outreach and awareness of these accounts. Most women in our study only knew about fee-based accounts.
• Secure: Women repeatedly emphasized PNG’s weak law and order environment and extremely high rates of domestic violence, which both pose serious risks for women’s physical well-being and their money if it is not locked away securely. Women also highlighted the risks of carrying money to and from their homes and businesses and said that carrying money to a bank branch may also not be safe. Mobile phone banking through neighborhood agents is therefore an attractive solution.
• Convenient: Working mothers everywhere know that they are the busiest people in the world! It’s no different in PNG. Mobile phone banking is not only great for security but offers a way to make banking much more convenient. But there is a gender gap in terms of access: PFIP found that 21% of women in urban areas do not have a phone, compared to just 9% of men. There’s also room to improve understanding and trust of mobile phone banking amongst women. GSMA found that 47% of women liked the idea but did not open a mobile money account because they didn’t understand the technology and 55% were not sure if mobile money is safe.
• Easy for illiterate customers: English is the language of the financial sector in PNG and many places, yet many women in Port Moresby (nearly 75% according to PFIP) are unable to communicate in English (a figure likely to be higher in rural and remote areas). Women’s World Banking believes in using visual and vernacular languages when creating marketing materials and forms to reduce this barrier.
The good news is that these are the features that both women and men want. If banks find ways to satisfy women through incorporating more of the features above, they will also gain men customers who have similarly been excluded from the banking sector.
Women’s World Banking shared these insights with the Central Bank, urging them to set targets to balance financial inclusion in PNG and to encourage more inclusive product design. The following inputs to the strategy were made, relating to a focus on women of the Central Bank:
• Set a target of 50% women served by the financial services sector, up from 30%, by 2015. Individual institutions should identify institutional targets for women’s financial inclusion and disaggregate gender data to track their progress.
• Lower the documentation requirements for opening an account (a barrier for women who do not have ID cards). This could include allowing women to use their affiliation with member-based groups, such as the Women’s Coffee Growers’ Association for example, as proof of identification for basic accounts.
• Work with the Ministry of Education to include financial education in the curriculum of public schools or vocational institutions, as an effort to start building financial literacy at a younger age to prepare more girls (and boys) to use financial services.
Women’s World Banking was proud to be able to contribute to and hopefully influence PNG’s national financial inclusion strategy. We’ll continue to look out for gains in women’s access in region, as we work on expanding financial inclusion for women around the world.
[[formassembly formid=36 server=”womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
The Center for Microfinance Leadership is proud to announce the next webinar in our All Alumni Webinar Series: Leadership and Management Implications of Product Innovation taking place on Monday, September 30, 2013 at 9:00am EST
Chief Strategy Officer Harsha Rodrigues participated in a discussion about how to measure the impact of development organizations’ economic empowerment work for women.
Saif Mohammad Moinul Islam, private sector engagement coordinator at Care Bangladesh, wrote a letter to to The Guardian Global Development Professionals Network last week with the provocative headline: "Domestic violence in Bangladesh: blame it on microfinance."
Women’s World Banking would like to thank The Giving Library for sponsoring our organization to be part of their online archive of organizations. Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian visited their studios in Houston to produce a video found here.
Women’s World Banking’s work in rural finance in Latin America and mobile technology as an alternative delivery channel was featured on the recently released report by the UN Foundation and ExxonMobil Foundation.
A Colombian newspaper, Vanguardia, featured the upcoming launch of rural credit products by network member Fundación delamujer. Women’s World Banking worked with the institution to develop these products.
Women”s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was on a panel entitled “Different perspectives on reaching poor households” at The MasterCard Foundation Symposium on Financial Inclusion in Turin, Italy this past July.
Women’s World Banking’s online Leadership Community for Center for Microfinance Leadership Alumni was featured in a report in the Fall 2013 Research Edition of the MIT Sloan Management Review Journal.
Women’s World Banking is pleased to welcome Ying (Susan) Gao, a 2013 Bryn Mawr College graduate, to the Program team as their intern.
Whether in a developed country such as the United States or in the low-income neighborhoods of Colombia, women are constantly making income decisions based on a social and cultural default that they are responsible for children and the household.
CARD MRI, the and Freedom from Hunger are longtime partners and worked together to design and implement the Microfinance and Health Protection Initiative.
Women’s World Banking was mentioned in a list of select participants invited to its third annual forum to be held in New York City in September. Chief Development Officer Anna Gincherman will be speaking on the panel entitled “Forging the Path toward an Inclusive Financial Sector.”
Women’s World Banking is proud to announce that three members of the Women’s World Banking network have been ranked in the top 20 list of microfinance institutions in Latin America and the Caribbean: Banco WWB, Banco ADOPEM and Fundación delamujer.
Mary Ellen Iskenderian is a panelist at 2013 Foromic in Guadelajara, Mexico. She will be discussing our work on rural credit in Peru, Paraguay and Colombia.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO will be moderating a panel of speakers during a small group discussion at this year’s Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting. Sep. 25, 2013 from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm.
boutMicrofinance, an aggregator and disseminator of current and authoritative information and resources on all aspects of the microfinance industry, featured an interview with Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian in their Fall Newsletter.
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.
Women’s World Banking and Diamond Bank (Nigeria), with the support of Visa, developed a savings product to promote financial inclusion for low-income un(der)banked women in the country.
Women’s World Banking supporter Maureen O’Toole wrote of her travel experience in Tunisia earlier this year.
Head of Pakistan network member Kashf Foundation and member of the Women’s World Banking board Roshaneh Zafar was interviewed by authors of the Ashoka blog on Forbes.com
In celebration of our Community’s One Year Anniversary, we asked members to share photos of themselves working with their teams and to tell us their leadership philosophies. We are now pleased to share them with you through this video!
Dominican Republic network member Banco ADOPEM celebrated its anniversary by holding a sports day for its staff. Awards were also handed out to exceptional employees. Congratulations on remaining a strong institution committed to serving women and celebrating the hard work of its employees! Read the full article on El Dia</em rel=”nofollow”>.
Brazil network member Banco da Familia was mentioned in an article about an agricultural expo in the country: “Expolages 2013 apresenta novidades durante lançamento”
Women’s World Banking, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Multilateral Investment Fund, developed rural credit products that extend financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs in Peru, Paraguay and Colombia. This fact sheet details the challenge, objectives and initial results of the project that will run until December
Youth Savings Specialist Ryan Newton guest blogged for Youth Economic Opportunities to share Women’s World Banking’s experience in designing financial education programs specifically for youth.
Women’s World Banking is proud to announce that the Portfolio Analytics Toolkitwas featured in the company’s 2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report.
Women’s World Banking’s social media engagement with the Center for Financial Inclusion’s recent video explaining financial inclusion was featured in the August edition of the MIX Dispatch, The MIX Market’s monthly newsletter.
Summer intern Melisa recently sat down with Ines Marino and talked about her experience as a Fellow for Women’s World Banking.
Global Marketing and Communications summer intern Melisa had the opportunity to chat with Sandy Salama, who just arrived from Cairo to New York for her two-year fellowship at Women’s World Banking.
In the press release by the Bank of Papua New Guinea, Women’s World Banking is acknowledged as a partner in building financial inclusion and women’s empowerment in PNG. “Together, PFIP (Pacific Financial Inclusion Programme) and Women World Banking, and led by Bank of PNG, will draw from 20 resource participants
Essma ben Hamida and Essia Nciri, two leaders from our Tunisian network member, enda inter-arabe, were featured by The Montreal Gazette on a list of women who were instrumental in transforming the political landscape of Tunisia.
Women’s World Banking’s served as a gender financial inclusion expert in a workshop convened by the Bank of Papua New Guinea, in partnership with the Pacific Financial Inclusion Program.
Dominican Republic network member Banco ADOPEM, with support from the Citi Foundation, trained 3,000 women entrepreneurs through its “Enterprising Women” program.
The Pacific Financial Inclusion Program (PFIP) featured Women’s World Banking’s participation at the recent financial inclusion and women”s empowerment workshop in Papua New Guinea. Senior Associate for Research Anjali Banthia was in attendance to present our research of the financial needs of low-income women in the Pacific.
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.
[[formassembly formid=35 server=”womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
Program funder Credit Suisse featured Mucho Corazon, our social communications project in Mexico.
Dominican Republic Banco ADOPEM, with the support of Citi Foundation, trained 3,000 women entrepreneurs through its “Enterprising Women” program. Read the full article on Listin Diario.
Julián Acuña, business banking manager at Santander Banefe, discusses the bank’s new product, Santander Select.
Chief Product Development Officer Anna Gincherman is a panelist at the 12th Annual AFMIN Conference and General Assembly on October 15-18, 2013. This year’s theme is “Inclusive Finance for Inclusive Growth and Transformation in Africa” at the Africa Union Conference Center, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia. The overall objective of the conference is to bring together
All this week Women’s World Banking has been focusing on our youth savings work in honor of International Youth Day 2013. To cap it off, we’d like to share our extensive and interactive guide for deposit-taking microfinance institutions looking to offer or improve a youth savings program for their market.
We are pleased to share that our 2012 Annual Report was featured on the non-profit information website, CSR International.
“In the past, when I had money in my hand, I just go out and spend, but now whenever I get money, I just run and come here to save it.” – Lenege girl saver
Today we’re sharing the blogpost we wrote for microlinks back in 2012 about the youth savings product we developed in the Dominican Republic with network member Banco ADOPEM.
Our recently released case study on our financial education work in India, “Can Financial Education Be the Engine for Savings Growth?” was featured on on a list of the latest financial inclusion studies and toolkits by the Microfinance Gateway.
In 2008, Women’s World Banking began working with XacBank in Mongolia to develop a youth savings and financial education program, with support from the Nike Foundation, as part of the Girl Effect initiative.
In honor of this day, Women’s World Banking will be highlighting its youth savings work, which has implications for youth around the world – including migrants, which are the theme of this year’s Youth Day.
The Post Nigeria featured the launch of BETA Savings, a project Women’s World Banking developed with Diamond Bank to provide easy savings accounts to low-income women in Nigeria.
A new study from Thomson Reuters finds that companies with gender-diverse boards perform better than companies with zero women on their board. This echoes what the Center for Microfinance Leadership has known all along: that diverse perspectives lead to stronger decisions and healthier institutions…
Women’s World Banking is seeking a Consultant to advise on the research and product design as part of Feasibility Studies for a health microinsurance product (hospital-cash) to be offered in partnership with financial institutions in Mexico and Brazil.
Fundación delamjuer, our network member in Colombia and one of the institutions with whom Women’s World Banking developed rural credit products, is hosting a launch event of their rural credit product to the rest of their branches in the country.
The Optimizing Capital Structure Toolkit is essential for microfinance institutions (MFIs) undergoing transformation and beginning to mobilize deposits, MFIs have two new major sources of capital (equity and deposits), and it becomes a challenge to understand prudent or optimal mixes of savings, debt, quasi-equity, and equity.
Under Joyce Banda, Malawi’s economy is recovering, with manufacturing expected to grow six percent and agriculture 5.7 percent (World Bank) and respect for democracy and human rights has returned to the country (International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute).
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.
Mountains, low lands, wetlands, coastal areas, rainforests, islands… Sounds like an entire continent, but that geography is actually just one country’s: Papua New Guinea. With geography like that, you can imagine, getting anywhere is a real challenge.
This elevated the bank to become a Hall of Fame awardee for the said category. Looking back, CARD Bank, Inc. was established on September 1, 1997 and envisioned to build a sustainable financial institution owned, managed and controlled by the landless rural women by providing continued access to financial services to an expanding client base by organizing and empowering landless rural women.
Senior Associate for Research Anjali Banthia will be speaking about our research on financial inclusion for women in the Pacific at the upcoming National Workshop on Women’s Access to Financial Services in Papua New Guinea. She will be sharing our findings with a group of policy makers, gender and development practitioners
Forging the right partnerships between Financial Service Providers (FSPs), Youth Serving Organizations (YSOs), and other key stakeholders, such as schools and local government, can be a key factor to successfully and sustainably serving youth clients.
Summer intern Melisa recently sat down with Ramatolie Saho and talked about her experience as a Fellow for Women’s World Banking. Fellows rotate through four departments of the organization over a two year period.
At the G‐20 Seoul Summit in November of 2010, Women’s World Banking was asked by several G‐20 governmentsto comment on the report, “Strengthening Accessto Finance for Women SMEs in Developing Countries.”
Fadi Al-Tawabin, a Microinsurance Officer at Microfund for Women Jordan, explains the development of the hospital cash microinsurance product provided by his institution, a product developed with Women's World Banking.
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.
2013 Annual Benefit Make a Donation: [[formassembly formid=44 server=”womensworldbanking.tfaforms.net”]]
WATCH THE VIDEO: On July 17, 2013, Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian sat down with Esther Ugbodaga to discuss financial exclusion in the African content, the importance of financially empowering women and Women’s World Banking’s work in Nigeria.
Our President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will be interviewed on the West Africa financial news show “Power Lunch” on CNBC Africa.
Marketplace Morning Report ran a story this morning (“Women stay in jobs longer than they should”) on women’s tenure in companies and the potential negative effect it can have on their career and salary growth. Is the answer to inspire women to be as mobile as their male counterparts? Not always.
In 2013, Women’s World Banking’s Center for Microfinance Leadership (CML) was given the incredible opportunity to create a new Senior Leadership Exchange to grow its own product offering while supporting the development of women leaders in microfinance.
In 2011 Women’s World Banking set-out to prove that providing low-income women with financial services is not charity but smart business.
Tunisia live interviewed the co-founder and secretary-general of Tunisia network member enda inter-arabe.
Quality data—accurate and useful—is critical for the microfinance sector.
In 2011 Women’s World Banking set-out to prove that providing low-income women with financial services is not charity but smart business. In developing economies 63 percent of women don’t have a bank account, which severely limits their ability to build a business or save for emergencies or a child’s education. During the second year of our three-year strategic plan, we provided more than 1,000,000 clients with access to the financial tools and resources they need.
Indian Cooperative featured the introduction of financial literacy in SEWA Bank’s services.
Today, the United States of America celebrates its 237th day of independence from Great Britain. While Americans all over the world reflect on the over 200 years of democratic liberty they enjoy, we at Women’s World Banking would like to encourage everyone to spend a few minutes to think about
Congratulations to SWWB Board Member Samit Ghosh for being elected as the new president of the Microfinance Institutions Network!
On the evening of Thursday, June 20th, we invited our closest supporters for a sneak peek of our new brand, visual identity and website.
Since we began meeting in early 2011, many of the Working Group’s discussions have focused on the fundamental question of what the microfinance industry requires to flourish in the future. We believe that client protection is central to the answer. It is common sense – and good business practice – that a fair and respectful relationship with clients is required to develop trust, reduce risk, and serve them appropriately.
In the three decades he worked for CitiGroup and Bank Muscat, Samit Ghosh picked up every nuance of the banking business.
President and CEO of Women’s World Banking Mary Ellen Iskenderian spoke with Susan Yackee of Voice of American’s Middle East Monitor Podcast on Women’s World Banking’s recent research engagement in Cairo, Egypt on the lives of low-income women entrepreneurs after the Revolution.
The HERfinance curriculum—which BSR developed based on globally recognized best practices in financial literacy training—has been reviewed by experts such as Microfinance Opportunities, Better Work, and Women’s World Banking.
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.
CEO and President of Women’s World Banking visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to talk about microfinance before attending Women’s World Banking’s upcoming conference in Auckland.
A global microfinance institution, specialising in providing women in less developed countries with insurance, has expressed its desire to work with Australian brokers in a bid to access affordable policies for its members.
The head of Women’s World Banking, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, visited Australia this week to meet with staff, including AusAID’s Director General, Peter Baxter.
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.
Women’s World Banking is proud to announce that two women leaders in its global network have recently been recipients of awards from their regions.
A pesar de los avances obtenidos por las mujeres en términos de integración en los distintos sectores productivos de la sociedad, aún no han logrado igualdad en los puestos de dirección de las distintas empresas y entidades del país.
Women’s World Banking supporter Cordaid recently featured the Gender Performance Manual, the indicators uncovered from the work of our Gender Performance Initiative, on their website.
In July, CGAP highlighted the exceptional leadership of Shafiqual Choudhury of ASA, our network member in Bangladesh. He played a leading role in averting a microfinance crisis threatening the country, similar to ones that affected Nicaragua, Morocco and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is with great pleasure that I announce that Sandy Salama from network member The Lead Foundation (Egypt) has been selected as the first network representative in the Women’s World Banking Fellowship Program.
Women’s World Banking conducted a gender study in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Samoa to explore the issues women face in order to provide them with effective financial services.
From the shock of the financial crisis to the reputational hangover of the challenge in Andra Pradesh to the aftermath of the Arab Spring, there has been little calm in the storm.
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”!
A good leader is humble, human, honest, funny and a hard worker. An enthusiastic delegation from Women’s World Banking attended the 17th Annual Wharton Leadership Conference on June 19, entitled “Rising Up to Leadership”. As is always true of this incredible annual event, the conference speakers offered their reflections on
I’m so excited to introduce our new logo and website today! For more than 35 years, we have been the authoritative resource for the needs of low-income women. In the evolution of our work, we are serving more women than ever before with the essential tools and resources that allow
The gender performance indicators help financial institutions determine whether they are serving women well, and with what outcomes.
How can financial institutions encourage their clients to engage more fully with the formal financial system?
When a financial institution reaches out to us and tells us they are starting to see the value of serving low-income women but don’t know how to begin, we are of course pleased that institutions are starting to recognize what Women’s World Banking has known for more than 30 years.
Equity Bank was awarded “the Best Bank in East Africa” in 2013 and was a nominee for “African Bank of the Year” at the 7th African Banker Awards which took place during the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank.
Sarah Buitoni, Senior Associate at Women’s World Banking’s Center for Microfinance Leadership will be speaking at the Microfinance Club of New York’s event “Client Centric Approaches to Microfinance Product Design.”
Event description:
Microfinance practitioners attend numerous training, workshops, exchanges, and conferences during the year. The skills and theories learned are invaluable for the participants of such events who normally leave these programs re-energized and full of ideas they want to implement in their organization and toward modifying their own management styles. However, at times it is difficult to get buy-in from others in the organization, and the concepts or organization development goals are often forgotten and never put into practice.
We are proud to announce that our founder Michaela Walsh is being honored by the Women’s Bond Club as the 2013 recipient of the distinguished Isabel Benham Award. Through its Isabel Benham Award, the Women’s Bond Club recognizes women who have made outstanding contributions in improving the lives of women.
Current President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian was the recipient of the award in 2009.
Women’s World Banking President and CEO Mary Ellen Iskenderian will be speaking at the Institute of International Education’s book launch event on Tuesday, May 7 at 5:30pm. The event will be held at the IIE’s offices at 809 United Nations Plaza. Mary Ellen contributed to the book, “Women in the Global Economy: Leading Social Change.” The book explores the landscape of women’s participation in the economy and the key role that women play in fueling economic growth by creating stable societies.
Think Business Banking Awards, Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT-DTM) also won a special award for “Deposit Taking Micro Finance Institutions in Kenya.”
Equity Bank (Kenya) won three awards in the 8th edition of Think Business Banking Awards 2013.
Our savings work with Banco ADOPEM, our network member in the Dominican Republica, was featured in a local media outlet, Informate Diario, for promoting a savings culture to low-income communities in outlying areas.
What empowerment means to a woman is complex. At Women’s World Banking, we focus on economic empowerment because we know that the ability to earn an income is linked to the ability to make decisions about how household money is allocated.
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.
|
April 18, 2013 Program 2:00 – 4:30 PM Cocktails 4:30 – 6:00 PM Baker & McKenzie LLP |
Click here to register! |
For more information please contact Katherine Chapman at katherine.chapman@bakermckenzie.com or +1 212 626 4595.
Women’s World Banking is a network of 39 financial companies across 28 countries that focus solely on women. Recognising the poor access women have to credit and savings instruments, WWB works to level the playing field. Mary Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO of WWB, talks to TOI-CREST about why women need to treated
The Citi Foundation and Women’s World Banking team up to expand the Women in Leadership Program Women have played a critical role since the early days of microfinance, both in the founding of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and as a substantial portion of the client base. In recent years, as the
In 2012, Women’s World Banking turned to understanding women’s financial barriers and opportunities in the Pacific Islands for the first time with support from the New Zealand Aid Programme.
In a recent project we worked with our network member Microfund for Women (MFW, Jordan) to launch Ri’aya (The Caregiver Policy). Ri’aya is a unique micro‐health insurance product that provides a cash benefit after hospitalization to help with costs associated with loss of business, medical expenses, transportation and other household needs.
Research has shown that healthcare costs often exert the most financial pressure on poor families. Given the negative impact a health emergency can have, microinsurance has tremendous potential to provide security and stability to a poor household.
Project funder Credit Suisse featured Mucho Corazon, our social communications projects in Mexico in partnership with PCI Media Impact, on their corporate responsibility page.
Senior Associate at the Center for Microfinance Leadership Sarah Buitoni will be speaking on the Social Enterprise Panel together with Leslie Puth of ACCION and Marianna Tu of New York Needs You.
Women’s World Banking is proud to co-present GOING BEYOND BUSINESS Opportunities and challenges in microinsurance
In January, Women’s World Banking joined its partners in the Microfinance CEO Working Group to announce its support for the Smart Campaign Client Protection Certification Program – a groundbreaking new effort that seeks to ensure that microfinance institutions keep clients at the center of their work.
Many participants in our research in Cairo described Facebook as the real reason behind the Revolution. Facebook is well known by both Egyptian men and women, with many accessing the site through their mobile phones.
Microfinance has been operating in Egypt since the 90’s; however this has not created a market of savvy borrowers. Through our market research we found that the façade of interest-free Islamic loans has created a lack of clarity around interest rates and compounded the issue of low financial literacy among men
This toolkit will allow microfinance institutions to conduct a gender-focused self-assessment of their recruitment, retention and promotion of women staff.
Women’s World Banking wishes you and your loved ones a very happy New Year!
Women’s World Banking’s Leadership Program held in October 2012 was featured in the Dutch banking publication Bank | Wereld.
The total global population of girls ages 10 to 24 is expected to peak in the next decade. According to market research conducted by Women’s World Banking, girls as young as 10 years old regularly accumulate money, actively manage it and want a safe place to save it. Ana Laura lives in a low-income
Women’s World Banking contributed to case studies to this European Microfinance Platform publication on successful low-income youth financial services programs.
This Cash Management Toolkit is part of a suite of practitioner guides and tools developed by Women’s World Banking for use by microfinance institutions (MFIs). It integrates closely with the Tool for Developing a Financial Risk Management Policy (Women’s World Banking, 2005) and expands on the fundamental guidance regarding liquidity risk management provided there. Cash Management includes all activities related to the efficient planning, procurement, investment and control of cash in a financial institution.
Women’s World Banking’s Excellence in Leadership Award recognizes a financial institution within the Women’s World Banking’s network.
Women’s World Banking is thrilled to announce that Dr. Jennifer Riria, chair of Women’s World Banking, Group Chief Executive of Kenya Women Holding Company Ltd (KWH) and a board member of network member and KWH subsidiary Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) was awarded one of the ten Ford Foundation Champions of Democracy Award in Nairobi on November 13, 2012.
A summary of Microfinance Opportunities’ impact assessment study of our program, “Savings and Financial Education for Girls in Mongolia.”
Can you imagine if the only product that your bank offered you was a loan? Or trying to live without a bank account and having to conduct every payment with cash? Or seeing your entire business and all the assets you had painstakingly accumulated jeopardized by the costs of caring for a sick child?
More than 1.3 billion people globally live in poverty; the majority of them are women. The United Nations International Labour Office reports that women face substantially lower employment rates, have very little control over property and resources, are more prone to working in the informal sector with lower earnings.
This year, the first year of our current three-year strategic plan, was a year of innovation for WWB. Central to this strategy is a cycle of market research, piloting new products and then learning from the pilots to scale these products to new markets.Throughout this report, we will provide examples of work in each of these phases.
Women’s World Banking worked with Banco ADOPEM to create a soap opera to help teach women how to save. This guide takes trainers through a step-by-step process of the classroom education component.
If we add another solution to the mix, women have an even better chance to move from oppression to opportunity — economic empowerment. If women are to have a voice in the direction of their lives, they need basic financial services, including savings and insurance.
As the microfinance industry continues to shift its focus into understanding client’s needs and more effectively targeting specific segments, it is essential for management to understand an institution’s performance based on data.
On May 30, 2012, Women’s World Banking (WWB) and network member Interfisa Financiera celebrated the launch of NdeVale, a new loan product targeted at Paraguay’s rural women population. NdeVale was developed so that it can be issued to all clients who have a income-generating activity, with minimal documentation requirements and flexible collateral and duration. Through market research, we knew that collateral was a concern for women as assets, particularly property, are traditionally owned by men.
‘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.’
From April 16-20th, the WWB Center for Microfinance Leadership welcomed senior leaders in Philadelphia, USA for the 4th Annual Advanced Leadership Program. Participants hailed from 22 institutions in 19 different countries, representing all regions of the world.
A growing chorus of voices is calling for a shift away from cash-based economies in the developing world. For governments, non-governmental organizations and companies focused on expanding financial access to the underserved, it is fast becoming a top priority. Not only is it too costly and unsustainable to reach people
The World Jurist Association has the pleasure to invite you to join our members and other legal professionals from around the world at our DC 2012 conference! Law and Technology: Innovation in the Digital Age, to be held on April 22-24, 2012 in Washington, DC USA.
Microlumbia Fund is a 501(c)3 organization run by Columbia Business School (CBS) students that provides growing microfinance institutions with pro-bono consulting services and debt capital while stimulating interest in the field among a new generation of future business leaders. Our mission is to help alleviate global poverty by providing the CBS community the means and opportunities to become lifelong contributors to the field of microfinance. For CBS students, we offer education, investment management and consulting opportunities.
View more photos of the Center for Microfinance Leadership in Morocco :
“…I first heard Mary Ellen Iskenderian, president and CEO of Women’s World Banking, in action while listening to NPR’s coverage of the recent controversy that has erupted over reports that the presence of women in senior roles was a contributing factor to the banking crash. Iskenderian was giving The Takeaway hosts Celeste Headlee and John Hockenberry an earful on what’s wrong with the media spin on new research by Germany’s central bank on the impact women directors are having on previously all-male boards of financial institutions…”
