Searching: Research & Analysis

Young Women and Financial Services: Maximizing Impact

Research has shown that marginalized young women can benefit from financial services in both economic and non-economic ways. But with over half a billion women aged 15-24 in the world, the life stages, needs, and contexts of this population are tremendously diverse. Among which segments of young women could investments in improved financial services make the most impact? This infographic highlights findings from a recent CGAP segmentation exercise.

Women in the Platform Economy: Emerging Insights

Millions of women work in the platform economy but often face barriers that prevent them from capturing platform-based opportunities. Learn about female workers’ experiences and how financial services can help make platforms more inclusive.

TymeBank Case Study: The Customer Impact of Inclusive Digital Banking

As a fully digital retail bank in South Africa, TymeBank has created a suite of basic products that cater to the essential financial needs of low-income rural customers.

Financial Solutions for Women in Rural and Agricultural Livelihoods

This deck synthesizes CGAP research and insights on the constraints faced by women in rural and agricultural livelihoods (WIRAL) and the opportunities for service providers and funders to add value to their lives and livelihoods.

Addressing Gender Norms to Increase Financial Inclusion: Designing for Impact

To advance women’s financial inclusion and economic empowerment, funders and market facilitators need to acknowledge gender norms and understand how they limit women’s ability to access, use, and benefit from financial services.

Business Her Own Way: Creating Livelihoods Through Informal Online Commerce

This Focus Note outlines the characteristics of IOC, maps the personas of the women who engage in it, and provides guidance to funders looking to support women to generate livelihoods through IOC.

Digital Cash Transfers in Times of COVID-19: Opportunities and Considerations for Women's Inclusion and Empowerment

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the World Bank Group, CGAP, and Women’s World Banking, has developed a joint white paper on gender intentional digital cash transfers in the time of COVID-19, offering guidance and considerations for policymakers to support women’s inclusion and empowerment.  

Female Smallholders in the Financial Inclusion Agenda

This Brief explores the gender gap in financial inclusion among smallholder families in Tanzania and Mozambique through unique survey data that allow for a nationally representative look at smallholders.

New Insights on Women’s Mobile Phone Ownership

New data show that 81 percent of women worldwide own a mobile phone. Although large gender gaps in mobile phone ownership persist in certain countries, mobile phones are more ubiquitous among women than are financial accounts.

Social Norms Change for Women’s Financial Inclusion

Social norms can have a profound impact on financial inclusion for women because they can limit women’s ability to work outside the home, engage with male agents, or even own a phone. Knowing exactly how norms apply is critical for closing the gender financial inclusion gap.