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High cost of using DFS (incl. transaction cost)
The total cost of using digital financial services—including fees for transactions, accounts, and data—actively drives low-income women away from DFS. Lack of money and expensive costs are the two most commonly self-reported reasons for not having a financial account among women, and women often face higher costs than men due to lower incomes, time poverty, and norms that shape how they access financial services. Left unaddressed, high costs limit both access and usage - reducing the impact of financial inclusion efforts.
17 Connected Barriers
Most Relevant Segments
- 01. Excluded, marginalized
- 02. Excluded, high potential
- 03. Included, underserved
- 04. Included, not underserved
Most Relevant Customer Journey Phases
- Phase 1: Account Ownership
- Phase 2: Basic Account Usage
- Phase 3: Active Account Usage
- Phase 4: Economic Empowerment
Key Evidence
High costs are not simply a friction point — they actively drive low-income women away from DFS entirely, particularly from savings, which is one of the most impactful and reliable entry points for women's financial inclusion.
- Two of the most commonly main self-reported reasons for not having an account are lack of income and expensive costs associated with opening or using an account. High costs deter women from engaging with DFS, and these are compounded by socio-cultural and legal factors that prevent women from growing wealth. (World Bank, 2024)
- High costs prevent women from saving. Women are more likely to save than men, but experience disproportionate rates of low income. Banks, mobile money service providers, and other financial institutions could offer free or low-cost interest-bearing saving products requiring little or no minimum balance to increase women’s creation and usage of a mobile savings account. (Global Findex, 2025)
Fees are the most commonly cited barrier to account ownership across almost all regions, but the problem extends beyond cost itself: in low-income markets, women are rarely informed of applicable fees upfront, and when overcharging occurs, they have limited recourse, compounding both the financial and trust costs of DFS engagement.
- Across almost all regions, adults without an account cite fees as the most common barrier to opening or maintaining one. In East Asia, Pacific, and South Asia, more than 40% name transaction costs and fees as the most pervasive barrier; this figure is 24% in the Middle East and North Africa. (Global Findex, 2025)
- IPA research in Bangladesh found that agents informed customers about fees only 4% of the time. When pricing information is easily accessible, consumers can compare options and make cost-effective decisions. Increasing access to comparable pricing data and financial literacy tools can particularly empower women. (IPA, 2025; Global Findex, 2025)
With a supportive enabling environment and regulatory framework, market competition and interoperability reforms can meaningfully reduce transaction costs.
- In Zambia in early 2018, cross-bank ATM and POS transactions were costly due to routing through a single card issuer. The Bank of Zambia responded by establishing the National Financial Switch (NFS), an interoperable real-time payment system that has deepened the reach of entry-level deposit accounts and reduced costs for end-users.(AFI, 2020; AfricaNenda 2023)
Interventions that have successfully addressed this barrier
The following Exemplar represents one evidence-based interventions that has shown success in addressing this particular barrier. There may be other Exemplars for this barrier in the larger Barriers & Exemplars Analysis compendium deck.
