Poor understanding of women’s financial needs
Financial service providers that fail to invest in understanding women's distinct financial realities produce standardized offerings that leave women underserved or reliant on informal alternatives that better fit their lives. Women's financial needs are lifecycle-driven and consistently underestimated. They are shaped by caregiving responsibilities, irregular income, and limited asset ownership. This is not a demand problem but a supply problem: tailored solutions can help women build resilience, grow businesses, and achieve financial health.
20 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
Women’s financial needs are diverse, lifecycle-driven, and consistently underestimated.
- Financial diaries of low-income women show that while men typically manage large household investments (land, housing), women are primarily responsible for daily expenses and risk management — including informal methods of scraping together emergency funds. Despite high demand for savings tools, a meta-analysis of 24 savings interventions across Sub-Saharan Africa found a persistent gap between that demand and the actual provision of reliable, safe, and accessible savings products. (Zollman and Sanford, 2016; Steinert et al., 2018)
- DFS providers tend to offer generic products ill-suited to women’s needs. Credit products with rigid repayment schedules, for example, fail to accommodate the cash-flow irregularities that characterize many women’s economic lives. (World Bank, 2025)
Most FSPs invest little in understanding women’s needs, and data gaps compound the problem.
- A 2025 survey of financial service providers (FSPs) found that only 35% of senior executives reported engaging directly with women customers as or more frequently than on a monthly basis (Women’s World Banking, 2025)
- Women's World Banking's research with Bank of Baroda in India found that many women Jan Dhan account holders do not view the bank as a place to save — they believe their 'small amounts' of savings would not be valued, discouraging use of formal accounts. To address this, Women's World Banking applied design principles aimed at making women feel welcome and confident regardless of the size of their deposits. (Dimova, 2023)
- In Kenya, KCB Bank revisited its women-focused strategy after initial products saw low uptake. Market research revealed that while women owned 40% of active businesses, only 9% were borrowing. By improving customer relationship management, adapting credit methodologies, and offering non-financial support, KCB increased borrowing among women MSMEs to 26% and achieved strong Net Promoter Scores. (Data2X, 2020)
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.
In 2022, India Bank launched an account activation effort focused on low-income women, addressing both institutional and behavioral barriers.
9 Connected Exemplars
