Key Evidence

When the systems for meeting necessary KYC requirements are not designed with women's circumstances in mind, formal identity and documentation requirements become the first and most fundamental layer of onboarding barriers. While FSPs must work within existing regulatory frameworks, many of the design choices that create friction for women—such as which documents are accepted, how verification is conducted, and what alternatives are offered—sit within their control.

• Formal identity requirements are near-universal in financial services, but they can be burdensome for women. The World Bank's Women, Business and the Law 2024 report found that 27 economies still impose additional legal or procedural burdens on women seeking official documents; in 8, those barriers directly restrict access to employment, land tenure, and finance. In markets like Pakistan, significantly fewer women than men hold national ID cards, effectively blocking account access. (World Bank, 2024; Nel de Koker, 2015)
• Anti-money laundering (AML) and customer due diligence (CDD) processes require forms of verification that may not be navigable for women lacking documentation or literacy. Importantly, international standards already permit risk-based, simplified identity approaches — such as community-leader verification, digital ID, or utility bills — yet these remain largely unused for women clients, even though women generally pose a lower financial crime risk. Working within existing frameworks, FSPs can make gender intentional design choices and pilot tiered KYC approaches that align verification requirements with transaction size or risk level. (Nel de Koker, 2015) 

Even for women who can meet documentation requirements, the process of onboarding creates a second layer of barriers in logistical cost, mobility constraints, and products structurally designed around assumptions that do not reflect women's realities.

• Complex CDD requirements, lack of formal documentation, limited mobility, and social norms often prevent women from opening and using accounts. FSPs should conduct UX research on their onboarding processes to assess whether all elements are necessary — with particular attention to discretionary elements, such as requiring a co-owner or co-borrower, that may carry unintended gender implications and could be removed or redesigned. (CGAP, 2020)

FSPs often recognize these barriers but face real limits on what they can change unilaterally — highlighting the need for regulatory reform and multi-stakeholder collaboration alongside institutional action.

• A 2025 survey of FSPs found that only 11% of institutions viewed complex onboarding as an easy barrier to address, with many noting that requirements often stem from national regulations and central bank mandates that limit institutional flexibility. (Women’s World Banking, 2025)
• Qualitative interviews with FSPs suggest that this barrier often lies beyond the direct control of institutions, as many of the requirements stem from national regulations and central bank mandates. While some FSPs attempt to simplify processes by offering alternative documentation options, they remain obligated to comply with regulatory frameworks, limiting their flexibility to streamline onboarding for women customers. (Women's World Banking, 2025)