Integrating Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion Into National Strategies

Despite the progress made in advancing financial inclusion globally, women remain disproportionately excluded from the formal financial system. According to 2014 Global Findex, more than one billion women are still excluded with a 9% gender gap in access to financial services across developing economies. This gender gap has not narrowed despite the overall progress towards full financial inclusion. In this context, women’s financial inclusion has emerged as a priority among financial inclusion policy makers through the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion various subgroups. From an economic perspective, it is argued that advancing women’s equality could add an estimated USD 12 trillion to global GDP by 2025.

The objective of this Guideline Note is to highlight current practices among the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Network and provide guidance on gender and integrating women’s financial inclusion considerations into national financial inclusion strategies (NFIS). This guidance is intended for application by policymakers and regulators engaged in the development and implementation of NFIS.