Summary

This document is the Women's World Banking White Paper on Providing Women Access to Financial Services. (2012, 8pp)

Description

The White Paper highlights the major barriers that impede the inclusion of poor women from the financial sector and offers solutions to these barriers. It offers nine suggestions to increase access to finance for poor and low income women:

1. Acknowledge the constraints on women's time and mobility
2. Give women the choice of who they want involved in financial transactions
3. Accommodate all levels of literacy in product design and marketing
4. Be sensitive to the fact that requirements for documentation and collateral may exclude women
5. Give women access to a range of loan sizes and structures
6. Tailor marketing strategies to reach women
7. Create a brand position that honours women as successful business owners
8. Ensure gender positive interactions
9. Offer a full suite of financial products

Women's World Banking White Paper on Providing Women Access to Financial Services in Response to Proposals by the G20 Financial Inclusion Expert Group [PDF 238kb]