This is a guest post co-written by Dr. Anette Broløs, an independent fintech analyst, and Dr. Erin B. Taylor, author of the book Materializing Poverty: How the Poor Transform Their Lives.
Have you ever thought how strange it is that financial solutions for women should be marketed in pink? Or what financial services firms are missing by not fully meeting female customers’ needs? After all, studies indicate that financial services are missing out on nearly $800 billion in profits because they do not provide services developed with women in mind.
We set out to answer these questions in a recent report, published by the European Women Payments Network (EWPN) in partnership with Keen Innovation.
What was the impetus of this report?
It is well documented—across countries and cultures—that women undertake most daily household economic activities (transactions and decisions). Women control or influence 80% of financial decisions and 85% of consumer spending.
Women’s income, retirement savings and investments are lower than men’s – but are now rising fast. And though 25% to 30% of entrepreneurs are women, they only access 2% to 5% of venture capital.
We wondered why so few financial services were developed for women – and why this does not seem to be a concern for researchers. We found that there is a nascent industry developing in this area, and there are products on the market for women to invest, insure, save, manage money, access credit, and more.
We discovered more than 60 organizations and their range of new services provided for women or primarily used by women.
We found that these services are anchored in women’s everyday life situations, and are often delivered in a community setting that offers learning possibilities. Organisations like Ellevest or Voleo help women start saving and investing, and companies like I Fund Women support female entrepreneurs. Financial management apps, such as Nav.it, help women see an overview of their finances and feel more comfortable with their economy.
What are you hoping that readers get out of the report?
We hope that readers from all parts of the industry will consider following up on the potential to serve women better. We hope they will design and develop services with and for their customers.
We also hope that this first overview will bring about more studies in financial decision making and people’s ability to talk about their finances. Research shows that people generally, but especially women, are under-equipped to have the conversations they need to help them make informed decisions.
Finally, we want you to help us update the ecosystem. We are planning a new publication that looks further into the market for financial services for women and the characteristics of the companies that offer them. We invite you to tell us about your own efforts to develop financial services for women, and your experiences in trying to close the gender gap.
Dr. Anette Broløs of Broløs Consult is a network leader working with strategic innovation and partnerships. Broløs spent six years as CEO of Copenhagen FinTech Innovation and Research, and has extensive experience as a C-level banking executive. She is co-organizer of the Research section of the European Women Payments Network.
Dr. Erin Taylor of Canela Consulting is the author of the book Materializing Poverty: How the Poor Transform Their Lives. Taylor has been designing and carrying out empirical research since 2003 in diverse contexts across the globe. She is co-organizer of the Research section of the European Women Payments Network.
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