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Accion Venture Lab continues support for NOW Money to bring app-based financial tools to migrant workers in the Gulf Coast region of the Middle East

Article

Ahsan Ullah moved from his home country of Pakistan to Dubai to find work as an electrician. Like many other people who have relocated to the Gulf Coast region for better work opportunities, he sends 75 percent of his salary back home to his family in Pakistan. Ahsan found a way to transfer money overseas in <a href="https://nowmoney.me/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NOW Money</a>, the first digital banking solution for low-income migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). He uses NOW Money’s app to transfer the money he earns servicing cable cars and other machinery, and his family receives it the next day.

When Accion Venture Lab first invested in NOW Money in 2017, we were <a href="/invested-in-now-money" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">incredibly excited</a> by the company’s vision to tackle the challenges its customers, migrant workers in the GCC, faced. These customers have unique financial needs as they often earn just $200 to 300 a month and typically send 70 percent of those wages to family members back home. The traditional financial infrastructure in the GCC prevents these workers from accessing bank accounts, excluding them from the cashless economy. Without a digital banking solution like NOW Money, workers like Ahsan have to wait in line for hours to send much-needed money back home to their families.

[caption id="attachment_23786" align="alignright" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-23786" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/now-money-kat-budd-ian-dillon.jpg" alt="NOW Money co-founders" width="450" height="253" /> <em>NOW Money was founded in 2015 by Katharine “Kat” Budd and Ian Dillon.</em>[/caption]

The last 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic have only made those realities tougher, as the brick-and-mortar institutions often relied on by this population temporarily closed, all but shutting these individuals out from the financial world. As noted by co-founder Katharine Budd in an <a href="/access-to-digital-finance-is-a-lifeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">episode of our VentureKast podcast</a>, “Having access to digital finance, as long as you’ve got an internet connection, is a lifeline.” Inclusive fintechs like NOW Money are critical to supporting this lower-income and often-overlooked population throughout the pandemic, continuing to provide their products and services safely and digitally.

Accion Venture Lab is pleased to <a href="/uae-based-fintech-now-money-secures-7m-to-expand-digital-banking-solution-across-the-gcc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announce our follow-on investment into NOW Money’s Series A round</a>, to support the company as they continue to build their moat as the first fintech company in the GCC to use digital banking technology to provide access to fairly priced and well-designed financial products to the migrant workers that need them.

To reach these migrant workers, NOW Money partners with businesses to provide an end-to-end digital payroll solution for their employees. They manage the backend for their partner companies and allowing workers to receive their salaries directly into the NOW Money app. NOW Money bundles a suite of relevant, digital financial services into their app, including a contactless-enabled debit card, mobile top-up, bill pay, remittances, and more, aggregating all the services these migrant workers need to manage their financial lives.

We’re excited to continue supporting NOW Money as they disrupt the region’s fintech scene for a few core reasons:
<ul>
 	<li><strong>Focus on an underserved segment:</strong> NOW Money continues to target the migrant worker population in Gulf States like the UAE and the broader GCC. The migrant population in the Persian Gulf Coast region is a historically underserved segment. Employers often mistreat their workers, and workers are in dire need of financial services. These workers earn minimal wages — typically ranging is between $200 to 300 per month, depending on occupation — and often live in overcrowded “labor complexes” with poor living conditions. Additionally, today’s UAE banking standards are exclusionary, preventing customers that earn less than 3,600 dirhams per month (approximately $980) from accessing a bank account. As a result, workers often turn to Wages Protection System (WPS) cards, which function as payroll cards with free once-a-month withdrawal from an ATM, but no functionality at merchants.</li>
 	<li><strong>Multi-product, full-service offering:</strong> Our team at Accion Venture Lab has been excited about the impact potential of <a href="/7-fintech-trends-to-watch-in-2018" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">holistic neobank solutions</a> for a while, and NOW Money continues to provide us with the ability to test and learn more about this approach. The company continues to design its product and application with its users in mind, providing positive financial benefits in many ways, including bringing workers into the formal financial system, providing a convenient and competitively priced remittance platform, and increasing access to other digital products to better manage one’s financial life (e.g., mobile top-ups and bill pay). We continue to be impressed by the team’s ability to execute on its product roadmap, and are excited to watch it continue to expand.</li>
 	<li><strong>Digital-first solutions during the pandemic:</strong> As the pandemic continues to disrupt life, NOW Money’s customers need these digital products now more than ever. Since the COVID-19 lockdowns began, the company has seen engagement with the app more than double as the pandemic sped up the trend towards digitization. The team has prioritized investing in their user experience and interface during this time by working hand-in-hand with customers to design a product that suits their needs. We believe this digital shift is here to stay and are excited to see the company continue to drive high levels of engagement.</li>
 	<li><strong>Strong future growth potential:</strong> While the company has already made significant progress in building its footprint in the UAE, we continue to be particularly excited by its growth potential, both within and outside of its flagship country. Within the UAE, the company’s <a href="https://nowmoney.me/2020/10/commercial-bank-of-dubai-to-partner-with-now-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recently announced banking partnership</a> with the Commercial Bank of Dubai will continue to fuel growth. The need for this product is just as acute outside of the UAE, and we look forward to supporting the company as it <a href="https://www.forbesmiddleeast.com/innovation/startups/fintech-startup-now-money-secures-%247m-to-expand-across-the-gcc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">brings its suite of products to Saudia Arabia</a> and the broader GCC region.</li>
</ul>
We’re proud to be a part of NOW Money’s journey and growth over the last few years, and we believe that this series A will propel them to financially include even more migrant workers in Gulf Coast countries. As NOW Money continues to grow and scale, they can provide the critical financial tools and services that migrant workers need to support themselves and their families back home.

Migrant workers in the UAE get a digital banking solution

Victoria White

Spanish

<p></p>
<p><a href="https://www.accion.org/digital-tools-open-opportunities-for-women-to-thrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Los productos financieros digitales pueden ayudar a cerrar las brechas de género</a> que persisten en todo el mundo, pero deben ir al encuentro de las mujeres. Los datos son un componente básico que nos ayuda a entender qué es lo más necesario para que las mujeres superen los obstáculos y aprovechen las oportunidades.</p>
<p>Para destacar el papel que desempeñan los datos en el apoyo a las mujeres, <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-can-data-open-opportunity-for-women-during-and-after-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hablé con líderes de tres proveedores de servicios financieros</a>, Bindu Ananth de Dvara Trust, Verónica Gavilanes de Banco Pichincha y Buhle Goslar de JUMO. Ellas comparten cómo están aprovechando los datos para atender mejor a sus clientas al:</p>
<h3>Analizar el impacto del COVID-19 en las mujeres emprendedoras</h3>
<p>No hay duda de que la pandemia ha afectado verdaderamente la vida de las mujeres y ha tenido <a href="https://www.accion.org/5-ways-to-help-women-entrepreneurs-adapt-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fuerte impacto en las empresas propiedad de mujeres</a>. Nuestro aliado <a href="https://www.pichincha.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Banco Pichincha</a> se dedica a apoyar a las micro y pequeñas empresas en Ecuador. Antes de la pandemia, este banco ya estudiaba las barreras que enfrentan sus clientas emprendedoras a través de datos de encuestas. Debido a que la pandemia ha agregado nuevos desafíos, Banco Pichincha está tomando medidas: al analizar los datos de sus clientes, identificaron cómo luchan las mujeres emprendedoras en particular, y cómo podrían ayudarlas a superar la crisis. Los créditos dirigidos a mujeres consideran las barreras que ellas enfrentan y tienen consideraciones en condiciones, requisitos, garantías y períodos de gracia para cerrar la brecha para las mujeres, y continuar brindándoles el acceso crédito, y acompañando su reactivación económica.</p>
<p>A medida que avanzaba la pandemia, Banco Pichincha también notó que muchas de sus clientas emprendedoras estaban adaptando sus negocios al agregarles servicios como las entregas con repartidores y plataformas de comercio electrónico digital, así que Banco Pichincha comenzó a ofrecer un apoyo flexible para que estas pequeñas empresas se reinventaran. Como lo comenta Verónica Gavilanes, Gerente General de Microfinanzas de Banco Pichincha, “en todos los lugares del mundo las mujeres son muy resilientes y buscan alternativas para progresar, por eso queríamos financiar actividades que fueran adecuadas para la pandemia. Casi un 40 por ciento de nuestras emprendedoras reinventaron sus negocios para buscar estas oportunidades en el mercado”.</p>
<h3>Aplicar un enfoque holístico a los datos</h3>
<p>Los proveedores de servicios financieros no pueden generar impacto solo con los datos, especialmente para las mujeres. Necesiten tomar en cuenta también el contexto del mundo en el que se desenvuelven. <a href="https://www.jumo.world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">JUMO</a> es una empresa de tecnología fundada para crear una plataforma de servicios financieros para personas que no tienen acceso a productos financieros en Costa de Marfil, Ghana, Kenia, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia y Pakistán. Para abordar la brecha digital de género presente en sus mercados, JUMO se esfuerza por entender las barreras que enfrentan sus clientas. Como nos dijo Buhle Goslar, CEO de JUMO para África, “para poder incorporar verdaderamente a la economía formal a los clientes rezagados y darles acceso a estos servicios, tenemos que tener una comprensión profunda de lo que está sucediendo en el mundo real, y no contentarnos con su huella digital, porque si lo hacemos los datos carecerán de sentido &#8220;.</p>
<p><img class="alignright wp-image-23706" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/iwd-webinar-speakers.png" alt="Leaders from financial service providers join Accion's webinar" width="500" height="316" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/iwd-webinar-speakers.png 594w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/iwd-webinar-speakers-300x190.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />Cuando JUMO aplicó un enfoque de mundo real a los datos de sus clientes, descubrió que no estaban llegando a tantas mujeres como suponían, debido a los problemas estructurales que enfrentan donde viven y trabajan. Muchas mujeres en sus mercados no tienen con qué pagar teléfonos e internet; y las que pueden hacerlo, tienden a usarlos menos para pagar facturas y realizar operaciones bancarias en línea. JUMO decidió llegar a estas mujeres promoviendo un fondo de impacto para invertir en estas clientas que se estaban quedando rezagadas. “Hay que estar dispuestos no solo a ocuparse de la innovación de productos, sino también de la innovación de modelos de negocio si se desea abrir oportunidades para más personas utilizando el conocimiento de los datos”, dice Buhle.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.dvara.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dvara Trust</a> es el promotor fundador de Dvara KGFS, una empresa financiera no bancaria centrada en las zonas rurales de la India.  Dvara KGFS utiliza una combinación de sucursales tradicionales y banca digital para llevar crédito, ahorros y seguros a las comunidades rurales de la India; y las mujeres constituyen la mayoría de su casi millón de clientes. Dvara Trust utiliza datos de la vida de sus clientes para construir un modelo basado en una comprensión profunda de sus necesidades. Cuando los clientes se incorporan, comparten sus objetivos, desafíos y circunstancias familiares. Dvara utiliza esta información y los datos transaccionales para saber cómo están funcionando sus servicios. Y cuando las clientas hacen comentarios negativos, el equipo de Dvara los analiza para identificar problemas de acceso o canales y agentes específicos que no están atendiendo bien a las mujeres. El disponer de una perspectiva completa de la experiencia del cliente brinda a los proveedores una comprensión de las necesidades de las personas que atienden, y así identificar los problemas sistémicos que frenan a las mujeres.</p>
<h3>Dar a las mujeres la propiedad de sus datos</h3>
<p>Cuanto más utilicen las mujeres las plataformas digitales para gestionar sus finanzas personales, transacciones comerciales y de ahorros, mayor será su huella digital. Los registros y datos financieros dentro de esta huella pueden ayudar a las mujeres a obtener préstamos y otros servicios, especialmente cuando carecen de un historial crediticio previo. Cuando las mujeres construyen su huella digital en diferentes plataformas, esta tiende a fragmentarse y ser menos valiosa, por lo que debemos encontrar formas de entretejer toda esta información. “Hay que discutir sobre cómo vamos de los silos de datos hacia los flujos de datos, para que las mujeres realmente se apropien del valor de sus huellas digitales y no sean solo los proveedores quienes moneticen y aprovechen los datos, y que los usuarios finales —los consumidores— también compartan esos beneficios”, dice Buhle.</p>
<p>Dado el crecimiento de todas estas fuentes de datos, Dvara Trust enfatiza la necesidad de privacidad y protección para proteger al consumidor y garantizar que los datos beneficien al cliente, y no solo al proveedor: “el sector de los servicios financieros puede beneficiarse de los datos, pero los proveedores deben asegurarse de que el valor se transfiera a los clientes y de que puedan tener control y privacidad”, comenta Bindu Ananth, cofundadora y presidenta de Dvara Trust. Para que las mujeres se apropien y se beneficien de sus huellas digitales, necesitan plataformas que eviten la creación de silos de datos y que también prioricen la privacidad y seguridad de los datos.</p>
<p>Los datos brindan a los proveedores financieros una herramienta poderosa para cerrar las brechas de género y llegar a más mujeres. Pero las empresas deben tener cuidado al ejercer este poder, y también estar dispuestas a corregir el rumbo si los datos replican el sesgo de género existente en la sociedad en general, o no benefician a los clientes a los que se supone que deben ayudar. “El propósito de un sistema es lo que hace; por lo que, si excluye a las personas, es porque fue diseñado para excluirlas. La forma en que pensamos sobre los productos en JUMO es que necesitamos desarrollar unas sistemas deliberadamente diseñados para ser inclusivas. Una de las formas como lo hemos logrado tiene poco que ver con la tecnología o los datos, y mucho con nuestros principios sobre clientes que encarnan nuestra teoría del cambio, y cómo nos gustaría que fuera el mundo”, dice Buhle.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.accion.org/how-can-data-open-opportunity-for-women-during-and-after-covid-19">Vea nuestro debate completo aquí</a> para saber más sobre cómo Banco Pichincha, JUMO y Dvara Trust están utilizando los datos para abrir oportunidades para las mujeres.</p>

How can we harness the power of data to open opportunity for women during and after the COVID-19 pandemic?

<em>This article is available in English and Spanish.</em>

<a href="/digital-tools-open-opportunities-for-women-to-thrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Digital financial products can help close gender gaps</a> that persist around the world, but they need to meet women where they are. Data is a building block to help us understand what women need most to overcome obstacles and seize opportunities.

To shine a spotlight on the role that data plays in supporting women, <a href="/how-can-data-open-opportunity-for-women-during-and-after-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">I spoke with leaders from three financial service providers</a>, Bindu Ananth from Dvara Trust, Verónica Gavilanes from Banco Pichincha, and Buhle Goslar from JUMO. They shared how they’re leveraging data to serve their female customers better by:
<h3>Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on women entrepreneurs</h3>
There’s no question that the pandemic has taken a real toll on the lives of women and has had a <a href="/5-ways-to-help-women-entrepreneurs-adapt-during-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">critical impact on women-owned businesses</a>. Our partner <a href="https://www.pichincha.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Banco Pichincha</a> is dedicated to supporting micro and small businesses in Ecuador. Before the pandemic, Banco Pichincha already studied the barriers that their women entrepreneur customers faced through survey data. Because the pandemic has added new challenges, Banco Pichincha is taking action. By analyzing their customer data, they identified how women entrepreneurs, in particular, were struggling, and how they could support them through the crisis. Their loan products that are intended for women consider the barriers that women face and include conditions, requirements, guarantees, and grace periods required to close the gap for women.

As the pandemic progressed, Banco Pichincha also noticed that many of their women entrepreneur clients were adapting their businesses by adding things like delivery services using motorbikes and digital e-commerce platforms. Banco Pichincha started to offer flexible support for these small businesses to reinvent themselves. As Verónica Gavilanes, General Manager of Microfinance at Banco Pichincha, remarked, “In every place in the world, women are very resilient and seek alternatives to move forward, so we wanted to fund activities that were suitable for the pandemic. We have almost 40 percent of women who reinvented their businesses to seek these opportunities in the market.”
<h3>Applying a holistic lens to data</h3>
Financial service providers can’t use data alone to drive impact, especially for women. They also need to consider the real-world context. <a href="https://www.jumo.world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">JUMO</a> is a tech company founded to create a financial services platform for people who don’t have access to financial products in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Pakistan. To address the digital gender divide present in their markets, JUMO works to understand the barriers that their female customers face. As Buhle Goslar, Africa CEO of JUMO, told us, “To really be able to bring customers who have been left behind into the formal economy and to give them access to these services, we have to have a deep understanding of what’s happening in the real world, not just looking at their digital footprint. Because if you don’t do that, then the data doesn’t make sense.”

<img class="alignright wp-image-23706" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/iwd-webinar-speakers.png" alt="Leaders of financial service providers join Accion's webinar" width="500" height="316" />When JUMO applied a real-world lens to their customer data, they discovered they weren’t reaching as many women as they anticipated because of structural issues where their customers live and work. Many women in their markets can’t afford phones or internet, and those who can are less likely to use their phones to pay bills and bank online. JUMO decided to reach these women by raising an impact fund to invest in these clients who were being left behind. “You need to be willing to not just look at product innovation, but also business model innovation if you want to use your data insights to open up opportunity for more people,” says Buhle.

<a href="https://www.dvara.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dvara Trust</a> is the founding promoter of Dvara KGFS, a rural-focused non-banking finance company in India.  Dvara KGFS uses a combination of traditional, physical branches and digital banking to bring credit, savings, and insurance to rural communities in India, and the majority of their nearly one million clients are women. Dvara Trust uses data from their customers’ lives to build a model based on a deep understanding of their needs. When customers enroll, they share their goals, challenges, and household circumstances. Dvara uses this information and transaction data to determine how their services are working. And when customers provide negative feedback, Dvara’s team analyzes it to identify access issues or specific channels and agents that aren’t serving women well. Taking a step back and considering the full picture of a customer’s experience gives providers insight into the needs of the people they serve and can uncover systemic issues that are holding women back.
<h3>Giving women ownership of their data</h3>
The more that women use digital platforms to manage their personal finances, business transactions, and savings, the wider their digital footprint. The financial records and data within this footprint can help women get loans and other services, especially when they don’t have a previous credit history. When women build their digital footprint across different platforms, it can become fragmented and less valuable, so we must find ways to weave all of this information together. “There’s a conversation to be had about how we move away from data silos to data flow, [to] allow women to really own the value of their digital footprint so that we don’t just have the providers monetizing and enjoying the benefits of the data, but that the end-user — the consumer — is also sharing in those benefits,” says Buhle.

As all of these data sources continue to grow, Dvara Trust emphasizes the need for data privacy and data protection to protect the consumer and ensure that data benefits the customer and not just the provider. “Financial services industry can benefit from data, but providers must ensure that the value is passed onto customers and that they can have control and privacy,” says Bindu Ananth, Co-founder and Chair of Dvara Trust. For women to own and benefit from their digital footprints, they need platforms that avoid creating data siloes while prioritizing data privacy and security.

Data gives financial providers a powerful tool to bridge the gender gaps and reach more women. But companies should be careful when wielding this power and be ready to correct course if the data is duplicating the gender bias in society at large or otherwise not benefitting the customers it's meant to help. “The purpose of the system is what it does. So, if it’s excluding people, that’s because it was designed to exclude people. The way we think about product at JUMO is that we need to build a system that is deliberately designed to be inclusive. One of the ways in which we have done this is not about technology or the data, it’s about our customer principles which embody our theory of change and how we would like the world to be,” says Buhle.

<a href="/how-can-data-open-opportunity-for-women-during-and-after-covid-19">Watch our full discussion here</a> to hear more about how Banco Pichincha, JUMO, and Dvara Trust are using data to open opportunity for women.

Leveraging data to close the digital gender divide

Video

[embed]https://vimeo.com/521035888[/embed]

&nbsp;

Pallavi and her sister found it difficult to grow their family textile business, even though they made high-quality products and had loyal customers. Like many other women entrepreneurs, Pallavi struggled to access the funds she needed to buy more materials and pay creditors. Sub-K, Accion’s partner in India, helped open opportunity by extending a loan that allowed them to expand their business, hire employees, and prosper.

Pallavi’s story: A woman entrepreneur expands her family business

Elizabeth Winters

shannondwyer

<h3>Shannon Dwyer, Investment &amp; Portfolio Associate, Accion Venture Lab</h3>
<p><img class="alignright wp-image-23604" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab.jpg" alt="Shannon Dwyer, Accion Venture Lab" width="450" height="424" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab.jpg 2294w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab-300x283.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab-768x724.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shannon-dwyer-accion-venture-lab-1024x965.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />Shannon Dwyer first discovered the potential of inclusive fintech while working with microentrepreneurs in Cape Town, South Africa. “It became quickly apparent that while they had the hustle and dedication to start and grow their businesses, a lack of access to financial services constantly constrained their operations. Once I got that initial view into the limitations of the financial services industry, the other gaps on both the consumer and MSME sides became readily apparent. The direct link between access to financial tools and the overall livelihoods of these underserved populations made the potential impact of fintech services — and my related excitement around them — too big to ignore.”</p>
<p>Shannon now supports early-stage fintech startups that are reaching underserved populations in her role as <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/shannon-dwyer">Investment &amp; Portfolio Associate</a> at Accion Venture Lab. On her work with fintech founders, she says, “I continue to be struck and inspired by the downstream impact that <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/how_to_begin_considering_a_gender_lens_investing_strategy">investing in female founders</a> at the earliest stages can have. We know that female founders create more diverse and inclusive workforces, which lead to more inclusive product designs, which lead to more women accessing and utilizing financial tools and services. And when women have access to these tools and services, they often extend the benefits to others as well — by increasing their family’s savings capacity, by using a loan to pay for a child’s education, or by accessing capital to start a business. The potential of supporting this vastly underestimated segment of the founder population — women — is huge, both for the VC industry, but also for the end customers it ultimately touches.”</p>
<p>Inclusive fintech startups can also <a href="https://www.accion.org/fintech-startups-are-small-yet-mighty-partners-in-building-resilience-but-they-need-to-grow-to-succeed">give people the tools they need to build resilience</a> during challenging times like the COVID-19 crisis, which has disproportionately affected the lives of women.  Shannon stresses how the pandemic has exacerbated the inequalities that women face. “The one that feels the most visible to me is the disproportionate rate at which at-home and informal work falls on the shoulders of women. In the US, where I am based, this is clearly shown in the most recent unemployment reports, where women, especially women of color, are more likely to have become unemployed in the last 12 months and more likely to state &#8216;family responsibilities&#8217; as the primary reason. We need policymakers and employers to step up and provide support and flexibility so that people aren’t forced to choose between their family responsibilities and remaining in the workforce. From flexible working hours to more generous PTO to better childcare benefits, there is much more we can do to support working women.”</p>
<p>Shannon believes that the world will be better off with more women in leadership. “It’s important to remember that there are so many different areas and ways to make an impact, and that each is incredibly critical. It doesn’t matter if it’s at the community, national, or global level — we need more women in positions of power, pushing for change across the board.”</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


juliaarnold

<h3>Julia Arnold, Senior Research Director, Women&#8217;s Financial Inclusion</h3>
<p><img class="alignright wp-image-23598" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot.jpeg" alt="Julia Arnold, CFI" width="450" height="450" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot.jpeg 800w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Julia-Arnold-Headshot-768x768.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />Raised by a feminist mother, Julia Arnold knew from an early age that she wanted to work to improve the lives of women around the world. “I saw how powerful it could be to help women achieve what they want to achieve and found that was exactly what I wanted to do.” Julia was first introduced to the ways that microfinance can empower women while in high school when she listened to an NPR interview with Muhammad Yunus. From there, she decided to focus her studies and career on microfinance, and later inclusive finance for women. She now leads the <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/bio/julia-arnold" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Financial Inclusion</a>’s research on <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/reimagining-inclusive-finance-with-women-in-mind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women’s financial inclusion</a>.</p>
<p>In her research at CFI, Julia explores <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how financial services can better serve women</a> and address the constraints that they still face. “Women are 50 percent of the world’s population, and they are never the first person on any policymakers’ mind when they think about ‘What do I do? For whom do I do it?’ If you can help make women’s lives easier, you’re going to make everybody’s lives easier.”</p>
<p>As global gains toward gender equality have <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/care-work-during-crisis-pandemic-unravels-fragile-gains-in-gender-equality" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reversed during the pandemic</a>, Julia is thinking about how we can help women recover from this crisis. “What it will take is clear-eyed commitment at a global policy level and individual country policy level to better understand women’s needs, women’s roles in their community, the constraints on their time and their mobility — which have been exasperated by COVID-19 — and embedding direct solutions to those needs in government payments, in gender budgeting, in infrastructure development, in consumer protection laws, in debt forgiveness in some form for those under a certain threshold.”</p>
<p>Julia is passionate about building a more equitable world, noting that “those of us who have privilege and opportunity have a responsibility to make room for voices of those who aren’t in the room.” She encourages others to push for change in their own way: “Find a thing that you love and care about and figure out a way that’s most comfortable for you to move forward in that direction and don’t stop.”</p>


Part of Accion’s annual series highlighting women working in financial inclusion

All around the world, financial services enable people to open their own businesses, educate their children, and provide for their families, but they aren’t within reach for everyone — including <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/">980 million women</a> who don’t have a bank account or even the ability to send and receive money on their phones. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs">exacerbated inequalities that women face</a> and exposed how the <a href="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/">gender gap in financial inclusion</a> continues to hold women back.

This year, the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” We’re highlighting women leaders working to open opportunity for women and men through inclusive finance in our <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion">annual International Women’s Day blog series</a>. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-one">our first</a> and <a href="/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-two" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">second article</a> for this series.

Meet some of the women we’re inspired by:
<h3>Winnie Blatchford, Founding member of Accion</h3>
[caption id="attachment_23601" align="alignright" width="500"]<img class="wp-image-23601" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/winnie-blatchford-accion-1.jpg" alt="Winnie Blatchford in Venezuela" width="500" height="335" /> <em>Winnie and her Accion colleagues ran a community center in Caracas, Venezuela, that offered classes in literacy, auto mechanics, sewing, and cooking.</em>[/caption]

When Winnie Blatchford (née Marich) was on the cusp of her graduation from UCLA in 1958, she read about volunteer opportunities in her community and around the world in her student paper. One of those opportunities struck a deep chord with her. It was a new, student-run volunteer group called Accion that aimed to improve U.S. relations in Latin America. Founded by Joseph Blatchford — who Winnie later married in 1967 — and other UCLA students, the group sought “<a href="/remembering-accions-founder-joe-blatchford-1934-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">people with the audacity to think they can make a difference</a>.” They interviewed candidates and chose Winnie among the initial group of 30 volunteers who traveled to the <em>barrios</em>, or disadvantaged urban neighborhoods, in Caracas, Venezuela, where they had the novel idea to ask the people living there what they needed, and how Accion could help.

[caption id="attachment_23599" align="alignleft" width="450"]<img class="wp-image-23599" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/winnie-blatchford-accion.jpg" alt="Winnie and Joe Blatchford with Bob Williams" width="450" height="353" /> <em>Winnie and Joe Blatchford in Venezuela.</em>[/caption]

Winnie became interested in Latin America and passionate about fighting poverty from a young age after she visited Peru, where her parents were living at the time, and saw firsthand some of the real challenges that families living in poverty faced every day. Her commitment to making the world a better place was borne from that experience and inspired her to go to that interview, get on a plane to Caracas, and become one of the first women of Accion. From installing sewage pipes, to paving streets, to teaching women to sew and make bread, the early Accion team worked side-by-side with their new Venezuelan friends determined to make a difference in the community. Winnie remembers so many talented women who were smart, capable, and true leaders in their communities. “I can't help but think of my two granddaughters when I think of the women and girls in the barrios of Caracas in the early 1960s, and how impressed they would be by all of the women I met all those years ago,” she says.

[caption id="attachment_23602" align="alignright" width="350"]<img class="wp-image-23602" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/winnie-blatchford.jpg" alt="Winnie Blatchford with her granddaughter" width="350" height="467" /> <em>Winnie with her granddaughter Elliette in 2019</em>[/caption]

From the beginning, Winnie and Joe were steadfast in their vision to give those less fortunate the tools they need to improve their lives. Those tools have evolved over the past 60 years since Accion’s founding, but the mission of the first generation of Accion remains the core of our work. And <a href="/topics/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">connecting women to the tools they need to grow businesses, provide for their families, and improve their communities</a>, continues to be a crucial way that we drive impact.

Before Winnie left Caracas, she received the <em>Amiga de Venezuela</em> award from the First Lady of Venezuela for her contributions to community development. She treasures that recognition and hopes it inspires her granddaughters and other young women to get involved in doing good. "You don't have to put your feet in the barrios to make a difference. There are opportunities everywhere, and it’s our job to create them if we can’t find them.”

Women leaders open opportunity through inclusive finance, part three

Michael Schlein

The past year has been very challenging, but it provided us valuable lessons on building financial resilience.

One year ago, COVID-19 irreparably changed the world. The pandemic has taken — and continues to take — an especially devastating toll on low-income people and small businesses everywhere. People who typically buy food and get paid in-person each day suddenly lost their jobs or businesses. They were hurt more by the pandemic than anyone else. They are still suffering, and their road to recovery is more fraught and longer than anyone else’s.

At Accion, the financial tools we provide are critical to that journey. We responded quickly to support the resilience of our partners and their clients. We knew from <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/weathering-the-storm-ii-a-case-study-of-partner" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">previous crises</a> that frontline financial service providers have a vital role in helping vulnerable people access the financial tools they need to weather difficult times and rebuild their livelihoods. Underserved people need savings, credit, and insurance, as well as digital skills and tools, in order to <a href="https://www.accion.org/the-fight-to-keep-going-a-family-business-changes-course" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pivot a business</a> or build financial resilience for their families.

But financial service providers also faced their own challenges. In the early days of the pandemic, microfinance banks and fintech lenders faced a liquidity crisis that <a href="https://www.accion.org/the-financial-engine-for-half-the-worlds-jobs-is-about-to-seize-up" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">threatened their collapse</a>, with potentially devastating consequences for millions of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) who depend on them for funding and growth.

Supplementing critical relief from national governments, Accion helped struggling partners around the world from a variety of angles:
<ul>
 	<li>We helped partners provide grace periods and business support to clients with little or no ability to repay their loans.</li>
 	<li>We leveraged digital technologies to help partners stay in touch with clients and support those most in need, like the elderly or those living in rural areas.</li>
 	<li>We worked with partners to understand the impact of the crisis on their balance sheets, build their financial runways, and shift their go-to-market approaches.</li>
 	<li>We assisted in setting up companies for extended periods of remote work and helped maintain staff morale.</li>
 	<li>We gathered CEOs from around the world <a href="https://www.accion.org/moving-beyond-doomsday-inclusive-finance-in-the-time-of-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to share their latest insights</a> and learn from each others’ failures and successes.</li>
 	<li>We also transformed how we work—learning to collaborate with partners, conduct due diligence, and provide governance support remotely.</li>
</ul>
Ultimately, our work to support our partners helped clients like Grace Ogunleye in Nigeria prevent her nursery and <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-a-microfinance-bank-is-driving-community-resilience-in-nigeria" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">primary school</a> from closing permanently. Our work helped clients like Rosa Tipula Quispe in Peru gain the <a href="https://www.accion.org/what-it-takes-for-one-family-business-to-stay-open" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">critical financing</a> she needed to keep her shop open during the lowest point of quarantine. And our work helped clients like Karen Villamizar in Colombia gain the digital skills she needed <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-the-pandemic-is-spurring-microentrepreneurs-to-go-digital" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to transform her confectionary business</a> in our increasingly digital world.
<h2><strong>Transitioning from response to recovery – three strategies</strong></h2>
As more vaccines are distributed and the global recovery gets underway, we must keep the lessons of this past year at the forefront of our plans to ensure vulnerable and low-income people aren’t left behind.
<h4>1. Embrace digital technology, but prioritize people</h4>
The digital transformation of financial service providers is key to their survival and effectiveness going forward, but this process must <a href="https://www.accion.org/three-ways-to-ensure-people-arent-left-behind-in-the-rush-to-go-digital" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">put clients first.</a> Clients need the necessary skills and trust to use digital tools, and their specific needs must be addressed as we design and launch digital products. We must help MSMEs digitally transform as well, and ensure they gain the digital know-how they need to participate in and benefit from the digital economy.
<h4>2. Focus on vulnerable groups</h4>
Groups that have endured the worst effects of the crisis—including <a href="https://www.accion.org/digital-tools-open-opportunities-for-women-to-thrive" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women</a>, those <a href="https://www.accion.org/banking-goes-digital-to-reach-rural-entrepreneurs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in rural areas</a>, and <a href="https://www.accion.org/u-s-small-business-owners-need-innovative-support-in-times-of-crisis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">business owners of color in the United States</a>—are most vulnerable to the continued economic effects of the pandemic. We must provide them with targeted support to build a truly inclusive and broad-based recovery. This involves seeking out and addressing their unique needs and working to overcome the societal and institutional barriers that disadvantage them.
<h4>3. Stay adaptable and flexible</h4>
Adaptability and flexibility are vital to the future success of small businesses, financial service providers, governments, and entire countries. For instance, Accion and our partners must continue to adapt to remote work, or a hybrid of remote and in-person work, to prevent potential resurgences of the virus and get things done in our socially distant world. And as economic volatility continues, providers must stay flexible in devising repayment plans, launching new products, and continually assessing their clients’ evolving needs.

The past year has been immensely challenging, but it provided us valuable lessons on building resilience. I’m so proud of how much we were able to accomplish through it all, and I look forward to seeing how our team and our partners will build on these lessons in the years to come.

Lessons from one year of pandemic responses can open opportunity to rebuild

monakapoor

<h3>Mona Kapoor, Senior Director, Digital Strategy and Transformation, Accion</h3>
<p><img class="alignright wp-image-23550" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-683x1024.jpg" alt="Mona Kapoor, Accion" width="450" height="675" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-200x300.jpg 200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/mona-kapoor-accion-768x1152.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px" />When asked about the power of financial inclusion, Mona Kapoor says, “I believe that financial freedom comes from two aspects: the first is when you are really able to earn, and the second is when you really understand beyond just earning — it is about being able to invest, to transact, to understand.” While she believes that giving women digital financial tools can improve their lives, Mona wants digital products and services to go one step further and provide the education needed to make them more effective for women. As more and more women become breadwinners in their families, they need to be able to understand how financial products can meet their needs and help them reach new opportunities. “Women today are aspiring, they’re willing to commit, and to evolve,” she says.</p>
<p>Mona merges her deep experience in digital payments and transformation with her passion for microfinance — and the opportunities it can create for women — in her work at Accion. As <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/mona-kapoor">Senior Director of Digital Strategy and Transformation</a> for Accion Global Advisory Solutions, she supports Accion partners as they develop digital financial products that help people to build better futures and small businesses to grow.</p>
<p>From her own personal experience, Mona knows that strong support systems can help women overcome challenges and thrive. “Women can really succeed when they get support from their mothers, sisters, daughters, the other women around them because that’s where they’re able to correlate and find strength. If she can do it, I can do it too. And let’s do it together. Women can and will find strength amongst women.” And with that support system, women can make an impact in whatever path they choose: “Women shouldn’t be held back in our ideation and thinking. Today’s world is such that if you can think it, you can do it. We should fearlessly go out there, express ourselves, make suggestions, and just jump into execution knowing and believing in ourselves, that we can do it.”</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>


laurahemrika

<h3>Laura Hemrika, Global Head of Corporate Citizenship &amp; Foundations, Credit Suisse</h3>
<div id="attachment_23548" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23548" class="wp-image-23548" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse.jpg" alt="Laura Hemrika" width="500" height="333" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse.jpg 1200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse-300x200.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse-768x512.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/laura-hemrika-credit-suisse-1024x683.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /><p id="caption-attachment-23548" class="wp-caption-text"><em>Laura Hemrika poses with the teller team of the Opportunity bank at Mathambi Village, Malawi.</em></p></div>
<p>“From an early age, I felt a responsibility to have a career that had a positive impact on others, that enabled, at least, opportunity and agency for those who didn’t have it. But I also knew that whatever it was, it had to make business sense. Financial inclusion is all that – and more. The younger, quietly rebellious me secretly also loved the smart, disruptive character of microfinance in the early days. I was hooked, but my commitment to financial inclusion was really cemented by clients early on in my financial inclusion career at Accion.” Laura Hemrika’s early drive to make a difference in the lives of other people has carried on throughout her career. She now leads Credit Suisse’s global social commitments to financial inclusion, financial education, future skills, and disaster relief. <a href="https://www.accion.org/credit-suisse-and-accion-exploring-new-frontiers-in-financial-inclusion">Credit Suisse is a longtime partner of Accion</a>, and Laura’s team also leads Credit Suisse’s volunteer program where <a href="https://www.accion.org/partnering-for-a-better-view-of-accions-impact">Credit Suisse employees can volunteer with organizations like Accion</a>.</p>
<p>Laura believes that we must always focus first on the individual people that benefit from inclusive financial tools. “It is easy to lose sight of the fact that every transaction — every account — is a person, a life, a hope, a dream, but often, also a necessity. I remember meeting a female client who owned a small shop in the foothills of the Kilimanjaro and provided for her children and those of her brother who had died of AIDS several years before. Before starting her business, she had had to risk her life and her health to earn money for her family. Not out of ignorance — out of a lack of choice. Too often, millions of women and girls are still in situations or contexts where they are denied choice or opportunity. Access to well-designed financial services and financial education for them and their families can be such an important mechanism to overcome that. This is why Credit Suisse is committed to these two topics through our Financial Inclusion Initiative and our Financial Education for Girls Initiative.”</p>
<p>Laura is passionate about creating opportunities for other women, both through inclusive financial products and diversity in the workplace. “As women in leadership positions, we have a responsibility to continue creating opportunities for other women — whether our clients around the world or those in the organizations and sectors in which we work. Products and services, including technology, that specifically address the needs and interests of women are key, whether in crisis or not. Similarly, understanding the experience of women in companies and institutions is also key to ensure we develop and maintain a diverse employee base which in turn leads to better business decision-making.”</p>
<p>She encourages other women to be bold as they gain experience and grow in their careers. “To other women, I would say: dare to have an impact. Outside your comfort zone is where you will learn the most, so go for it. Strong professional skills are transferable, and our sector and our clients will only benefit from strong, talented female leaders.”</p>


All around the world, basic financial services enable people to open their own businesses, educate their children, and provide for their families, but they aren’t within reach for everyone — including <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">980 million women</a> who don’t have a bank account or even the ability to send and receive money on their phones. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs">exacerbated inequalities that women face</a> and exposed how the <a href="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/">gender gap in financial inclusion</a> continues to hold women back.

This year, the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” We’re highlighting women leaders who are working to open opportunity for women and men through inclusive finance in our <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion">annual International Women’s Day blog series</a>. You can learn about more inspiring women in <a href="https://www.accion.org/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">our first</a> and <a href="/women-leaders-open-opportunity-through-inclusive-finance-part-three" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">third article</a> in this series.

Meet some of the women we’re inspired by:
<h3>Luz Borchardt, Co-founder of Henry</h3>
<img class="size-full wp-image-23551 alignright" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-borchardt-henry.jpg" alt="Luz Borchardt" width="450" height="510" />Luz Borchardt sees her work in Latin America’s education sector as a revolution. “The traditional education system is broken. At Henry, we are disrupting and kicking the paradigm of education as we know it. We challenge the status quo of education. We open opportunity by giving access to people who do not have the material resources, but do have the talent, by allowing them to defer the payment of the cost of their education until the person gets a job and becomes productive.” Luz and her co-founders started <a href="https://soyhenry.com/">Henry</a>, an Accion Venture Lab portfolio company, to make software development training more accessible to people in Latin America by embedding financial services into their education platform. Luz’s passion lies in <a href="https://www.accion.org/making-sure-fintech-is-an-equalizer-for-women-not-another-barrier">unlocking the talent of Latin American women</a> by bringing them into the booming tech industry. “Having more women in STEM would bring benefits for their professional development and economic autonomy, but also their communities and countries urgently require women’s contribution to find new solutions to the problems we face as a society,” she says. “Likewise, it is essential that every user finds their vision of the world represented at each table where a digital product is thought [of], designed, and developed. More women in technology is synonymous with a more egalitarian and inclusive society.”

Despite growing demand for technical skills, coding and software development are still not considered appealing careers for women in the region. “We have the great challenge of breaking down the stereotypes that we consume and creating a horizon of possibilities about what is expected of each gender to reduce the gap between men and women. These stereotypical representations operate from an early age and condition the future of many girls and women who do not believe they are ready to [become developers] in the tech sector.” When women in Latin America embrace tech as a career, more opportunities for jobs and financial stability open up to them. “When women become financially empowered, they invest most likely in education, food, and health, which has an impact on society in general and helps reduce social inequalities and boost economic growth.”

Luz is energized by the impact that she makes through Henry’s work. “I love it, it makes me feel well, we change the lives of a lot of people. And this fills us with pride and encourages us to continue working with great intensity, to be able to invest in more and more people.” She encourages more women to pursue entrepreneurship like she has. “I want to encourage every woman that wants to make an impact to act, to be the protagonist of this world that surrounds us. Entrepreneurship is a matter of attitude. If you find a problem you are passionate about, investigate it in-depth, prototype a solution, talk to many people to validate your idea, and execute it — and the show begins! The best way to start is to implement and navigate your idea. I deeply encourage women to start by doing, even if the idea or solution is not perfect.  I also encourage women to find their own voice in this conversation, too — whether that's in your home, in your workplace, or in your community. We need to expand women’s power and influence all over the world!”

Women leaders open opportunity through inclusive finance, part two

Robin Brazier

<p></p>
<p><em>María Pico adquirió las destrezas para hacer crecer su negocio de peluquería en Bucaramanga, Colombia, gracias a la plataforma de educación tecnológica de Accion, Ovante.</em></p>
<p>Desde que la pandemia de Covid-19 frenó en seco las economías a principios de 2020, muchas microempresas en el mundo se han visto obligadas a cerrar y la vida financiera de muchas personas se ha tornado insegura; sin embargo, algo sí es seguro: los hombres y las mujeres que poseen negocios experimentan la pandemia y sus consecuencias económicas de manera diferente, y las mujeres se llevan la peor parte de la crisis. Las mujeres son más propensas a <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/covid-19-and-women-s-economic-empowerment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">llevar a cabo trabajos informales mal remunerados</a>, en sectores que son vulnerables a interrupciones durante la pandemia; y las empresas propiedad de mujeres tienen <a href="https://data.unwomen.org/resources/surveys-show-covid-19-has-gendered-effects-asia-and-pacific" target="_blank" rel="noopener">menor probabilidad de disponer de los fondos de reserva</a> necesarios para ayudarlas a sobreponerse a shocks económicos prolongados. Las arraigadas desigualdades de género dejan a las mujeres y a los hombres con diferentes niveles de recursos disponibles para; planificar, gestionar y recuperarse de estos impactos.</p>
<p>A finales de 2020, <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/advise/accion-global-advisory-solutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Accion Global Advisory Solutions</a> realizó una encuesta entre 2.600 microempresarios en México y Chile, para ayudar a los proveedores de servicios financieros a entender cómo les iba a sus clientes de micro y pequeñas empresas luego de nueve meses de pandemia. Los resultados de la encuesta aportaron información importante  sobre los desafíos a los que se enfrentan las empresas propiedad de mujeres debido a la pandemia. Basándonos en los resultados de nuestra investigación, identificamos  cinco maneras que los proveedores de servicios financieros (PSF) pueden utilizar para apoyar a las mujeres, a medida que adaptan sus negocios y sus vidas durante la pandemia:</p>
<h3>1. <strong>Ayudar a las mujeres a desarrollar las destrezas digitales necesarias para mantenerse resilientes.</strong></h3>
<p>Nuestros resultados muestran que es casi un 16% más probable que las mujeres tengan negocios unipersonales, mientras que las empresas propiedad de hombres tienden a tener varios empleados. Aunque esto significa que las mujeres empresarias pueden tener menos gastos laborales, también se traduce en que incluso en los buenos tiempos suelen manejar solas todos los aspectos de sus negocios. Muchas de estas empresas individuales que acostumbraban a vender y promover sus productos en persona, no estaban preparadas para operar digitalmente. Hemos hallado que cuando las microempresas digitalizan al menos parte de su negocio, o reinventan su negocio por completo, les ha ido mejor durante la pandemia. Las plataformas y programas de edtech (tecnologia educativa), tales como  <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-the-pandemic-is-spurring-microentrepreneurs-to-go-digital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ovante de Accion</a>, ofrecen lecciones rápidas y fáciles de seguir que aportan a las mujeres emprendedoras las destrezas digitales y la confianza necesarias para operar sus negocios en línea, mantener a su clientela leal y potencialmente expandir sus operaciones durante el confinamiento.</p>
<h3>2. <strong>Incorporar &#8220;tecnología y contacto&#8221; en los productos.</strong></h3>
<p>Sabemos que, el generar confianza entre las instituciones financieras y sus clientes a través de la <a href="https://www.accion.org/in-a-no-touch-world-tech-cant-leave-low-income-people-behind" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conexión humana</a> es esencial para la retención de clientes y la aceptación de los productos. Dado que durante la crisis del COVID-19, muchos PSF han  llevado sus operaciones on-line, se arriesgan a dejar  por fuera a algunos clientes, en particular a aquellos con menor nivel educativo y menos familiarizados con los productos y servicios digitales. En nuestra encuesta, las emprendedoras reportaron niveles de educación más bajos que sus contrapartes masculinas, especialmente en cuanto a escolaridad técnica o superior. Encontramos que estos menores niveles de educación se correlacionan con una mayor desconfianza hacia los productos financieros digitales.</p>
<p>El toque humano puede ser fundamental para reducir las barreras de entrada para estos productos que aumentan la resiliencia, y muchos PSF han encontrado formas de cultivar lazos personales con sus clientes a pesar de las medidas de distanciamiento social. Los proveedores de servicios financieros pueden utilizar su  call center o la vinculación asistida para llegar a los clientes uno a uno y explicarles el valor de los productos digitales, enseñarles cómo usarlos e interactuar con ellos de manera más significativa. El invertir en estrategias que combinen la interacción humana con la tecnología garantiza que más mujeres emprendedoras se sumen a la ola de la digitalización. Apoyadas en el uso de herramientas digitales, estarán mejor equipadas para navegar por la nueva normalidad, repensar o reiniciar sus negocios y fortalecer su salud financiera para que puedan resistir a cualquier crisis futura.</p>
<h3>3. <strong>Priorizar productos de ahorro que satisfagan las necesidades de las mujeres.</strong></h3>
<p>Las tendencias mundiales indican que las mujeres ahorran más que los hombres, con una <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/paper/2020/11/gender-data-financial-inclusion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relación préstamo-depósito más baja</a>. Pero al mismo tiempo, también <a href="https://media-weconnectinternational-org.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/10/COVID-Infographic-Q2-Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tienden a tener menos fondos de reserva para ayudar a sus empresas a sobrevivir a las crisis económicas</a>. Nuestros propios hallazgos en Chile y México muestran que las mujeres empresarias encuestadas tenían en promedio un 10 por ciento menos de fondos de reserva disponibles para emergencias que los hombres. Esto significa que, si bien las mujeres tienen una mayor propensión a ahorrar, enfrentan barreras para hacerlo formalmente mediante productos de ahorro, lo que las hace más vulnerables durante las crisis. Para preparar a sus clientas para futuras recesiones económicas, los proveedores de servicios financieros deben diseñar productos de ahorro que satisfagan específicamente las necesidades de las mujeres, e incentiven la apertura de cuentas de ahorro. Un buen ejemplo de esta iniciativa es  el lanzamiento de un producto de ahorro, como el <a href="https://financialallianceforwomen.org/news-events/bank-al-etihad-amplifies-impact-jordanian-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shorouq de Bank al Etihad</a>, que se combina con un programa de recompensas que reconoce las metas financieras de las mujeres, como ahorrar para la educación de sus hijos o adquirir una vivienda.</p>
<h3>4. <strong>Interactuar con las mujeres emprendedoras mediante consejos prácticos sobre supervivencia empresarial.</strong></h3>
<p>Durante esta crisis, muchas mujeres están experimentando una fuerte caída en las ventas, lo que las obliga a echar mano de sus ahorros para rescatar su negocio o contraer más deudas para mantenerlo a flote. Estas emprendedoras en nuestra encuesta informaron estar más centradas en la supervivencia de sus negocios que en su crecimiento, y es más probable que indiquen que están explorando otras fuentes de ingresos o han pensado en cerrar sus negocios. Los hombres encuestados, aunque también sufrieron la caída de las ventas, tenían mayor tendencia a pensar cómo expandir sus negocios o a repensar sus modelos comerciales en respuesta a la crisis. Estos hallazgos reiteran que las mujeres propietarias de negocios están luchando por mantener sus negocios a flote y necesitan orientación para superar estos tiempos difíciles. Si bien los cambios de modelos de negocio y la implementación de técnicas de marketing pueden ser la clave para mantener en funcionamiento a las empresas, las mujeres suelen carecer del tiempo, los recursos y el apoyo necesarios para llevar a cabo estas actividades. Los proveedores de servicios financieros pueden desempeñar un papel fundamental a la hora de ayudar a las emprendedoras a encontrar formas innovadoras de cambiar y fortalecer sus negocios durante estos tiempos.</p>
<h3>4. <strong>llegar a donde están las mujeres y reconocer las responsabilidades y factores estresantes de su día a día.</strong></h3>
<blockquote class="pullquote--right"><p><em>El 49 por ciento de las mujeres informó haber pasado más tiempo cuidando a los niños desde el inicio de la pandemia, mientras que solo el 7 por ciento de los hombres declara lo mismo.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Casi dos tercios de las mujeres encuestadas dijeron sentirse más cansadas desde que golpeó la pandemia, y más de la mitad informaron sobre una mayor angustia emocional. El análisis de nuestra encuesta indica que las emprendedoras pasan mucho más tiempo cuidando a sus hijos que sus pares masculinos. El 49 por ciento de las mujeres informó haber pasado más tiempo cuidando a los niños desde el inicio de la pandemia, mientras que solo el siete por ciento de los hombres declara lo mismo. Las mujeres emprendedoras que también son cuidadoras necesitan productos financieros y de gestión de negocios convenientes y fáciles de usar,  que les permitan quedarse en casa mientras atienden sus negocios. Dicho esto, los informes también muestran <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/31/call-for-uk-domestic-violence-refuges-to-get-coronavirus-funding" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fuertes aumentos en denuncias de violencia doméstica</a> en todo el mundo como resultado de los confinamientos. Se pone de manifiesto que el ofrecer servicios no financieros, tales como líneas directas para conectarse con expertos en violencia de género, o servicios de telesalud, tiene un gran impacto entre las mujeres.</p>
<p>Las vulnerabilidades de las mujeres durante una crisis como la del COVID-19 son significativas y preocupantes. Con esto en mente, <a href="https://www.accion.org/eight-ways-financial-service-providers-can-drive-economic-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Accion Global Advisory Solutions está creando productos</a> que ayudan a las mujeres a mantenerse seguras y financieramente saludables durante esos tiempos difíciles.  Dentro de la plataforma edtech—Ovante—hemos creado nuevos módulos enfocados en el manejo de  crisis, enfocados en ayudar a las microempresarias a adaptar sus negocios sin tener que salir de casa. Este tipo de capacitación flexible es perfecta para las mujeres emprendedoras  que quieren ampliar sus habilidades empresariales  y conocimientos en productos financieros  y quienes, como hemos visto, tienen  poco tiempo debido al aumento de responsabilidades domésticas.</p>
<p>Acción continúa trabajando en estrecha colaboración con nuestros socios proveedores de servicios financieros para diseñar productos adicionales que satisfagan las necesidades diarias de las mujeres, y dotar a las emprendedoras con el conocimiento y las herramientas que necesitan para sobrevivir a esta pandemia y desarrollar resiliencia para el futuro.</p>

Women are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 crisis, and financial service providers have a responsibility to act

<em>This article is available in English and Spanish.</em>

Since the COVID-19 pandemic brought economies to a screeching halt in early 2020, microbusinesses around the world have been forced to close their doors and many people’s financial lives have become uncertain. However, one thing is certain — men and women who own businesses are experiencing the pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout differently, and women are bearing the brunt of the crisis. Women are more likely to <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/world/covid-19-and-women-s-economic-empowerment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">participate in informal, low-wage work</a> in industries that are vulnerable to disruption during the pandemic and women-owned businesses are <a href="https://data.unwomen.org/resources/surveys-show-covid-19-has-gendered-effects-asia-and-pacific" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">less likely to have the reserve funds</a> necessary to help them survive a prolonged economic shock. Entrenched gender inequalities leave women and men with different resources available to them to plan for, manage, and recover from shocks.

At the end of 2020, <a href="/how-we-work/advise/accion-global-advisory-solutions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Global Advisory Solutions</a> conducted a survey of 2,600 microentrepreneurs in Mexico and Chile to help financial service providers understand how their micro and small business clients were faring nine months into the pandemic. The survey results provided significant insight into the challenges women-owned businesses are facing due to the pandemic. Based on the findings from our research, we’ve outlined five ways that financial service providers (FSPs) can support women as they adapt their business and their lives during the pandemic:
<h3>1. Help women build the digital skills needed to stay resilient.</h3>
Our results found that women are nearly 16 percent more likely to be sole proprietors, while businesses owned by men are more likely to have multiple employees. Though this means women entrepreneurs may have fewer employee expenses, it also means that, even in good times, they are often managing every aspect of their businesses completely on their own. Many of these sole proprietorships who were accustomed to selling and marketing their products in person were unprepared to operate digitally. We’ve found that when micro enterprises have digitized at least part of their business, or reimagined their business altogether, they are better off during the pandemic. Edtech platforms and programs, such as <a href="/how-the-pandemic-is-spurring-microentrepreneurs-to-go-digital" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion’s Ovante</a>, offer quick and easy-to-follow lessons that equip women entrepreneurs with the digital skills and confidence to move their businesses online, retain their loyal clientele, and potentially expand their operations during lockdown.
<h3>2. Incorporate “tech and touch” into products.</h3>
We know that building trust between financial institutions and their customers <a href="/in-a-no-touch-world-tech-cant-leave-low-income-people-behind" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">through human connection</a> is essential to client retention and product adoption. As many FSPs have moved their operations online during the COVID-19 crisis, they’ve risked leaving some clients behind — in particular, those who have lower levels of education and are less familiar with digital products and services. In our survey, women entrepreneurs reported lower education levels than their male counterparts, especially for technical school or higher education completion. We found that these lower education levels are correlated with greater distrust in digital financial products.

Human touch can be critical to lowering barriers to entry for these important resilience-building products, and many FSPs have found ways to cultivate personal connections with their customers despite social distancing measures. Financial service providers can utilize call centers or assisted onboarding to reach customers one-on-one to explain the value of digital products, teach them how to use them, and engage customers in a more meaningful manner. Investing in strategies that combine human interaction with technology will ensure that more women entrepreneurs join the wave of digitization. With access to and support in using digital tools, they’re better equipped to navigate the new normal, rethink or restart their businesses, and build their financial health so that they can be resilient to any future crises.
<h3>3. Prioritize savings products that meet the needs of women.</h3>
Global trends indicate that women are stronger savers than men, with <a href="https://www.findevgateway.org/paper/2020/11/gender-data-financial-inclusion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lower loan-to-deposit ratios</a>. At the same time, they’re also <a href="https://media-weconnectinternational-org.s3.amazonaws.com/2020/10/COVID-Infographic-Q2-Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">less likely to have reserve funds to help their businesses survive economic shocks</a>. Our own findings in Chile and Mexico show that the women entrepreneurs surveyed had on average 10 percent fewer reserve funds available for emergencies than men. This means that although women have a higher propensity to save, they face barriers doing so formally through savings products, making them more vulnerable during crises. To prepare their women clients for future economic downturns, financial service providers need to design savings products that specifically meet the needs of women and incentivize the opening of savings accounts. This incentivization might involve the launch of a savings product — like <a href="https://financialallianceforwomen.org/news-events/bank-al-etihad-amplifies-impact-jordanian-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shorouq by Bank al Etihad</a> — that is coupled with a rewards program which recognizes the financial goals of women like saving for children’s education or owning a home.
<h3>4. Engage women entrepreneurs with practical advice on business survival.</h3>
During this crisis, many women are experiencing a disappearance of sales, forcing them to dip into savings to rescue their business, or take on more debt to keep their business afloat. These women entrepreneurs in our survey reported being more focused on their businesses’ survival than business growth and more likely to indicate they are exploring other sources of income or have thought about shuttering their businesses. Male respondents, though also seeing disappearing sales, were more likely to consider expanding their businesses or to rethink their business models in response to the crisis. These findings emphasize that women business owners are struggling to keep their businesses afloat and need guidance to weather this tough time. While pivoting business models and implementing marketing techniques might be key to keeping business doors open, women often lack the time, resources, and support needed to undertake these activities. Financial service providers can play a critical role in helping women entrepreneurs find innovative ways to pivot and strengthen their business during this time.
<h3>5. Meet women where they are by recognizing their day-to-day responsibilities and stressors.</h3>
<blockquote class="pullquote--right">49 percent of women reported spending more time tending to children since the onset of the pandemic, while only 7 percent of men reported the same.</blockquote>
Nearly two-thirds of women surveyed reported feeling more tired since the pandemic struck, and more than half reported greater emotional distress. Our survey analysis indicates that women entrepreneurs are spending significantly more time taking care of their children than their male counterparts. Forty-nine percent of women reported spending more time tending to children since the onset of the pandemic, while only seven percent of men reported the same. Women entrepreneurs who are also caretakers need convenient and easy-to-use financial and business management products that allow them to stay home while tending to their businesses. That being said, reports have also shown <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/31/call-for-uk-domestic-violence-refuges-to-get-coronavirus-funding" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sharp surges in reported domestic violence</a> around the world as a result of the lockdown. Offering non-financial services — such as hotlines to connect with experts in gender-based violence or telehealth services — has been found to be highly impactful among women.

The vulnerabilities of women during a crisis like COVID-19 are significant and concerning. With this in mind, <a href="/eight-ways-financial-service-providers-can-drive-economic-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Global Advisory Solutions is creating products</a> that help women stay safe and financially healthy during this trying time. We created new modules focused on the crisis for Accion’s interactive edtech platform, Ovante, to help microentrepreneurs adapt their businesses without ever leaving home. This type of flexible education is perfect for women entrepreneurs, who are — as we have seen — strapped for time due to an increase in household responsibilities, and less likely to understand or trust financial products and business strategies that are essential for business survival.

Accion continues to work closely with our financial service provider partners to design additional products that meet the everyday needs of women and equip women entrepreneurs with the knowledge and tools they need to survive this pandemic and build resiliency for the future.

5 ways to help women entrepreneurs adapt during COVID-19

Amee Parbhoo

henry

<h2>Embracing tech to pursue new job opportunities in Latin America</h2>
<p>In Latin America, a fintech startup called <a href="https://soyhenry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Henry</a> is working to <a href="/a-fintech-cultivates-tech-talent-in-latin-america" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expand access to software development education</a> so that more people can receive the training needed for jobs in tech, no matter their background, income, or experience. Henry, an Accion Venture Lab portfolio company, has <a href="/what-does-embedded-inclusive-fintech-look-like" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">embedded financial services into their education product</a> to make it accessible to more people. Students enroll in Henry’s online coding bootcamp program at no cost until they’ve completed the program and secured a job. Not only are they democratizing education in Latin America by opening opportunities to anyone regardless of their financial situation, but they are also working to bring more women onto their platform and into Latin America’s rapidly growing tech industry.</p>
<div id="attachment_23497" style="width: 352px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23497" class="size-full wp-image-23497" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/rocio-henry-client-testimonial.png" alt="Rocio, a Henry graduate" width="342" height="188" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/rocio-henry-client-testimonial.png 342w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/rocio-henry-client-testimonial-300x165.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 342px) 100vw, 342px" /><p id="caption-attachment-23497" class="wp-caption-text"><em>Henry spotlights women from their online community, like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6729858752872288256/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rocio on LinkedIn</a>, to inspire other women to explore careers in tech.</em></p></div>
<p>Co-founder Luz Borchardt’s ultimate goal is to include more women in tech by giving women a voice and fostering an inclusive community. There is a huge demand for tech skills in Latin America, and software development presents a great opportunity for people to build secure careers. By honing their technical skills through Henry’s platform, women gain the qualifications needed to join the tech workforce. But while the demand is growing, coding and software development are not viewed as appealing careers for women in the region. This social perception holds women back from considering tech as a stable way to earn a living.</p>
<p>Henry is working to overcome the belief that coding is a career for men through dedicated support and recruitment efforts tailored to women. They’re building a community that encourages women to pursue opportunities by facilitating meetups of women in tech, launching a dedicated blog with resources for women, representing women on their website, and featuring testimonials from female students on their social media pages. This community, called Henry Women, offers women support and empowerment to seize new opportunities they may have never considered before.</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote--right"><p>“The products of the future have to be built for everyone. Everyone has to be represented at the table and at the discussion when designing a product.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Luz and her team know that diversity is the way forward, and inclusivity is core to their work help everyone access the education needed to reach their potential. “The products of the future have to be built for everyone. Everyone has to be represented at the table and at the discussion when designing a product,” says Luz. As their students complete their curriculum, Henry helps them to find jobs in their new field. They are elevating the voices of their female students and advocating for tech companies to prioritize hiring women. Henry conducts diversity talks and with their tech company partners to stress how companies can perform better when they prioritize gender parity in the workplace and build diverse teams. Thirty percent of Henry’s own staff are women, and the majority of their instructors are women. So far, Henry has grown their percentage of female students from 20 to 25 percent — a significant number in Latin America, where only 10 percent of women college graduates were enrolled in engineering or technology courses in 2018, according to the company’s research.</p>


self

<h2>Community connections lead women to improve their financial health</h2>
<p>In the United States, millions of Americans struggle to make ends meet because of poor credit histories and overwhelming debt. Women in the U.S. often face additional barriers to economic security as they hold <a href="https://www.aauw.org/resources/research/deeper-in-debt/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two-thirds of all student loan debt</a> and continue to earn just <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/18/new-census-data-reveals-no-progress-has-been-made-closing-the-gender-pay-gap.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">82 cents for every dollar</a> earned by men — and the numbers are even worse for women of color. Through a user-friendly digital platform, Accion Venture Lab investee <a href="https://www.self.inc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Self Financial</a> gives Americans a <a href="/everyone-deserves-a-second-chance-to-build-credit-and-financial-security" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pathway to build credit and savings</a>, so they’re better prepared to face life’s challenges and reach their dreams. Word of mouth has played a crucial role in Self’s growth as the majority of customers have found Self from friends, family members, and trusted communities. Self’s customer base has grown organically, and their customer base is comprised of 65 percent women, and over 60 percent people of color.</p>
<p>As more people have turned to the platform at the recommendation of others, Self sees the importance of trust and community for their customers. Self has used focus groups and psychographic research to develop educational content and messaging that resonates with their primarily female customer base, and they’ve shaped their customer experience to make users more comfortable as they begin their journey towards financial stability.</p>
<div id="attachment_23502" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23502" class="wp-image-23502" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jernessa-self-client-graduation-small-766x1024.jpg" alt="Jernessa and her son at her graduation" width="300" height="401" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jernessa-self-client-graduation-small-766x1024.jpg 766w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jernessa-self-client-graduation-small-224x300.jpg 224w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jernessa-self-client-graduation-small-768x1027.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /><p id="caption-attachment-23502" class="wp-caption-text"><em>Jernessa J. shares her story with other women whose poor credit history prevents them from reaching their dreams.</em></p></div>
<p><a href="https://www.self.inc/blog/jernessa-credit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jernessa J. decided to take control of her future</a> after she found Self through an online community on Facebook. “Self was the first thing I used because it was the only thing that I could get approved for. Once I made several on-time payments, it better positioned me to get approved for lower limit credit cards. Self, coupled with proper management of those credit cards, were instrumental in my rebuilding of credit,” she says. After she transformed her financial situation, Jernessa became a financial coach to help other women access the tools and education to build their financial health. She shares her personal experience with Self to help others: “It is my ‘go-to’ resource to help get my clients on the right track the way that it helped me!” Now that Jernessa has improved her financial health, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/17/how-one-mother-is-building-generational-wealth-for-her-young-son.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">she’s working to build generational wealth for her son</a>, and has even launched a new online accessories business and earned another degree — all during the pandemic. When Jernessa and other influencers share their powerful stories, they encourage more women to control of their finances and build a better future.</p>
<p>By listening to their female customers and considering their unique needs and challenges from the beginning, companies like Self Financial and Henry are more effective in helping women embrace tech and digital financial tools. When inclusive fintechs and other social innovators recognize and address the difficulties that women around the world face through their product design, marketing, and customer support, the impact of their products can go much further. As we look toward rebuilding from COVID-19, we must ensure that women can find tools and resources they need to recover from this crisis and seize new opportunities.</p>


When fintech startups prioritize meeting the needs of their female customers through inclusive marketing, customer engagement, and community building, they open more opportunities for women

Digital financial services have changed the game when it comes to reaching low-income families, small businesses, and rural communities with the tools that can improve their lives. In particular, early-stage fintech startups have the <a href="/fintech-startups-are-small-yet-mighty-partners-in-building-resilience-but-they-need-to-grow-to-succeed" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">agility and innovation to leverage technology</a> to reach more people. The pandemic has underscored how fintech startups are positioned to help underserved people and businesses to build resilience, like <a href="/schools-go-virtual-with-fintech-support-in-indonesia" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">schools and students</a> in Indonesia who are adapting to remote learning, and <a href="/what-it-takes-for-one-family-business-to-stay-open" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mom and pop shops</a> in Peru that need help stocking their shelves with food and essentials.

Innovative fintech products can even open opportunities for women, who have been <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/building-resilience-how-to-ensure-women-are-not-left-behind-as-a-result-of-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">disproportionately impacted by COVID-19</a>, to stay resilient — but they can also inadvertently increase gender gaps if they don’t address inequalities that women still face. In addition to being less likely than men to <a href="https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GSMA_The_Mobile_Gender_Gap_Report_2018_32pp_WEBv7.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">own mobile devices</a> or have the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/se.adt.litr.fe.zs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">digital literacy needed</a> to use technology effectively, women also face cultural and societal barriers to embracing tech — for their careers, their businesses, and their financial health. When fintechs <a href="/want-to-fix-the-financial-inclusion-gender-gap-ask-better-questions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">understand their female clients and find better ways to reach them</a>, they can create more inclusive and impactful products. Thoughtful customer engagement and marketing can cultivate trust and address societal barriers so that more women are empowered to adopt digital tools and seize new opportunities.

Making sure fintech is an equalizer for women — not another barrier

ashleylewis

<h3>Ashley Lewis, Senior Investment Officer, Africa, Accion Venture Lab</h3>
<p><img class="alignright wp-image-23482" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion.jpg" alt="Ashley Lewis" width="350" height="525" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion.jpg 800w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion-200x300.jpg 200w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ashley-lewis-accion-683x1024.jpg 683w" sizes="(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" />From her early start interning in a bank at the young age of sixteen, Ashley Lewis witnessed how financial services improve lives. She met families who walked into her bank looking for support while they struggled with their financial health. “I saw how personal and important it is to have access not only to financial services, but also to have a financially prosperous life.” Ashley has now lived on four different continents since her beginnings in California, widening her perspective on the challenges that hold people back — and the resilience that financial tools can provide. Today, she&#8217;s based in Nigeria, investing in and supporting inclusive fintech startups throughout Africa as a <a href="/bio/ashley-lewis" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Senior Investment Officer</a> with Accion Venture Lab.</p>
<p>As Ashley has helped social ventures around the world reach more people, she’s seen how inclusive fintech can change the lives of women and their families. “Most of the time, women have the greatest ambitions for their families and for themselves. By creating inclusive financial services for women, I’ve seen them invest in their businesses, invest in their children, invest in their households, and prosper.” When women have the right financial tools to build businesses and improve their financial health, their success creates a ripple effect in their families and their communities.</p>
<p>Ashley looks ahead to a future where more women have opportunities to lead and thrive. “What I’m really excited about is seeing so many women globally being put into places of power and leadership. We’re now starting to see this tide turn where more women’s voices are at the table. When women have a voice, we can ensure that women don’t get left behind.” As more and more women step into leadership roles, Ashley believes they should lean into their unique capabilities and strengths. “As women, we have our own superpowers deeply embedded in us, whether that’s our intuition, our creativity, our collaboration. It’s important for women to identify those unique skill sets in themselves and bring that into the environments where they operate. Instead of trying to mirror what we see as successful leadership — often from a masculine perspective — we should dive into our unique abilities as women and bring that forward because that’s really what the world needs right now.”</p>


luzurrutia

<h3>Luz Urrutia, Chief Executive Officer, Accion Opportunity Fund</h3>
<p><img class="alignright wp-image-23481" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia.jpg" alt="Luz Urrutia" width="500" height="333" srcset="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia.jpg 1201w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia-300x200.jpg 300w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia-768x512.jpg 768w, https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/luz-urrutia-1024x683.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" />Luz Urrutia’s passion for inclusive finance comes directly from her own personal experience. “When I moved to the United States to finish my undergraduate degree, I worked at a bank. I applied for a $500 credit card from the very bank I worked at and was turned down because, as an immigrant, I had no credit history. I realized that if I was having this problem, as a bank employee, there was a wider problem. I decided that one day I would build a company that provides financial services to folks that don’t have access to them. Folks like me.”</p>
<p>Luz went on to found El Banco de Nuestra Comunidad, a community bank in Atlanta, Georgia, that focused on serving the Hispanic population with little or no credit history. She’s since become CEO of <a href="https://www.opportunityfund.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Opportunity Fund</a>, Accion’s partner in the U.S., which provides loans to low and moderate-income immigrants, women, and other underserved small business owners.</p>
<p>While there’s still work to be done to make financial systems open to more people, Luz and her team at Accion Opportunity Fund are excited by the possibilities that tech opens up for connecting more women and people of color to the capital needed to grow their businesses. “Despite the advancements made to accelerate financial inclusion, women, and especially women of color, are still excluded from access to financial tools around the world. To bridge this gap, fintech has played a considerable role in opening opportunities for women globally, by providing digital solutions that cater to the constraints women face. Fintech provides women with the flexibility to access the resources they need, allowing them to conveniently gain access to resources to effectively run their businesses.”</p>
<p>That ability to run businesses effectively is crucial as entrepreneurship is a particularly powerful tool for women to build better futures. As Luz points out, “Of the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/economy/women-job-losses-pandemic/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">140,000 jobs</a> lost in the U.S. last December, all of these jobs were held by women, and mostly women of color. In order to ensure women aren’t left further behind, we must focus on giving women the tools they need to start and run their own businesses. Entrepreneurship is a way for women to build wealth. Indeed, <a href="https://prosperitynow.org/issues/entrepreneurship" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">entrepreneurship is second only to homeownership</a> in building wealth. What’s more, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/is-it-insane-to-start-a-business-during-coronavirus-millions-of-americans-dont-think-so-11601092841" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Americans are starting businesses</a> at a faster rate now than in years, and women of color are <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90408156/women-of-color-are-starting-businesses-faster-than-anyone" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">starting businesses</a> faster than any other group. Thus, women need access to the capital and support needed to start and run their businesses, especially during this particularly challenging time.” This belief in entrepreneurship and inclusive finance is what drives Luz in her work every day as she opens up more opportunities for women to thrive.</p>


All around the world, financial services like bank accounts, insurance, and credit products, can enable people to open their own businesses, educate their children, and provide for their families. But these basic financial tools aren’t within reach for everyone, including <a href="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://globalfindex.worldbank.org/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">980 million women</a> who don’t have a bank account or even the ability to send and receive money on their phones. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org/the-case-for-a-gender-intelligent-approach-an-opportunity-for-inclusive-fintechs" data-sk="tooltip_parent">exacerbated inequalities that women face</a> and exposed how the <a href="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.womensworldbanking.org/insights-and-impact/womens-economic-empowerment-doorway-to-economic-recovery/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">gender gap in financial inclusion</a> continues to hold women back.

This year, the <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/11/announcer-international-womens-day-2021" data-sk="tooltip_parent">UN Women theme for International Women’s Day</a> is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world.” We’re <a href="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://www.accion.org/series/women-of-accion" data-sk="tooltip_parent">highlighting women leaders</a> who are working to open opportunity for women and men through inclusive finance, and to rebuild a more equitable world for all.

Meet some of the women we’re inspired by:<span dir="ltr" data-sk="tooltip_parent"> </span>
<h3>Maria Otero, Former Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, and Former President and CEO of Accion</h3>
<img class="wp-image-23480 alignright" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/maria-otero.jpg" alt="Maria Otero" width="450" height="300" />

“I believe that all women are leaders and that all women can make an impact. And that impact operates not just at their family level, but at their community level, and in some cases, as their national level and internationally.” Maria Otero is adamant in her belief that all women can make a difference, and her own career has been a testament to what a determined and passionate woman can accomplish. Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Maria started her career working in women’s health. As she traveled around the world, she saw how women were held back by a lack of economic empowerment, and she pivoted towards a career in financial inclusion. “I learned a great deal about the women’s movement, about how it is that women were addressed throughout the world, the inequities that existed overall, the inability for women to be treated as citizens like men.”

When she later became President and CEO of Accion, she shifted the focus from microcredit to microfinance to financial inclusion and oversaw the creation of the Center for Financial Inclusion. During her time at Accion, Maria witnessed the remarkable difference that financial services can make in the lives of women: “Financial tools have been the gate through which women have been able to work, to expand their own opportunities, and to become more self-sufficient. There’s just absolutely no question that financial inclusion is one way to truly integrate women into society. It is also one way to help [women] educate their children so that they can grow into a different generation – especially their daughters. You can see this wherever you go.”

Maria believes that women have all around the world tenacity and determination to succeed. “I learned so much about being a confident and fearless woman from my mother who at 94 is still going strong,” she says. With the right tools, women open businesses, provide for their families, and build better futures. “It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about Brooklyn, New York, or Bangkok, Thailand, across the world you see that being able to believe in women and trust in women and give them opportunity allows them to demonstrate that they can pay all their loans back, they can manage their resources, and they can also take on other financial products.”

She brought her passion for social change and her global perspective into her work at the US State Department as Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights. In this role and her many other leadership positions, she’s fought to build an equitable world that creates opportunities for all people, including women.

Maria encourages younger generations to understand the work that has come before them as they continue striving towards gender equality. As digital tools and social media continue to change how we influence thinking, “it is really important to understand that even though we have different means of communicating [across different generations], we are building on the shoulders of much that came before us.”

Women leaders open opportunity through inclusive finance, part one

Digital solution Tienda Pago provides working capital for Cecilia and other small merchants in Latin America 

Cecilia Polanco Tueros is a picture of resilience.

Even before the pandemic, she was no stranger to overcoming adversity. After a bad robbery, her family lost everything and went bankrupt. Her husband had to seek out a new job where he could bring in more income, and Cecilia took over the corner store that had previously been run by her mother-in-law.

Running her store keeps her busy every day, but she’s always working to balance the needs of her business and her family. While her three sons are now in their teens and twenties, Cecilia still makes time to be in their lives as much as she can — stepping away from the store to make breakfast for everyone and reconvening the family for lunch each day. She takes particular care to be there for her oldest son, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder. Before the pandemic, she arranged for him to get the therapy and support he needed over the years, and she is proud of the independent young man that he’s growing into. Being able to work close to home and tend to her family’s needs is important for Cecilia since she has to work such long hours, from before sunrise until late into the evening.

Cecilia and her family quickly felt the effects of the pandemic when it reached them in Lima, Peru. “COVID-19 was and still is very hard on us, as a family and as a business. Thank God neither me, nor my immediate family got infected. Sales are down, people are not coming as much, and they do not have money to spend,” she says. Though her store sells food and everyday essentials, many people in her community are struggling and buying less.

One thing that’s helping her manage while her sales have dropped is working with Tienda Pago. Accion partner Tienda Pago provides working capital for small merchants in Peru and Mexico so they can manage their inventory needs without being at the mercy of cash flows. This allows them to buy what they need and take advantage of busy times to sell more merchandise and grow.

“Tienda Pago is a solution,” says Cecilia, a smile breaking over her face. “It’s like a salvation, you might say!” She wasn’t so sure about trying it at first — “I hate taking a bank loan. I never do it,” she explains. But with Tienda Pago, the credit is so short-term she repays within a week and doesn’t lose a sense of control over her finances. Even though the loans are small, she’s still able to come out ahead.

Cecilia hasn’t been able to stock as many items in her store in the past year because of her decreased sales. The support she receives from Tienda Pago has helped her to stay afloat. “Tienda Pago helped a lot and keeps helping us. Tienda Pago did not charge me interest or late fees for the period we were in quarantine and not buying products.” Their team is staying in touch with Cecilia through phone calls and their digital app while they’re unable to visit in-person during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.accion.org/what-it-takes-for-one-family-business-to-stay-open" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tienda Pago is focused on helping small shop owners</a> like Cecilia through this crisis so they can stay in business long-term.

While Cecilia is still fighting to get through the challenge of COVID-19, she’s holding onto her dreams for the future. Access to working capital opens opportunities for small business owners to endure challenges and grow when sales rebound. Since she began using Tienda Pago’s services, Cecilia has found she can stay afloat during difficult times, and when things are good, she can order more merchandise for the shop and have money to spend on the things her sons need. Her oldest son has taken workshops to help him gain more skills and independence, her middle son has begun working as a dental technician, and her youngest is doing well in high school. “I want to grow, I want to expand,” she says, looking ahead to the future. Her dreams are growing bigger, too, as she envisions college degrees and professional careers for her sons, and hopes they’ll be able to support and take care of each other. Cecilia’s store is more than a job; it’s a pathway to a better future for her entire family.

A family business offers renewed hope and resilience

Financial service providers must stay focused on customers as they quickly embrace digital tools.

The pandemic has severely affected the world’s low-income populations. But by accelerating the pace of digitization, it has opened doors to financial services and the security and opportunities they provide. Digital financial services—and the tools needed to use them—are now vital for low-income families and small businesses to make it through this crisis and build resilience to future challenges.

Digitization is integrating financial services into nearly every aspect of life. <a href="https://www.accion.org/what-does-embedded-inclusive-fintech-look-like">Financial services can be embedded</a> into anything from utility payments to crop fertilizer subscriptions, which can help more people access credit, save money, and build credit histories that are essential for growth.

But digitization also risks worsening inequality, invading clients’ privacy, and taking advantage of people with less digital experience or poor access to the right tools, like mobile phones. Underserved people need new skills and expertise to successfully navigate the digital economy, and they need products that protect their privacy and personal information.

Accion has been working to ensure that innovations driving digital transformation and migration are inclusive, safe, and effective. Based on our experiences, here are three ways to ensure customers aren’t left behind amid accelerating digitization.
<h2>1. Expand digital access, fluency, and trust</h2>
Building customers’ trust in digital financial services, as well as their digital fluency, will be foundational an effective customer experience. It matters less where clients live, while it’s more important that providers can reach and stay in contact with them. Financial services providers need to rethink the purposes of physical interactions versus digital interactions so that the former occur less often and the latter become more frequent and more personal.

EdTech (education technology) can help underserved clients gain digital familiarity and learn how to accomplish a range of tasks, like setting up an online wallet or listing a product for sale. Accion has <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-the-pandemic-is-spurring-microentrepreneurs-to-go-digital">developed and deployed an interactive EdTech platform</a> called Ovante to help underserved entrepreneurs gain the management, financial, and digital expertise they need to succeed in our increasingly digital world. Ovante can help clients expand on their existing knowledge of social media to open new digital channels to selling their products and services.

Digital channels are a key conduit for financial service providers to improve their customer experience, and sometimes this means totally rethinking the customer experience. For example, many of Accion’s partners use group lending models to serve clients without any credit history by allowing people in the same communities to guarantee each other. Eighty percent of group lending participants are women, and 65 percent live in rural areas with few or no banks. Group lending has historically relied on frequent in-person interactions. But as social distancing became a necessity, our partners leveraged digital platforms to <a href="https://www.accion.org/can-group-lending-work-in-a-socially-distant-world">reimagine the group lending process</a> for the digital age.
<h2>2. Answer clients’ needs</h2>
As lockdowns end, low-income families will find their savings exhausted, their businesses stalled or bankrupt, and their future incomes uncertain. People will need new income streams and financial services to build resilience, restart their businesses, and establish new ventures.

Digitization means that more clients will use digital tools to rebuild their livelihoods, but providers must answer their needs by <a href="https://www.accion.org/to-succeed-innovative-financial-products-must-be-desirable-feasible-and-viable">crafting truly meaningful, customer-centric value propositions</a> that help them build resilience today and for the future.

To do that successfully during the pandemic, Accion has helped providers conduct interviews and surveys remotely to ensure that they capture the insights they need. Using client insights, we help institutions develop products and services that are desirable to clients and solve their specific problems. These offerings must also be feasible for the institution, given their capacity and operating models, and viable for the long term. Here, digital channels and platforms make a huge difference, and adopting them has become an urgent priority.

It’s so important to help people build financial resilience, and the customer experience needs to reflect that. If vulnerable clients’ unique needs aren’t sought out, understood, and addressed, their entire livelihoods could collapse and the economic recovery will be more difficult. Financial service providers must <a href="https://www.accion.org/win-from-within-how-fintech-startups-can-grow-by-building-value-for-existing-users">grow along with their clients</a> by understanding their needs, crafting products that meet those needs, and keeping them engaged throughout their journey as customers.
<h2>3. Ensure clients’ data and privacy stay protected</h2>
Digitized data can unlock more personalized and effective financial products that can help low-income people improve their lives and achieve their goals. Yet many emerging markets have weak effective consumer data protection regimes. When rules do exist, people with low levels of digital and financial sophistication may, in their eagerness to receive financial services, sign away their rights without even fully understanding them.

Protecting the privacy and security of customer data includes cultural and technical aspects, and vulnerabilities often lie at the intersection of the two. A provider can install best-in-class privacy and security software, but they must also build in privacy through a culture of protecting customer data. For example, providers can ‘right size’ their data collection methods to focus only on what is needed, implement strong and ethical data governance policies, and have dedicated staff responsible for their consistent application and use.

Accion is also focused on increasing transparency in providers’ data practices. We are analyzing how financial service providers use algorithms, which can be biased against underserved populations, in automated decision-making. We are monitoring emerging frameworks around the world to see what does and doesn’t work to advance financial inclusion while safeguarding data privacy, portability, and other consumer rights.

Cyber threats have also become a growing concern in emerging markets. Digital innovations, new products, and new processes are moving ahead at breakneck speed, but they’re leaving cyber security considerations in the dust, bringing new risks to financial inclusion-focused providers and to low-income and newly-banked customers. This makes it harder for people to trust digital financial services. We are working with our partners to <a href="https://www.accion.org/reimagining-cyber-risk-for-financial-inclusion-in-an-increasingly-digital-world">put in place cyber risk mitigation strategies</a> to ensure that the most underserved are protected.

Accion is engaging the industry to ensure that innovation doesn’t simply expand access to financial services—but also creates financial services that are safe, high quality, and designed to meet customers’ needs. These efforts are essential to ensure that the world’s three billion financially underserved people can build resilience to today’s challenges and threats arising in the future.

Three ways to ensure people aren’t left behind in the rush to go digital

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