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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

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

Article

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

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

Your gift helps us open opportunities for hardworking people and entrepreneurs around the world.

Priya is a hardworking caregiver and small business owner living in a rural village near the town of Thirukattupalli in south India. As a girl, she completed high school, then paused continuing her own education to allow her sisters to finish school in person. She worked in a shop to help secure their education, then pursued a degree in business administration from home. Fewer than half of girls in rural India <a href="https://time.com/5614642/india-girls-education/">pursue education past the age of 14</a> and an even smaller percentage attend university. Priya’s hard work and sacrifice helped her family defy the odds, and as she succeeds, she continues to lift up the people around her.

With her degree in hand and small children at home, Priya and her husband agreed that starting their own shop was the right choice for their family. A grocery store in their village would provide food and essential items to their community, make good use of her education, and help them care for their children. But they faced a very practical challenge: startup costs for a grocery store are high. <a href="https://www.accion.org/digital-tools-fuel-financial-resilience-in-rural-india">While most people across India have bank accounts, other financial products have yet to reach rural households</a>. Priya might have lacked access to a loan that would let her stock her shelves before opening, but fortunately, she connected with Dvara KGFS.

<img class="alignright wp-image-26835" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/priya-small-business-owner-dvara.jpg" alt="Priya manages her business" width="450" height="630" /><a href="https://www.dvarakgfs.com/">Dvara KGFS</a> is a client-focused provider of financial products to low-income households and microbusinesses in rural India. The microlender provided Priya and several neighbors with a <a href="https://www.accion.org/can-group-lending-work-in-a-socially-distant-world">group loan — a product that allows rural women to guarantee one another</a>. They receive a low-cost loan and are accountable to each other for repaying it; together, Priya and her fellow group members used their loans to start businesses in their community. And by repaying regularly, they have begun building their own credit history to qualify for future loans.

When COVID-19 struck, Priya and countless other small business owners struggled to navigate the pandemic. Due to strict lockdown protocol, revenue at her store declined significantly. On top of that, Priya’s husband lost his job in 2020. Support from Dvara helped sustain her business so that, as pandemic restrictions lifted and supply chain snarls untangled, her family was financially stable and her shelves were stocked for her neighbors to shop from.

Accion partners with Dvara because of our shared commitment to expanding the reach, quality, and affordability of critical financial tools. Dvara reaches over one million Indians in rural areas, helping them build wealth, start and grow businesses, and access in-person and digital banking. As part of the Mastercard and Accion partnership to <a href="https://www.accion.org/mastercard-and-accion-partner-to-unlock-growth-for-millions-of-underserved-microbusinesses-around-the-world">help small businesses operate in and benefit from the digital economy</a>, Accion is supporting Dvara in its efforts to leverage technology to unlock efficiency and create optimal customer experiences. We are working together to bring digital financial management tools to small business owners in rural India and to help millions more women like Priya uplift their communities.

<a href="https://www.accion.org/priyas-story">See Priya tell her own story in our video, Priya defies the odds.</a>

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Investing in women to uplift rural communities in India

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Many families arrive in refugee camps and struggle to get the financial support they need to start their new lives. “We had no collateral like land, houses, or banana plantations. Other banks always look for those things as security,” said Havugimana, a refugee from Rwanda.

Accion works with our partner UGAFODE Microfinance Limited to provide refugees in Uganda with loans, savings, and insurance they need to make a living and strengthen their communities.

How financial tools help refugees start new lives

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Marie is one of 1.5 million refugees who have fled to Uganda to start a new life. “The things which caused us to flee from our country up to Uganda [were] discrimination and the war,” she says, describing why she and her parents decided to undertake the perilous journey from their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

After rebuilding her life in her new country, Marie now uses her firsthand knowledge to support other refugees, especially women. She’s working for Accion partner UGAFODE Microfinance Limited, providing loans, savings products, and financial literacy training to the refugee community in Uganda. Accion uses our knowledge and experience working with low-income populations around the globe to support UGAFODE, ensuring that vulnerable communities in Uganda, including refugees, can get the financial tools they need to thrive.

Refugees rebuild in Uganda

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In rural India, few girls stay in school past the age of 14. More than half drop out before graduation, and even fewer women attend universities. Priya defied the odds.

She completed her business degree remotely so that she could care for her family while she was in school. Once she graduated, she put her degree into practice by opening her own business. With a small business loan from Accion’s partner Dvara KGFS, she got the capital needed to open her own store.

Accion works with Dvara KGFS to bring small business loans and other life-changing financial services to rural communities in India, so that small business owners like Priya can achieve their dreams.

Priya defies the odds

[embed]https://vimeo.com/706233276[/embed]

Thilagavathi and her husband are chicken farmers in Tamil Nadu, India. When they decided to open a shop to earn more income to support their family, they needed a small loan to get started. Thilagavathi and her husband received affordable small business loans from Dvara KGFS, using them to build their business, support their farming, and send their children to school.

<a href="https://www.accion.org/digital-tools-fuel-financial-resilience-in-rural-india" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion works with Dvara KGFS</a> to create innovative, scalable ways to reach rural families with affordable loans and financial tools that improve their lives.

Together with partners, Accion is empowering women farmers and their families with the financial support they need for their businesses to thrive. The support of our donors makes our work possible. <a href="https://donate.accion.org/page/40218/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=videoblog">Donate today</a>.

Thilagavathi builds her business in rural India

How are we opening opportunity?

Fintech for the People: Season 6, Episode 1 featuring Sophie Sirtaine, CEO of CGAP

Podcast

Rapid digitalization, climate change, economic instability, AI and automation, and other trends have shifted how people around the world live and work. For low-income and underserved people, these shifts have created new work opportunities, like gig work, and new risks and challenges, like the need to learn new digital skills. In this season of Accion Venture Lab’s Fintech for the People podcast, we’re exploring the role of fintech in the changing future of work. In the first episode of the season, host <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/rahil-rangwala" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rahil Rangwala</a> interviews <a href="https://www.cgap.org/about/people/sophie-sirtaine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sophie Sirtaine</a>, CEO of CGAP, a global partnership of leading development organizations working to advance the lives of people living in poverty — especially women — through financial inclusion.

They discuss the intersection of fintech and the future of work, particularly for blue and gray collar workers, like gig workers. Sophie shares CGAP's mission to make financial services accessible to the world's most vulnerable communities. The episode explores the importance of building responsible and inclusive financial ecosystems for a green, resilient, and equitable future. Tune in to learn more about the importance of inclusive financial solutions as global shifts change the nature of work, especially for low-income and underserved populations.

To learn more about Accion Venture Lab, visit our <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/invest/accion-venture-lab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">website</a>.

<img class="size-large wp-image-28793 aligncenter" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Accion-CGAP-Quotecard-1024x576.png" alt="podcast quotecard with a headshot" width="1024" height="576" />

Navigating the intersection of Fintech and the future of work

<img class="wp-image-28789 size-large aligncenter" src="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/fintech-for-the-people-rahil-1024x576.png" alt="Fintech for the People season 6" width="1024" height="576" />

This season, we'll dive into one of the hottest topics investors and entrepreneurs are discussing: The intersection of the future of work and fintech. Global shifts and trends — like rapid digitalization, climate change, migration, and generative AI — are changing the way that people around the world live and work.

Host <a href="https://www.accion.org/bio/rahil-rangwala" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rahil Rangwala</a>, Managing Partner of Accion Venture Lab, will speak with five industry experts, ranging from entrepreneurs to investors to stakeholders in the ecosystem, who are playing a critical role in shaping this transition. We are excited to navigate this complex topic of the future of work with you this season and aim to share what future work means and how it is affecting the lives of a vast emerging workforce that is often overlooked.

Learn more about <a href="https://www.accion.org/how-we-work/invest/accion-venture-lab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Accion Venture Lab here</a> and follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/accionvlab" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/accion-venture-lab/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a>. Listen to the <a href="https://link.chtbl.com/3S4T3Gut">intro episode here</a>.

Navigating the future of work: Intro to season 6 of Fintech for the People

Devraj Hom Roy

Markers and strategies for healthy early-stage vertical B2B marketplaces

Brief

What makes a successful B2B marketplace

Debdoot Banerjee

A guide to help financial service providers understand the challenges involved in managing customer relationships through digital channels and address common gaps

Toolkits and Guides

Traditionally, financial service providers that focus on serving micro and small business owners have relied on physical touchpoints and customer-facing employees to build and maintain personalized customer relationships. They depend on leveraging these relationships to ensure customers understand products and repay loans on time.

As institutions increasingly turn to digital channels to interact with customers, these personalized experiences must somehow be replicated digitally. In many cases, this requires multiple digital touchpoints across a single customer journey and building customized experiences based on individual customer needs.

Accion developed <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Accion-Toolkit_Building-Strong-Customer-Relationships_EN_FINAL_082923.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this toolkit</a> to help guide institutions through this process. We focus on five key recommendations:
<ol>
 	<li>Map out formal and informal interactions for strong customer relationships</li>
 	<li>Segment customers by digital maturity</li>
 	<li>Build digital interactions that avoid common pitfalls</li>
 	<li>Be clear on the infrastructure required to support digital relationship management</li>
 	<li>Monitor and measure success</li>
</ol>
To learn more about how to effectively manage customer relationships in a digital environment, download our toolkit in <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Accion-Toolkit_Building-Strong-Customer-Relationships_EN_FINAL_082923.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">English</a> and <a href="https://content.accion.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Accion-Toolkit_Building-Strong-Customer-Relationships_ES_FINAL_082923.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spanish</a>.

Building strong customer relationships in a digital environment

At Accion, we know financial services are powerful tools to help reduce poverty and create opportunity. We work to create a fair and inclusive economy where underserved people have quality financial choices and opportunities. And in our recently published <a href="https://www.accion.org/2022-impact-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Impact Report</a>, we dive into how we translate our vision into action — and impact.

We support innovative companies. We create responsible digital financial solutions. And we conduct rigorous research toward building a fair and inclusive economy for underserved people globally. Since our founding in 1961, we have helped build 235 financial institutions across 75 countries, and our work reached 106 million people <a href="https://www.accion.org/2022-annual-report/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">last year, </a>helping them secure a brighter future.

That’s only a snapshot of our impact. To understand exactly how our work is making a difference in people’s lives — and how to maximize our impact — we systematically gather feedback from our partners and their clients so we can quickly learn what is and isn’t working, and share and promote best practices across our global networks.

By doing so, we’re able to learn and respond quickly to insights as they arise, which is key to equipping the people we serve — who are largely small business owners, smallholder farmers, and women — with financial tools that answer their unique needs and enable them to make better financial decisions. We also advocate for progress across the field of inclusive finance to elevate responsible impact measurement and customer-oriented solutions everywhere.
<h3>To understand impact, listen to clients</h3>
For a clearer picture of our impact, we need to listen to clients. This means looking beyond their ability to <em>access</em> new financial solutions and learning more about how they are <em>using</em> new tools to improve their lives. For example, are they saving money for the future? Are they able to respond to unexpected emergencies? Are they investing in and growing their businesses?

We integrated these questions into our first four-year partnership with Mastercard, which drove the digital transformation of small businesses and their financial service providers around the world. <a href="https://www.accion.org/the-impact-of-digital-transformation-on-underserved-microbusinesses-findings-from-accions-partnership-with-mastercard" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Our impact research</a> showed 5.6 million microentrepreneurs started using new digital financial products on a regular basis. Critically, rates of 30-day usage increased by roughly four times the initial rate, showing how clients are making good use of new digital financial tools. Three-quarters of digital product users are women, and nearly 80 percent of users reported improved financial health thanks to digital solutions. This means being able to pay bills on time, having access to funds when they need them, and strengthening their finances against economic shocks.

To further center client voices, we became a founding partner of <a href="https://60decibels.com/insights/microfinance-index/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a new index</a>, released last year, which shows the impact of inclusive financial services on customers around the world. Created by the firm 60 Decibels, the index includes data from more than 18,000 customers from 72 microfinance institutions globally, many of them Accion partners.
<h3>Promoting transparency and standards across the industry</h3>
According to <a href="https://thegiin.org/assets/documents/pub/2023-GIINsight/2023%20GIINsight%20%E2%80%93%20Impact%20Measurement%20and%20Management%20Practice.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a recent report</a> by the Global Impact Investing Network, 94 percent of surveyed impact investors assess their impact at least once per year, and 76 percent are aligning their impact priorities with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. But only 15 percent of impact investors can compare their impact results to peers, and 76 percent consider this a major challenge.

In short, we need better, more transparent, more universal standards. And as more companies orient toward impact, they must back up their claims with evidence and align their impact reporting with common practices and metrics.

To promote progress across the field, Accion recently signed up to the <a href="https://www.impactprinciples.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Operating Principles for Impact Management</a>, joining a global community of impact investors who commit to bringing greater transparency, credibility, and discipline to the impact investing market.

We are also harmonizing our impact measurement practices and priorities with those of our partners. This helps ensure that our diverse network of partners around the world are doing their best to periodically evaluate the quality and effectiveness of their solutions for their clients and their communities.

You can read more about Accion’s impact framework, our legacy of impact, and our ongoing commitment to creating locally led, systemic change in our just-released <a href="https://www.accion.org/2022-impact-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2022 Impact Report</a>.

Strengthening our impact requires rigorous measurement

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