Page 6 - Connected Women
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GSMA MOBILE MONEY FOR THE UNBANKED & CONNECTED WOMEN REACHING HALF OF THE MARKET: WOMEN AND MOBILE MONEY
Barriers to women adopting mobile money
A number of barriers exist that can prevent women from adopting mobile money services. While the economic, social, and cultu ral context
varies dramatically from market to market, mobile money operators reported five common and persistent barriers. These barriers are neither
unique to women (although women tend to experience them more often and more acutely than men) nor are they insurmountable, but
operators will need to have strategies to address them and maximize the potential of women in the mobile money market.
• Low literacy and education levels – Women tend to be less educated than men in most developing and emerging markets, which
this the greatest barrier to adoption.
• Lack of easy access to mobile money agents – Easy access to a mobile money agent is crucial to women, and uptake and continued
use depend on agents being available to help them trust the service. Women also tend to have less spare time than men and might
8
struggle to find the time to reach a mobile money agent to perform transactions.
• Lack of identification documents –
open a mobile money account. In other markets, a man’s signature is required for women to open an account and make domestic
9
money transfers. In all cases, the use of tiered KYC can help streamline the registration process and make it easier for women to
sign up for the service. 10
• Lack of confidence – The operators interviewed for this publication also indicated that women typically have less confidence in their
11
ability to use mobile money than men and identified this as a potential barrier to uptake of mobile money services.
• Low levels of mobile phone ownership – This remains a challenge in several markets where the digital gap is still prevalent. For
example, a survey on financial inclusion reported that in Pakistan, 80% of men owned a mobile phone, while only 38% of women
did. In India, 68% of men owned a mobile phone, while only 31% of women did. 12
8. GSMA mWomen Programme and Visa, 2012, “Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets”,
http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GSMA-mWomen-Visa_Unlocking-the-Potential_Feb-2013.pdf.
9. Sushma Narain, “Gender and Access to Finance”, The World Bank, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGENDERSTATS/Resources/SushmaNarain-AccesstoFinanceAnalyticalPaper.doc.
10. It is recommended that regulators implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, design risk-based KYC regimes that allow for simplified customer due diligence based on the specific risk of each
product, and leverage operational and transactional mitigation measures. See Simone di Castri, “Mobile Money: Enabling Regulatory Solutions”,
http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MMU-Enabling-Regulatory-Solutions-di-Castri-2013.pdf.
11. GSMA mWomen Programme and Visa, 2012, “Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets”,
http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GSMA-mWomen-Visa_Unlocking-the-Potential_Feb-2013.pdf.
12. Financial Inclusion Insights, 2014, country data for Pakistan and India, http://finclusion.org/country-pages/.
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Barriers to women adopting mobile money
A number of barriers exist that can prevent women from adopting mobile money services. While the economic, social, and cultu ral context
varies dramatically from market to market, mobile money operators reported five common and persistent barriers. These barriers are neither
unique to women (although women tend to experience them more often and more acutely than men) nor are they insurmountable, but
operators will need to have strategies to address them and maximize the potential of women in the mobile money market.
• Low literacy and education levels – Women tend to be less educated than men in most developing and emerging markets, which
this the greatest barrier to adoption.
• Lack of easy access to mobile money agents – Easy access to a mobile money agent is crucial to women, and uptake and continued
use depend on agents being available to help them trust the service. Women also tend to have less spare time than men and might
8
struggle to find the time to reach a mobile money agent to perform transactions.
• Lack of identification documents –
open a mobile money account. In other markets, a man’s signature is required for women to open an account and make domestic
9
money transfers. In all cases, the use of tiered KYC can help streamline the registration process and make it easier for women to
sign up for the service. 10
• Lack of confidence – The operators interviewed for this publication also indicated that women typically have less confidence in their
11
ability to use mobile money than men and identified this as a potential barrier to uptake of mobile money services.
• Low levels of mobile phone ownership – This remains a challenge in several markets where the digital gap is still prevalent. For
example, a survey on financial inclusion reported that in Pakistan, 80% of men owned a mobile phone, while only 38% of women
did. In India, 68% of men owned a mobile phone, while only 31% of women did. 12
8. GSMA mWomen Programme and Visa, 2012, “Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets”,
http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GSMA-mWomen-Visa_Unlocking-the-Potential_Feb-2013.pdf.
9. Sushma Narain, “Gender and Access to Finance”, The World Bank, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGENDERSTATS/Resources/SushmaNarain-AccesstoFinanceAnalyticalPaper.doc.
10. It is recommended that regulators implement the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, design risk-based KYC regimes that allow for simplified customer due diligence based on the specific risk of each
product, and leverage operational and transactional mitigation measures. See Simone di Castri, “Mobile Money: Enabling Regulatory Solutions”,
http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MMU-Enabling-Regulatory-Solutions-di-Castri-2013.pdf.
11. GSMA mWomen Programme and Visa, 2012, “Unlocking the Potential: Women and Mobile Financial Services in Emerging Markets”,
http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/GSMA-mWomen-Visa_Unlocking-the-Potential_Feb-2013.pdf.
12. Financial Inclusion Insights, 2014, country data for Pakistan and India, http://finclusion.org/country-pages/.
6
