Financial Alliance for Women

Over 400 million women entrepreneurs worldwide have the potential to grow their businesses, contribute to the economy, and create jobs, but lack the necessary financing. Closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship—where women and men participate equally—could add $5-6 trillion to the global economy, representing a $1.7 trillion growth opportunity for financial service providers (FSPs). Our next #FintechFriday session, “Fintechs Financing WMSMEs,” will showcase best practices and lessons from fintechs successfully reaching and financing WMSMEs. It will cover strategies for attracting WMSMEs, addressing their key barriers (e.g., lack of collateral, documentation, thin credit files, algorithm bias), and converting them into clients—ultimately bridging the global gap in access to finance and usage. Join us this Friday, October 25 to hear firsthand from fintechs implementing effective strategies to ensure greater access for WMSMEs. Meet our speakers: - Carmia Lureman-Norton, Head of Strategic Delivery & CX, JUMO - Lucinda Revell, Co-Founder and COO, Boost Capital Register Now: https://lnkd.in/euufpy63 #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy #Fintechs #FintechFridays #WMSME #WomenEntrepreneurs #FintechFounders #GenderIntelligentFintech

📊 The third live session of our #WMSME #Gender #Data #LearningSeries focused on "Data Planning and Integrating Gender into Data Systems." Our distinguished panel of experts included: Grace kishek from Bank al Etihad, Marcia Diaz from Banco Pichincha, Mehruba Reza from BRAC Bank PLC, Natalie Marko Nietsch from Standard Chartered, and @Shahana Ferdousi from Bangladesh Bank The session highlighted a critical first step in the Gender Data Journey: Sex-Disaggregating Existing Data—a challenging yet essential task for financial institutions. For data to truly drive #impact, the existing datasets must be disaggregated by sex, which unlocks several strategic advantages: 1️⃣ Gaining a clear understanding of the institution's current standing and identifying potential gaps. 2️⃣ Developing targeted products and services tailored to WMSMEs as part of your customer value proposition. 3️⃣ Establishing a solid baseline, enabling institutions to measure impact, evaluate performance, and refine strategies. The panelists emphasized that sex-disaggregated data is the key to building and scaling a successful women-centered strategy. While initially tedious—often requiring manual processes—there are practical solutions to #simplify and #automate the task. These include using national IDs and proxies to identify gender, integrating gender fields in #MIS systems, fostering a data collection #culture, #automatingKYC, and ensuring proper compliance measures. Ultimately, this work is #vital for institutions committed to making a meaningful impact in serving WMSMEs and capturing the full #potential of the #FemaleEconomy. 🚀 At the #Alliance, our goal is to build National Coalitions with both the public and private sectors to drive the #WEFinanceCode forward and ensure a lasting impact. To learn more, visit https://lnkd.in/eT3gtPku The Learning Series is designed by the Financial Alliance for Women and is offered in strategic collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) led by Wendy Teleki, and with the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Visa Foundation. #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy #GenderData #WMSMEs #FinancialInclusion #DataDrivenDecisions #WomenInBusiness #WEFinanceCode

"You can never have too much data, right?" - a powerful question by Steven Puig, President Banco BHD, to kick off our second live session of the #WMSME #Gender #Data #LearningSeries. Access to sex-disaggregated data is vital to drive women’s full financial inclusion. Alliance network members use it to drive their Women’s Markets strategies. Similarly, sex-disaggregated data is also vital for regulators who have and seek to build effective women’s financial inclusion policy frameworks and incentive systems.  Key challenges in sex-disaggregated data collection: - #InconsistentDefinitions: The lack of a national consensus on what constitutes a women-owned or led business. - #ErroneousData: Legacy data inconsistencies and errors that make analysis and decision-making difficult. - #TechnologicalBarriers: Legacy systems with limited capabilities that don’t support new data collection practices. - #CapacityBuilding: Employees lack the training to collect or interpret gender-specific data. - #InsufficientCapture: Financial institutions often fail to capture gender data related to business ownership or management. While it may feel onerous to overcome the above obstacles, our excellent panelists Steven Puig, Dalma Hernandez Florián, Khaled Bassiouny, and Naomi Ndele, with the wonderful moderation of Anna Gincherman inspired us with their tips and tricks. Some of the solutions proposed by the panel: - #Defining Women-Owned/Led Businesses: Tailor definitions to local contexts, considering social and economic realities. - #DataIntegration in Processes: Ensure gender data (including shareholder gender) is included in KYC processes and customer information systems. - #RegularUpdates: Implement systematic data refreshes to maintain accuracy. - #EmployeeTraining: Develop staff understanding of the importance of capturing gender data. - #BuildingConsensus: Align definitions and data collection efforts across Financial Service Providers (FSPs). - #EcosystemApproach: Collaborate with both public and private sectors to standardize gender data collection and analysis at a national level and build a strong coalition to lead a national-level effort to drive the WE Finance Code. At the #Alliance, our goal is to build National Coalitions with both the public and private sectors to drive the #WEFinanceCode forward and ensure lasting impact. To learn more, visit https://lnkd.in/eT3gtPku The Learning Series is designed by the Financial Alliance for Women and is offered in strategic collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) led by Wendy Teleki, and with the generous support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Visa Foundation. #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy

The business case for serving women MSMEs with better financial services is clear. Over 400 million women entrepreneurs around the world have the potential to grow their businesses, add value to the economy, and create jobs, but they lack the financing to achieve their goals. A credit gap valued at $1.7 trillion with a potential economic impact of up to $6 trillion. To address this, the Financial Alliance for Women works with its #member #FSPs and #partners to find easy, pragmatic, and tangible #solutions to close the #gendergap in #accesstofinance. Last week the #Alliance led one of the three solution clinics for the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Innovation Hub at the Global SME Finance Forum, Managed by the IFC (International Finance Corporation) in #SaoPaulo #Brazil. The discussion revolved around ⏩ Access to Early-Stage Funding to Create More Equitable Opportunities for Women Entrepreneurs to Access Venture Capital, Angel Investment, and Other Forms of Startup Funding ➡ a major pain point for most #womenentrepreneurs. With simple, smart, and intentional #genderintelligent adjustments, #FSPs can become institutions of choice for women and bridge the #financialinclusion #gendergap. To learn more about how we can support you, just reach out. #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy #WomenEntrepreneurs #WMSME #Gender #FinancialInclusion #FSP #FinancialService #Bank #Fintech #Insurance #AccesstoFinance #GSMEFF24 IFC - International Finance Corporation Isabel Chatterton Qamar Saleem Minerva Kotei

Important lessons from WE Finance Code Community of Champions yesterday, not least of which was the role of a National Coordinator who has gravitas, influence, and can ably speak to senior management from public and private sectorst. Marianne Bruyn who is leading Code-V Vrouwelijk Ondernemerschap in Netherlands and Rosanna Ruiz Asociación de Bancos Múltiples de la República Dominicana who is leading the Code in the Dominican Republic embody these traits. To find out more visit: https://lnkd.in/eaTuCPdy Thank you to all Code implementing partners IDB Invest EBRD Asian Development Bank (ADB) African Development Bank Group Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) The World Bank Group @IFC and Wendy Teleki for your leadership.

What an inspiring session yesterday with the WE Finance Code Community of Champions! It was a privilege to hear from true Code Champions like Chantal Korteweg leading Code implementation at Code-V Vrouwelijk Ondernemerschap in the Netherlands, Rosanna Ruiz driving the Code in the Dominican Republic through Asociación de Bancos Múltiples de la República Dominicana, Salome Tvalodze advancing the cause with Central Bank of Georgia, and Dina Moussa supporting the Code in Egypt and Morocco with EBRD. We delved into crucial discussions on identifying the right institutions to serve as Code Anchors. Should it be a private sector bank, as ABN AMRO Bank N.V. has done in the Netherlands? Or a banking association like Asociación de Bancos Múltiples de la República Dominicana in the Dominican Republic? Central banks, such as Central Bank of Jordan, Central Bank of Egypt, and Bank Al-Maghrib in Morocco, also play a pivotal role in many countries. Our goal is to build National Coalitions with both the public and private sectors to drive the WE Finance Code forward and ensure lasting impact. To learn more, visit https://lnkd.in/eT3gtPku A huge thank you to Wendy Teleki for your remarkable leadership in spearheading this initiative!

The business case for serving women with better financial services is clear with women expected to own 75% of the discretionary spending by 2028 (Nielsen) and to control over $216 trillion in wealth globally. Over 400 million women entrepreneurs around the world have the potential to grow their businesses, add value to the economy, and create jobs, but they lack the financing to achieve their goals. A credit gap valued at $1.7 trillion with a potential economic impact of up to $6 trillion. In our research, How Fintechs Can Capture the Female Economy, we found that by attracting as many women as men to their site, fintechs could see up to a 12% increase in revenue. In addition, by simply converting women at the same rate as men, fintechs could see a revenue increase of up to 70%. This session, titled “How to recruit your [women] clients”, is dedicated to highlighting key success factors in reaching women prospects, attracting them to access your platform/service, addressing key barriers to onboard them, and therefore converting them to clients who access your services, bridging as such the gap in usage and in access to finance globally. #joinus to hear firsthand from fintechs that implement key strategies that ensure greater access to their services by women: - Erin Louw from TymeBank - Ifeoma Uddoh from Shecluded - Patricia Florencia from Pilou DATE: August 30, 2024 TIME: 9-10 AM NYC / 2-3 PM London / 9-10 PM Singapore Register here: https://lnkd.in/ed8-xFg8 #championthefemaleeconomy #fintechfridays #fintechs #fintechfounders #femalefounders #Financialinclusion #genderintelligentfintech

Congratulations to Futa, winner of the Bronze Fintech Award in the #2024AllianceHack sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking and Moniepoint Group. Futa democratizes access to financial services for businesses in Francophone Africa, especially women-owned MSMEs, by using payroll data to provide their employees with fast and fair access to financing. We look forward to welcoming the Futa team to the Alliance, supporting them with Female Economy-focused networks and know-how. Congratulations to the Futa team for securing the top-3 spot in our most competitive Hackathon yet, with more than 200 applicants and 15 excellent shortlisted teams. #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy #AllianceHack #FemaleEconomy #financialinclusion

Congratulations to DREX, winner of the Silver Fintech Award in the #2024AllianceHack sponsored by HSBC Innovation Banking and Moniepoint Group. As a dedicated financing renewable energy platform enabling funding for small-to-medium-sized renewable energy projects in emerging markets, DREX impressed the judges with its innovative approach to expanding women-owned businesses' access solar energy financing. DREX will receive one year's membership to the Alliance, supporting them with networks and know-how as they seek to enable more women to take proactive climate action. Congratulations to the team for earning the runner-up spot in our most competitive Hackathon yet, out of more than 200 applicants and 15 excellent shortlisted teams. #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy #AllianceHack #FemaleEconomy #financialinclusion

The Alliance is proud to announce the 2024 Female Economy Fintech of the Year - Pilou! The #2024llianceHack winner is a digital investment platform offering personalized financial education and investment tools to women in Latin America. After a competitive process culminating in pitches from 14 shortlisted fintechs, Pilou earned the top score. They will be awarded a $25,000 cash prize and one year's membership to the Alliance, helping them to scale their tech-enabled solutions to build women's investment acumen and support their financial independence. This would not be possible without the 2024 Hack sponsors, HSBC Innovation Banking and Moniepoint Group. Nor without the expert guidance our the judging panel: Clare Mitchell, Director of Fintech at HSBC Innovation Banking, Inez Murray, CEO of the Financial Alliance for Women, Karen Cohalan, Head of Fintech, Enterprise Ireland, Nisha Paramjothi, Digital Banking and Transformation Specialist, Kearney, Regina Agbota, Programme director Business Transformation & Technology Delivery in Financial Services, HERMESA, and Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder and CEO, Moniepoint Group. A hearty congratulations to the Pilou team! #ChampionTheFemaleEconomy #AllianceHack #FemaleEconomy #financialinclusion