Women's World Banking

Women's World Banking Women’s World Banking is the global non-profit devoted to advancing women's financial inclusion.

Women’s World Banking is the global non-profit devoted to giving more low-income women access to the financial tools and resources essential to their security and prosperity. For 40 years we have worked with financial institutions to show them the benefit of investing in women as clients, and as leaders. We equip these institutions to meet women’s needs through authoritative market research, leade

rship training, sustainable financial products and consumer education. Headquartered in New York, Women’s World Banking works with 55 institutions in 32 countries with a reach of 30 million women to create access to finance on a greater scale than ever before.

08/18/2026

Seven years ago, Amina started her business with just an umbrella and a chair.

Thanks to an agent banking intervention designed by Women’s World Banking with support from Gates Foundation in Nigeria, she grew into a successful banking agent and community leader helping other women save, invest and plan for the future.

Today, Amina sees the impact every day: more women building financial agency, more families strengthening their futures and more communities benefiting from women's economic participation.

We are grateful for all of our supporters - together we are unlocking opportunities for women to build income, strengthen resilience and create lasting change for their families and communities.

Read the full report via the link in comments.

08/13/2026

Why do so many women entrepreneurs still struggle to access the capital they need to scale?

From women running nano businesses to founders building venture backed companies, the challenges are more connected than we often think. Access to capital, trusted networks, visibility, and investment continue to shape who gets the opportunity to start, sustain, and scale.

In this special crossover episode of Making Finance Work for Women and Radically Yours, Dr. Sonja Kelly and Radhika Bajoria explore the realities facing women entrepreneurs at every stage of growth, and what financial institutions, investors, policymakers, and ecosystem builders can do differently.

🎧 Listen today, wherever you get your podcasts.

08/06/2026

Technology has the power to expand women's economic opportunity, but only if it reaches the people who need it most.

In one of our latest Tech Policy Learning Lab sessions, Heidi Patmore explored how barriers like the lack of formal ID, reliable connectivity, and affordable financial services continue to exclude millions of people from the digital economy.

The scale of the challenge is significant:
• More than 850 million people lack a formal identity.
• Nearly 2.5 billion people remain offline.
• 1.7 billion adults are excluded from or do not use formal financial services.

For women living in remote and underserved communities, these barriers limit opportunities to earn an income, build resilience, and shape their own financial futures.

True inclusion takes collaboration across policy, regulation, and the financial sector to build inclusive financial systems that unlock women's economic opportunity.

That's where Women's World Banking comes in. Through programs like our Tech Policy Learning Lab, we bring together policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, and technology leaders to share practical solutions that help ensure innovation reaches the women who stand to benefit most.

07/31/2026

What financial tools do need to protect their businesses when climate or health shocks strike?

The conversation often begins and ends with access to credit. But in our latest Making Finance Work for Women episode, Sarah Corley, CEO of the Alliance of Digital Finance and Fintech Associations, explains why insurance may be one of the most overlooked tools for building resilience.

Join Sarah and Dr. Sonja Kelly as they explore how fintech can help redesign financial systems around the realities of women's lives, from expanding access to capital to helping entrepreneurs better navigate climate and health shocks.

Listen to Making Finance Work for Women wherever you get your podcasts.

As AI reshapes financial services, the choices we make today will determine whether it expands opportunity for women or ...
07/27/2026

As AI reshapes financial services, the choices we make today will determine whether it expands opportunity for women or deepens existing inequalities.

To close out an inspiring week of our 2026 Leadership Development Program for Regulators, Women's World Banking was proud to convene leaders from across technology, academia, finance, philanthropy and policy at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School for a private roundtable on Inclusive AI for Women's Financial Futures, hosted in partnership with Infosys.

Thank you to moderator Shaheen Verjee, and to our speakers Professor Pinar Özcan (University of Oxford), Mona Dash (Infosys), Harsha Thadhani Rodrigues (Women's World Banking), and Tom Jones (Women's World Banking) for leading such a thoughtful discussion.

A few themes emerged throughout the conversation:

1. AI has enormous potential to expand financial inclusion, but only if women are represented in the data, design and governance behind these systems.
2. Responsible AI requires much more than innovation. Transparency, accountability, consumer protection and effective safeguards must be built in from the start.
3. Collaboration across regulators, financial institutions, technology companies and civil society will be essential to ensure AI strengthens trust while expanding access.

Following a week of learning and collaboration with regulators from around the world, the discussion reinforced that building inclusive financial systems requires both strong policy leadership and partnerships across sectors.

Thank you to the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, Infosys, and our speakers, and everyone who contributed to such a rich exchange of ideas. We look forward to continuing the conversation!

07/23/2026

Millions of are building successful businesses, yet too many remain invisible to the financial system because it wasn't designed around their realities.

In the latest episode of Making Finance Work for Women, Sarah Corley, CEO of the Alliance of Digital Finance and Fintech Associations, discusses why informality continues to limit women's access to finance.

Women are more likely to face barriers that have nothing to do with their ability to build a successful business:

1. They are less likely to own assets they can use as collateral.
2. They are more likely to lack the documentation needed to access financial services.
3. Social and cultural norms continue to shape who can access credit and make financial decisions.

Sarah shares how fintech, from digital identities to alternative data, can help financial institutions better recognize women-owned businesses and design products that reflect how women earn, save, and manage risk.

Listen wherever you get your podcasts!

Gender-inclusive policy can change financial systems for millions of women. In 2025, we worked with policymakers and reg...
07/15/2026

Gender-inclusive policy can change financial systems for millions of women. In 2025, we worked with policymakers and regulators across 53 countries to help turn gender-inclusive finance from ambition into action.

We also continued investing in women leaders through our Leadership Development Program for Regulators, helping policymakers advance practical reforms that improve women's financial inclusion. Since 2018, the programme has reached 365 leaders across 49 countries.

Explore the two-page snapshot to see how, through our work, policy and leadership are driving systemic change for women worldwide, and download our 2025 Impact Report to learn more via the link in comments!

Across the world right now, communities are navigating devastating impacts of weather events linked to climate change. F...
07/13/2026

Across the world right now, communities are navigating devastating impacts of weather events linked to climate change. From floods in West Africa to heatwaves sweeping across Europe and the US, extreme weather events are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more difficult to ignore.

Yet climate change does not affect everyone equally. Women are often disproportionately exposed to climate risks while remaining excluded from the financial services that can help them prepare for, adapt to, and recover from these shocks.

Our updated Finance, Climate, and Gender report explores why women must be at the centre of climate resilience efforts and how financial inclusion can help build stronger, more resilient communities.

🔗Download the report to learn more via the link in comments.

Women are one of the biggest opportunities for growth in India's economy. Yet too often, financial systems still aren't ...
06/29/2026

Women are one of the biggest opportunities for growth in India's economy. Yet too often, financial systems still aren't designed around how women save, borrow, invest, and build businesses.

Last week, Kalpana Ajayan, Regional Head, South Asia at Women's World Banking, joined Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Financial Health, CGAP, and senior leaders from across India's financial sector to discuss how finance can better support women's economic opportunity.

The conversation reinforced what we've seen across our work:
1. Women represent one of the financial sector's biggest growth opportunities. Evidence consistently shows that when products and delivery channels are intentionally designed for women, account usage increases, savings deepen, and financial resilience grows.

2. Gender-disaggregated data turns opportunity into action. As Kalpana shared, it helps institutions see what traditional reporting misses, from which women customers are saving more and adopting products, to where new market opportunities exist. At every level, it enables smarter decisions, stronger performance, and more inclusive growth.

3. Design drives adoption. Digital Public Infrastructure reaches its full potential when women can use it safely, confidently, and consistently, not simply when they have an account.

4. Access is the starting point, not the finish line. The goal is helping women build assets, access credit, strengthen their resilience, and shape their own financial futures.

As India advances toward its vision, designing financial systems that work for women is one of the clearest paths to stronger, more inclusive economic growth.

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