We believe women’s financial inclusion is powerfully shaped by broader societal norms. How can we spark systems-wide change to best support women?
At CFI, we apply a gendered approach in all the work that we do. We focus our research on women around discovering successful norms-transformative initiatives, identifying risks to and solutions for women’s consumer protection, and influencing the policy environment to advance women’s financial inclusion.
Women make up over half the world’s population but their contribution to measured economic activity, growth, and well-being remains far below its potential. Despite decades of focus on women as an important client group for financial services, there has been limited progress in reducing the gap in women’s access to finance.
Our research identifies three systemic barriers contributing to gender inequality: social norms, the digital divide, and data gaps. We focus on building evidence for how best to address the barriers preventing women’s financial inclusion and aim to promote systems-level transformative change.
Latest Women’s Financial Inclusion Research
Sending Cash Transfers to Women: How to Design Programs that Enhance Well- Being While Safeguarding Against Intimate Partner Violence
Research Spotlight
A woman’s world changes when payments are digitized, designed to suit her needs, and directed into her own account.
Digital financial inclusion means that a woman can be an economic actor and has the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and hunger. CFI and the World Food Programme partnered to explore how we can improve the design and delivery of digital cash transfers for low-income women.
Meet our Experts
Our women’s financial inclusion experts focus on social norms, the digital divide, and data gaps.
