Account ownership among women in both low- & middle-income economies (LMICs) increased to 73% in 2024, up 7 percentage points from three years before in 2021, as reported in the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Reports indicate that 80.2% of Sri Lankan women aged 15 and above maintain an account at a financial institution. Failing that, they would engage a partnership with a mobile money service provider.
Only 21.4% of Sri Lankan women save in a bank, financial institution, or mobile money account. Only 10% save monthly, and most (35.3%) have no savings at all.
Guided by the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025 report, 700 million women are still unbanked across the globe. So, these women do not have access to bank accounts, digital payments, or mobile money services.
More women have financial accounts. However, equal access and use remain tasks in progress.
Women’s financial inclusion is experiencing a remarkable transformation. The Global Findex 2025 report finds that as of 2024, 73% of women in LMICs have a financial account, which leads to a 7-percentage point increase from the value 3 years before in 2021.
Around 36% of women are using accounts to save formally. This represents a significant 14% increase from 22% three years earlier in 2021.
The number of women in LMICs who can make and receive digital payments increased from 50% to 58%, reflecting an 8% rise.
These payments include digital merchant payments, reflecting an increase of 6% from a previous 32% to 38%.
In 2024, 80.2% of Sri Lankan girls and women over the age of 15 will own accounts at a financial institution. Failing, they would engage a partnership with a mobile-money service provider.
The World Bank’s recently released Country Gender Data Landscapes provided this information. They provide country-level insights into financial & digital inclusion.
Moreover, in the same year, 21.4% of Sri Lankan women in the same age category saved money at a bank or at a similar financial institution through a mobile money account. However, only 10% had saved or set aside money in an account monthly. Besides this, only 35.3% had saved any money at all.
In a recent World Bank blog on women’s financial inclusion, the main obstacles for unbanked women include a lack of money to open an account, high fees, reliance on a family member’s account and distance to financial service points.
The lack of a financial account precludes these women from using financial services, besides harnessing them for greater health & resilience.
The global financial authority also cited that there is a usage gap, where women remain less likely than men to save, borrow, or transact digitally.
Only 9% of women borrow to start or operate a business. Roughly, around 50% use formal credit sources.
The World Bank said that digital tools are driving change. Globally, more than half of women with accounts have digitally enabled access through a phone or card. Mobile money is helping to close gaps, particularly in LMICs.
Digital payment remains an important part of the transformation. Around 60% of women worldwide have opened their first account to receive a government or employer transfer.
The World Bank’s Global Findex Database is very resourceful. Its importance lies in the fact that it remains the world’s only demand-side survey on financial inclusion. It’s a leading source of data on how the world’s adults access and use financial services.
During the last 14 years, since 2011, it has offered vital data on financial inclusion, digital payments, savings and borrowing in various countries. It has spotlighted key trends like the rise of digital financial services, besides the gender gap in account ownership.
From a global perspective, over the past decade, account ownership has risen for both women & men in LMICs. Yet women tend to trail behind men in account ownership.
