Gendered Digital Financing Adoption and Women's Financial Inclusion in Pakistan

TL;DR

This study analyzes how digital financial services influence women's financial inclusion in Pakistan, revealing that mobile money adoption significantly improves access, while internet access alone does not, emphasizing socio-cultural factors.

Contribution

It provides the first quantitative analysis of gendered digital finance adoption in Pakistan using nationally representative data, highlighting policy implications.

Findings

Women adopting mobile money are more likely to access formal financial services.

Internet access alone does not significantly impact women's financial inclusion.

Socio-cultural constraints influence digital finance adoption among women.

Abstract

Financial inclusion is a longstanding concern across underdeveloped communities, particularly for women. However, there are limited data-driven measures to first quantitatively identify such concerns and second to inform policies. In this work, we examine the digital money service adoption and women's financial inclusion in the context of Pakistan. We use the nationally representative Global Findex data from the World Bank to analyze how mobile money usage, when moderated by phone ownership, internet access, and education, affects women's access to formal financial services. Our findings show that women who adopt mobile money services have significantly higher odds of accessing formal financial systems. Findings also reveal nuanced insights: internet access does not significantly impact inclusion, highlighting the influence of socio-cultural constraints. Despite the limitations of using cross-sectional data and the absence of qualitative dimensions, our study contributes empirical evidence on gendered digital finance adoption. The findings have important implications for policy, including the need for women-centric fintech design and digital literacy reforms to bridge the gender gap in financial inclusion.