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Percentage of adults who own a mobile phone across select developing economies Source: Gallup World Poll, 2016.
* = Gaps are statistically insignificant. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Philippines Russian Federaon* Tunisia* Kenya* Colombia* India Mexico Indonesia Turkey Uganda Yemen, Rep. Pakistan Percentage of Populaon Country Men Women 3 New Insights on Women’s Mobile Phone Ownership MORE WOMEN OWN MOBILE PHONES THAN HAVE ACCOUNTS When compared with sex disagregated data from the Global Financial Inclu sion database (Global Findex 2014), the Gallup data show that phone ownership by women is significantly higher than account ownership. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Eighty percent of women in developing countries have their own mobile phone, but only 50 per cent of women in developing countries have an account with a mobile money provider or with a financial institution such as a bank.
The Middle East and North Africa re gion stands out as the region with the greatest levels of women’s exclusion from the financial sector, with only 9 percent of women owning an ac count (Findex 2014). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
The Gallup Poll shows that mobile phone ownership rates among women in the Middle East are 82 percent.
With so many wom en owning mobile phones, there is a huge potential for digital financial ser vices—with an accompanying enabling environment—to bring women into the formal financial sector.
The strong potential of digital on boarding is echoed by statistics from GSMA’s 2016 State of the Industry Re port. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
For example, in the five-year pe riod between 2011 and 2016, active mobile money accounts in South Asia grew nearly thirty-fold (GSMA 2017b).
According to the Gallup data, nearly 70 percent of women in South Asia have a mobile phone; only 37 percent have an account.
Even in regions where women are not as financially excluded, digital financial services and mobile money represent an opportunity for more women to be a part of the formal financial sector. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
In East Asia and the Pacific, which has the highest proportion of banked women (67 percent) (Findex 2014), 87 percent of women own their own phone ( Gallup Poll 2016)—making this one of the highest rates among all regions.2 Figure 3 shows the extensive rates of women’s mobile phone ownership across the world juxtaposed with wom en’s account ownership rates.
These data serve as a starting point for assess ing the potential for digital services to reach women. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
LARGE DISPARITIES IN WOMEN’S PHONE OWNERSHIP BY AGE Mobile phone ownership tends to be significantly higher among younger women (15–34 years old) than older women (35 and older).
In East Asia and the Pacific, 94 percent of younger women have a mobile phone, which is 10 percentage points higher than the share for older women. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Similar pat terns exist in many emerging econo mies, including Indonesia and Mexico, where the mobile phone ownership gap between older and younger women is around 20 percentage points (Figure 4).
This points to the huge potential of the female youth market when thinking about mobile money, because young women may have less social and cultural barriers when it comes to access to tech nology than older women do. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
It also raises a flag around potential challenges of bringing older women into the mobile money space.
2 Women’s account ownership in East Asia and the Pacific varies significantly by country, from 10 percent in Cambodia to 96 percent in Hong Kong, with China at 76 percent.
4 New Insights on Women’s Mobile Phone Ownership FIGURE 4.
Percentage of older women vs. younger women who own a mobile phone Source: Gallup World Poll, 2016.
FIGURE 3. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
FIGURE 3.
Women who have mobile phones and accounts, by regions (%) 67% 47% 49% 9% 37% 30% 87% 86% 76% 82% 69% 65% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia La n America & Caribbean Middle East South Asia Sub-Saharan Africa Percentage of Populaon Region Women who have an account Women who have a mobile phone Sources: Gallup World Poll (2016) for phone ownership and Global Findex database (2014) for account ownership. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
3 Defined as the percentage of women using a mobile phone to pay bills, make purchases, or send or receive money from an account (with a bank or other formal financial institution or mobile money provider).
MOBILE PHONE OWNERSHIP DOES NOT CORRELATE WITH USE OF E-PAYMENTS3 Women in Sub-Saharan Africa who have access to mobile phones are increasingly using their phones to access financial services, including payments, savings, and credit (CGAP 2016; GSMA, 2015a). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
However, this is not the case outside of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Global Findex 2014 suggests that relatively few adults make payments using mobile money—roughly 2 percent worldwide. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
The two exceptions are Kenya (52 percent) and South Africa (20 percent) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 87% 77% 84% 89% 95% 99% 91% 83% 78% 88% 75% 82% 86% 90% 94% 79% 66% 56% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Kenya* India* South Africa* Turkey* China Russian Federa on Brazil Indonesia Mexico Percentage of Populaon Country Women ages 15-34 Women age 35+ * = Gaps are sta s cally insignificant 5 New Insights on Women’s Mobile Phone Ownership where mobile phone payments are more common—reflecting Sub-Saharan Africa’s status as the global leader in mo bile money account ownership. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
There are several countries (Thailand, Costa Rica, Armenia, Jordan, Kyrgyz Republic, etc.)
where women’s phone ownership is about 90 percent, yet mobile phone payments are less than 10 percent.
A correlation analysis of the data suggests that mobile phone ownership among women does not translate into their use of phones for payments, the most basic form of mobile money (see Figure 5). | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
OTHER BARRIERS TO WOMEN’S USE OF MOBILE MONEY While access to a mobile phone is a necessary precondition for extending mobile money to poor and low-income women, there are other important bar riers to women’s mobile money uptake and use.
These include the following: ■ ■ Cost and affordability of mobile money is a top priority for poor and low-income women when assessing mobile money services.
This makes many products currently on the market unattractive. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Mobile money products that offer value for money at a price point that appeals to wom en’s strong price sensitivity will be critical for bringing women into the mobile money experience.
■ ■ Technical literacy and confidence is a particular challenge for poor and low-income women who have low literacy rates and who do not know how to use basic handsets to perform complex functions. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Gender-sensitive design features that help women understand and navigate menus for financial transactions will improve the user experience and help these women become comfortable using mobile money.
■ ■ Operator or agent trust plays a large role in women’s engagement around mobile money because many women fear being cheated or ha rassed by the operators and agents. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Building helpful, trustworthy agent networks with links to the commu nity will be important to establish a critical customer interface for women.
FIGURE 5.
E-payment use among women from mobile phones 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Women who make payments using a mobile mobile (% age 15), 2014 Women who have a mobile phone (% age 15+), 2016 Sources: Gallup World Poll (2016) for phone ownership and Global Findex database (2014) for account ownership. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
6 New Insights on Women’s Mobile Phone Ownership ■ ■ Legal/regulatory and basic infra structure requirements such as limited interoperability, inconsistent network quality and coverage and national ID requirements can further impede mobile money uptake and use by women.
In regard to national ID requirements, women and girls face distinct challenges in obtaining official identification. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Parallel efforts to improve mobile money regula tions and to extend network cover age and quality and interoperability among operators will be critical.
■ ■ Local legal, social, and cultur al norms, such as fear that open access will make women vulnera ble to harassment or impair sound decision-making, affect women’s use of mobile devices for financial services. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
Men, especially male fam ily members, and the larger com munity around technology and the household economy need to support changing attitudes about women’s use of mobile money and their great er economic participation (Burjo rjee, El-Zoghbi, and Meyers 2017; GSMA 2015).
Sex disaggregated data will help us to track relative progress in women’s fi nancial inclusion across countries and over time. | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
As we continue to see the pro mise of digital technology as a powerful tool for women’s financial inclusion, it will be important to complement these data with greater knowledge around the dynamics behind these numbers: What drives the current landscape for women’s mobile phone ownership?
What will persuade women to use their phones for mobile money? | https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697016455520.pdf | https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-New-Insights-on-Womens-Mobile-Phone-Ownership-Apr-2018.pdf |
The Data and Technology Working Groups in CGAP’s Women’s Finan cial Inclusion Community of Practice (https://www.microfinancegateway .org/wficop) continue to explore this issue.
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