The $20 trillion female economy is increasingly an engine of economic growth, yet it remains underserved by financial institutions globally. In an effort to better understand how bankers view the Women’s Market, GBA commissioned a report, supported by McKinsey & Company, to explore the choices bankers make around growth strategies and the thought processes that drive those decisions. The study, “How Banks Can Profit from the Multi-Trillion Dollar Female Economy,” was released in a special presentation by McKinsey Director and GBA Board member Paul Jenkins at the 2014 GBA Summit.
30 senior bankers from around the world were interviewed as part of the research, whose institutions together represent 20 percent of global banking revenues. From those conversations, four commonly believed myths about the female economy emerged:
- Myth 1: Male and female customers are the same.
- Myth 2: All banks need is “feminized” products.
- Myth 3: There is no business case for serving women.
- Myth 4: There is no data on gender.
The data that dispels these misconceptions is presented in the report, along with words from top bank executives who have had great success with the Women’s Market.
“We are absolutely convinced as a bank that [there] is a very good business case [for serving the female economy],” Raoul Nehme of BLC Bank affirmed.
The study underscores the tremendous untapped potential that economically empowering women represents for financial institutions. At a time when banks are growing at just 3 percent annually in their core businesses, the report argues it is time to truly focus on this multi-trillion dollar opportunity.
