Exploring the Takeaways of the GBA Data Working Group

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Banks are growing increasingly aware of the importance of sex-disaggregated data – both for making the business case that the Women’s Market is profitable and for the larger goal of measuring women’s full financial inclusion. However, banks face a number of different challenges in establishing sex-disaggregated data as part of performance reporting. The GBA, along with partners Data 2X, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), established a Women’s Market Data Working Group at the beginning of 2015 to discuss these challenges and what can be done to promote the widespread collection and use of sex-disaggregated data.

The Data Working Group was comprised of 11 GBA members and partners, who provided extensive insights on their experiences through participation in monthly calls, completion of surveys and one-on-one interviews. The group’s main objectives was to identify the key challenges in the collection and adoption of sex-disaggregated metrics; share and discuss solutions; compile lessons learned; and generate recommendations for the role of other ecosystem actors, such as IFIs and regulators, in supporting banks to capture and disseminate this data. The Data Working Group’s recommendations were consolidated in two reports presented at the 2015 GBA Summit in São Paulo, Brazil: an In Brief report that details best practices for banks and a preliminary report on the value of sex-disaggregated data to women’s financial inclusion.

The In Brief document, “The Power of Women’s Market Data: A How-to Guide,” offers practical guidance to support banks that are looking to start disaggregating their data by sex, or those looking to improve their current practices. It features step-by-step advice based on the real-world experiences and discoveries of the Data Working Group members in the following areas:

InBrief-newsletter

The second document, which explores the importance of sex-disaggregated supply and demand data, was developed in collaboration with the IDB and Data 2X using insights from the Data Working Group as well as interviews with regulators, policymakers, International Financial Institutions and banks from around the world. “Measuring Women’s Financial Inclusion: The Value of Sex-Disaggregated Data” not only makes the case for data and reveals many of the barriers to its collection and use, but also discusses the ways in which various other stakeholders can support financial institutions to collect and report sex-disaggregated data.

The GBA is grateful for the time and commitment of the Data Working Group members: Banco Pichincha (Ecuador), BHD León (Dominican Republic), BLC Bank (Lebanon), Banco Nacional de Costa Rica (BNCR), Centenary Bank (Uganda), Chase Bank Kenya, HBL (Pakistan), Itaú Unibanco (Brazil), TEB (Turkey), the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the IDB and the IFC. The Data Working Group and In Brief document were generously supported by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women.