The 2016 GBA Summit kicks off today at IFC headquarters, featuring a Master Class taught by Women’s Market expert practitioners and a Policy Forum exploring how stakeholders in the ecosystem can best support women-owned businesses.
The Master Class will offer a special look at GBA’s latest Women’s Market research on “The Paradox of Gender-Neutral Banking,” which synthesizes market research from 12 GBA member banks around the world to reveal key insights about the female economy, including:
- Women are time-sensitive.
- Women are avid seekers of information and advice.
- Women are calculated risk-takers, not “risk averse.”
- Women do not like “pink marketing.”
- Women want to connect, not only with their banks, but also to their peers, potential customers and suppliers, and the wider community.
The report offers GBA best practice criteria for successful Women’s Market customer value propositions (CVPs) that take these characteristics into account. These CVPs will be further illuminated by presentations from representatives of three high-achieving Women’s Market programs: BLC Bank of Lebanon, Westpac of Australia and Banco BHD León of the Dominican Republic.
The Policy Forum will follow today’s Master Class, exploring policy interventions that have unlocked access to finance for women entrepreneurs and the catalytic role that data can play in closing the gender gap in financial inclusion globally. The Policy Forum will feature a special Keynote talk with Maria Contreras-Sweet, the 24th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and insights from numerous Women’s Market experts and thought leaders from around the world. Nearly 200 attendees are registered to attend this event, which anchors Day 1 of the 2016 GBA Summit.
Follow the events of the Summit on Twitter with the hashtag #GBASummit.
