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Because there’s a HUGE REVENUE OPPORTUNITY FOR FSPS IN OFFERING HOLISTIC WOMEN’S PROPOSITIONS that include financial and non-financial services tailored to the unique needs of women customers.
Just look at the data.
Just look at the data.
Research from a cross-section of countries shows that the annual revenue opportunity for financial service providers in reaching unbanked and underserved women—including women consumers and investors, women entrepreneurs, and women-owned and -led businesses, runs into the billions of dollars.
Our members confirm the positive results, based on their experiences building out meaningful Women’s Markets strategies that have yielded impressive returns on their investments.
But we also know that for women, AUTHENTICITY MATTERS.
To be clear: Investments in Women’s Markets solutions that favor style but do not address substance will likely not lead to significant uptake or a strong return.
Want examples of what we mean? Distributing pink-hued bank cards emblazoned with floral designs to women business owners without attending to the obstacles that make it harder for them to access finance, such as lack of credit history or asset ownership. Adding a women-centric name to an existing portfolio of banking products without making fundamental changes in the services, processes, and offerings themselves so that they better meet women’s needs. The list goes on.
Building out women’s propositions is a journey. It has to be done strategically, with intentionality, organization-wide commitment—starting at the top—and a willingness to invest time and resources.
That’s where the Alliance comes in. We have a deep understanding of the business case for investing in the female economy and what it takes to develop effective Women’s Markets strategies, based on our thought-leading research and expertise, as well as the experiences of our member institutions. We know what works—and what does not.
The Alliance offers a wide variety of opportunities in multiple formats for members to boost their Women’s Markets knowledge, develop their Women’s Markets propositions, and learn from the experiences of others.
This immersive and holistic learning program is among the Alliance’s most highly valued services. Designed to give financial services professionals the skills and tools they need to build a women-centered strategy and serve women effectively, the Academy’s curriculum includes topics ranging from understanding the business case to structuring women customers’ value propositions to using sex-disaggregated data to monitor and refine offerings and beyond. Courses feature knowledgeable and highly respected presenters and panelists—senior executives from other member institutions with strong internal and external women-centered strategies, who share their experiences building a sustainable and successful Women’s Markets program.
The Annual Summit is the Alliance’s flagship event—the premier global gathering of thought leaders, banks, fintechs, insurance companies, development finance institutions, investors, venture capitalists, regulators, and other financial ecosystem stakeholders. Through the years, the Summit has built a well-deserved reputation as the MUST-ATTEND event for all those involved in advancing women’s financial inclusion.
Summit participants benefit from formal sessions featuring senior practitioners and subject matter experts on how to optimize the potential in Women’s Markets. The informal engagement is equally valuable, as attendees network, share experiences, and uncover new opportunities to tap into the growing global female economy.
Ask the Expert gives members access to real-time guidance from Women’s Markets experts. Modeled on one of the most popular sessions of our acclaimed All-Stars Academy, the Coaches’ Corner, Ask the Expert features live, interactive webinars, anchored by some of the most successful Women’s Markets practitioners in the world. Delivered quarterly to members only, the webinars cover timely topics related to enhancing women customers’ value propositions, with time set aside during each session for participants’ to get their questions answered.
The Gender Data Learning Series is in-depth training that equips financial service providers and policy makers with the skills to develop or enhance their women-centered strategies using sex-disaggregated data. Sessions feature sex-disaggregated data use cases and how-to tools, as well as opportunities to network with an international cohort of like-minded financial services professionals working with data.
The Alliance’s Mentoring Program is a six-month, one-on-one, peer-to-peer program that connects member experts from the Alliance with mature Women’s Markets and DEI programs (mentors) with Alliance members with less developed programs (mentees) who are working towards a specific objective, such as deepening the value proposition, ramping up sex-disaggregated data collection, or embedding the program fully throughout the institution.
The Alliance’s study tours offer experiential learning and knowledge sharing opportunities for financial services providers with early-stage Women’s Markets programs and those looking to take their programs to the next level. Participants visit other financial institutions that have developed and implemented best-in-class Women’s Markets programs, where they meet with the various internal teams responsible for putting the programs in place, including Strategy, Marketing, Distribution, Public Relations, Human Resources, and DEI. Discussions focus on good practices, obstacles encountered, and lessons learned.
Our thematic working groups and task forces connect members for in-depth discussions on key areas of the Women’s Market, such as sex-disaggregated data, women’s insurance products, gender DEI, climate, and innovation. They meet on a quarterly basis for facilitated webinars that explore trends and topics related to the working group’s theme. Discussions drill down on successes—and how they were achieved—as well as challenges—and how best to overcome them.
The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code (the WE Finance Code or, simply, the Code) is a commitment by FSPs, regulators, development banks, and other financial ecosystem players to work together to increase funding provided to women-led micro, small and medium enterprises (WMSMEs) around the world so that they can grow and add value to the economy and their communities. It is being rolled out in 20+ countries in 2024-2025. The Code will increase the number of financial institutions around the world that are disclosing their level of funding to Women-led MSMEs. It will also create incentives, transparency, and accountability to close the gap. By increasing women’s access to finance, the Code will contribute to the economic empowerment and resilience of women around the world in a systematic and high-impact way.
Through the Learning Hub, members can access continuous, on-demand learning to build their knowledge and skills on various aspects of Women’s Markets and building women-centered strategies. The hub contains proprietary knowledge products available exclusively to members. Content is designed to help members build profitable women-centered strategies, offering a wealth of knowledge on designing and implementing Women’s Markets programs at scale, including examples of successful customer value propositions, effective marketing collateral, and exclusive market research. Content in the hub is available in English and in Spanish.
Coming soon.
The Alliance is a trusted knowledge resource across the financial ecosystem. We publish groundbreaking research, deep-dive analytical case studies, topic-specific briefs, and comprehensive practitioner-focused guides to support our members as they advance along their Women’s Markets journey. We also conduct market intelligence studies to highlight the business potential of the Female Economy for financial service providers. We carefully curate the results, research, experience, and advice of our members that have implemented holistic Women’s Markets and DEI strategies and have reaped the benefits.
Content housed in the Resource Hub includes publicly available findings from the Alliance and our members, as well as third-party research reports and other relevant studies on the Female Economy. It also includes proprietary thought leadership, available exclusively to members, offering a wealth of knowledge on designing and implementing Women’s Markets programs at scale, such as our How-to Guide for Winning the Women’s Market and our How-to Guide for Becoming the Employer of Choice for Women.