This diagnostic highlights gaps and opportunities in sex-disaggregating financial services data in Bangladesh. A key takeaway from the diagnostic is that there is a strong business incentive for Bangladeshi FSPs to access the women’s market. A modeling exercise revealed the potential for nearly USD 1 billion (BDT 84.5 billion) in additional annual revenue by expanding women’s market offerings and increasing women’s use of financial services.
In this populous South Asian nation, overall financial inclusion is on the rise, driven by a strong government commitment and the introduction of mobile financial services. As of 2017, about 50 percent of the adult population held formal accounts. But even as overall inclusion increased, the gender gap widened, from 9 percent in 2014 to 29 percent in 2017. The research uncovered several reasons for this negative trend, including large gender gaps in mobile phone ownership and use of mobile financial
services (MFS), as well as in digital and financial literacy.