Beyond the Wallet

By Manahil Pasha

The women in Pakistan has a limited access towards financial independence for generations. Opening a bank account, purchase of property, willingness to travel have all been monitored by male family members for most women. Receiving money for daily or necessary use means being dependent on another member of the house.

The era has gradually changed with the growth in Pakistan’s fintech ecosystem. After the availability of digital payments methods, mobile wallets and ease of not having to visit banks with cashless banking, some things are rapidly changing. This has opened up new opportunities for a number of women across the country in the formal digitally optimized economy.

Barriers for women remain but the user friendly mobile wallets are gradually improving how women receive or save money. Fintech ecosystem in Pakistan is not just technology but it is about financial inclusion. According to the Karandaaz Financial Inclusion Survey (K-FIS) 2024, 14% of Pakistani women have access to a regulated financial account compared with 56% of men while just 11% of women own a mobile wallet compared to 48% of men. This highlights a clear gender gap in Pakistan’s fintech ecosystem which could be due to lack of basic financial education, access to digital resources or cultural norms.

Fintech is now paving path to address traditional challenges for women including access to digital financial tools, mobility, maintaining credit history or wanting to be financially independent by lending or saving money. Where conventional banks require customers to visit branches for account opening, mobile wallets give easy access to create accounts through their phones. All facilities like paying utility bills, receiving salaries or making vendor payments is now easier than ever.

Many women in Pakistan has an entrepreneurial spirit and are running their microbusinesses across multiple villages, small towns and communities. Some sell clothing, handicrafts or even baked goods on a regular basis to make ends meet but lack financial education to invest and multiply their money for growth and expansion. However, fintech facilitates women with receiving money in digital wallets instead of cash or male members’ bank accounts. International research also suggests that women who adopt mobile money services are significantly more likely to access formal financial systems particularly when combined with education and mobile phone ownership.

Fintech is not limited to ease in digital payments. Fintech ecosystem increases transparency, reduces risks of carrying cash or theft, helps understand formal methods of saving and investing money. For women receiving salaries or government support do not rely on another person to receive their deserved money but has access to receive and manage their money on their own. According to the World Bank’s latest Global Findex research, receiving wages or government payments digitally is often the first reason many women open a financial account.

Pakistan is gradually moving towards financial inclusion but understanding technology is not the only barrier. Many hindrances lie outside of technology starting with the limited use or access to smart phones, approximately 82% of Pakistani men own a mobile phone while only 46% of women do creating a significant divide. Digital literacy is another challenge that comes with lack of education on the safe use of mobile wallets around scams and frauds.

Pakistan has gradually progressed in financial ecosystem and has been supported by policy makers with regulations to accelerate financial inclusion. Pakistan and private fintech sector has taken initiatives encouraging digital payments, delivering financial education, introducing cashless services while encouraging mobile wallets. However, better initiatives are needed around financial education on mobile wallets, designing products around women needs and ease which includes formal educational trainings, low-cost saving products or multilingual apps to cover provincial and regionally spoken and understood languages. Building trust, empowering women and developing a digital ecosystem are all equally important for the financial inclusion in Pakistan.