KARACHI: The central bank omn Friday urged commercial banks to offer more products and services that cater to the needs and preferences of women, as part of its efforts to promote financial inclusion and gender equality.
It said the gender-intentional products are necessary to encourage a higher percentage of women to open and maintain bank accounts and to take advantage of a wider range of banking products and services.
In the latest episode of State Bank of Pakistan’s podcast, senior joint director, Financial Inclusion Support Department, SBP-Banking Services Corporation, Shahla Riaz and deputy director, Agriculture Credit and Financial Inclusion, Farah Farooqi spoke about the
importance of raising the financial inclusion of women and its potential impact on living standards as well as on national output.
The episode emphasised the benefits of bank accounts for women, and also how financial literacy translates into greater financial inclusion of women. It highlighted the obstacles and challenges that have historically limited women’s access to banking and finance. It also lists a number of steps taken by SBP in coordination with commercial banks, government and other stakeholders to overcome these challenges.
The speaker said demand-side issues that women face in access to bank accounts, include cultural barriers, limited access to digital devices and the internet, restricted mobility, lack of financial literacy and absence of legal documentation.
"Historically, a number of supply-side issues have also limited women’s access to banking products and services," the SBP said in a statement. "These include low female representation among bank staff, lack of specialized products for women, and lack of gender sensitivity capacity among bank staff."
SBP has taken specific actions though the Banking on Equality Policy to attain women inclusiveness in banking sector. the strategy contributed to women empowerment by opening millions of active female bank accounts and offering subsidized loans and other products to facilitate female entrepreneurs.
The participants also shared success stories related to the Banking on Equality policy. Further, they mentioned that SBP has also conducted the National Financial Literacy Program (NFLP). Among other objectives, this plan ensured that bank accounts were opened for participants via biometric verification and expedited approval process.
It was ensured that at least half of the people facilitated through such services were women. "Through this program 58 percent target of bank account opening of women in underserved areas has been achieved where trainers were also female.
Additionally, Asaan Mobile Accounts and Assan Digital Accounts have also been introduced by SBP for encouraging mobile banking usage." The episode highlighted that empowered and inclusive society couldn’t be shaped if half of the population is systematically excluded from the workforce.
Gender intentional products are required to encourage a greater proportion of the female population to open and operate bank accounts and also to avail a wider spectrum of banking products and services.