WomenSave

WomenSave

WomenSave

WomenSave onboards unbanked women to the digital economy and empowers them to use it to improve their financial health.

Rukungiri, Uganda

UGA

Nonprofit

Worldwide 740 million women are unbanked. As a result, they cannot meet financial goals and withstand economic shocks. Traditional banking has failed these women for demand- and supply-side reasons. Potential clients frequently fear formal financial service providers and lack the minimum requirements (cash, collateral) as well as the time to open accounts. Meanwhile banks consider this market segment prohibitively costly. To the extent they are available, informal financial products and services largely fall short. Most Microfinance Institutions focus on credit, which is expensive and risky. Savings Groups provide one-size-fits-all loans that do not necessarily meet the individual financial needs of their members, nor provide a permanent, safe place to save. Fortunately, across East Africa, including in Uganda where 5 million women are unbanked, affordable and convenient digital financial services are widely available. Mobile money provides individual banking solutions at clients’ fingertips at a fraction of the cost. However, most women in last mile communities do not use it. Why? In many instances they are unaware that the technology even exists. And at a deeper level, they lack the tools, skills and confidence to use it. WomenSave wants to change that.

Our solution is rooted in behavioral science and relies on a combination of human touch and technology. WomenSave employs a team of Savings Officers, who are local women with business degrees and skills, who work directly with clients. They offer group financial literacy training and one-on-one financial coaching. They teach clients how to open and use individual mobile money accounts and design two custom soft commitment savings plans: (1) for a personal goal like buying a goat; and (2) for emergency expenses. Once the plans are in place, Savings Officers send regular SMS text deposit reminders to clients, who in turn save and meet goals. This year, WomenSave is developing a minimum viable product (MVP) for a mobile app to automate the process of designing savings plans and tracking progress, improving efficiency and potential to scale. After two to three years of support from WomenSave, clients graduate. For sustainability, they rely on peer groups and volunteer Peer Mentors selected from them for support as they continue to leverage digital financial services to improve their financial health.

WomenSave serves last mile clients in Western Uganda. Among our most recent cohort, 60% are under age 45, 54% are illiterate and 73% live on less than $3 a day. The majority (81%) of clients rely on farming or casual labor as their primary source of income and only 13% save with a formal financial service provider. Our solution gives them the tools, skills and confidence to join the digital economy and improve their financial health. Since 2020, we have onboarded more than 2,640 unbanked women, who have saved over $260,000 and met roughly 5,000 personal financial goals. They have acquired livestock, sent kids to school and started businesses, among other things. Based on a random sample surveyed at baseline and endline, we know that after our program 91% more clients use mobile money 2+ times per month and 37% more clients can use it without help. Importantly, 63% more have a say in household decisions and 60% more can come up with 1/20 GNI per capita in 30 days for an unexpected expense, demonstrating improved female financial agency and resilience and women’s economic empowerment.