research topics on financial access

Reaching Financial Inclusion: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

• Original Research
• Published: 06 January 2022
• Volume 162 , pages 599–617, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Helena Susana Amaral Geraldes   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6581-3454 1 ,
• Ana Paula Matias Gama   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8064-6244 1 &
• Mário Augusto   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7345-1679 2  

1031 Accesses

9 Citations

Explore all metrics

Financial inclusion is a vital development policy concern; different combinations and conditions of access to (supply) and use of (demand) financial services may predict levels of financial inclusion. With a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis, conducted across 61 countries worldwide, the current research establishes that financial literacy and human development are conditions of high financial inclusion; supply-side drivers, such as bank concentration and bank branches, represent substitutive conditions for attaining high levels of financial inclusion. With separate analyses of a split sample, designating developed and developing countries, the authors also determine that the absence of financial literacy and human development, as demand-side drivers, leads to diminished financial inclusion for both sets of countries. In turn, this research offers novel ideas for achieving more efficient policies to prompt financial inclusion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA) Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Financial Inclusion: An Overview of Its Various Dimensions and Its Assistance in Reducing Private Sector Insolvency

Expanding the Financial Inclusion Frontiers: An Assessment of the Roles of Developing Eight (D-8) Countries Financial Regulators

Introduction

Availability of data and material.

Public data.

Code Availability

Public web sites.

Even in developed countries, Klapper et al. ( 2013 ) highlight that the lack of FL leaves people more vulnerable to macroeconomics shocks (e.g., international financial crisis of 2008).

Worldwide, 56% of adults do not use formal financial services, but this number diverges across high and low income countries. High income countries include 17% unbanked adults, but this number rises to 64% in low income countries (Ardic et al., 2011 ).

World Bank Data Catalog, Databank, available at https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators (accessed April 2021).

Financial Access Survey (2014), International Monetary Fund, available at https://data.imf.org/?sk=388dfa60-1d26-4ade-b505-a05a558d9a42 (accessed April 2021).

S&P Global FinLit Survey (2014), available at https://gflec.org/initiatives/sp-global-finlit-survey/ (accessed April 2021).

Human Development Data Center, UNDP, available at http://hdr.undp.org/en/data (accessed April 2021).

More traditional correlation-based analytical procedures (e.g., multiple regressions or structural equation modelling) assume causal relationships between the explanatory variables and the outcome. However, when the effects of the variables are asymmetrical, and the form of interactions among them is unknown, regression analysis may be inappropriate. Under these circumstances, fsQCA may return useful information by identifying the combinations of conditions that lead to a given outcome (Vis, 2012 ), and furthermore distinguishing between the necessary and the sufficient conditions (Schneider & Eggert, 2014 ).

Ababio, J. O. M., Attah-Botchwey, E., Osei-Assibey, E., & Barnor, C. (2020). Financial inclusion and human development in frontier countries. International Journal of Finance & Economics, 26 (1), 42–59. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.1775

Article   Google Scholar  

Adetunji, O. M., & David-West, O. (2019). The relative impact of income and financial literacy on financial inclusion in Nigeria. Journal of International Development, 31 (4), 312–335. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.3407

Allen, F., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Klapper, L., & Peria, M. S. M. (2016). The foundations of financial inclusion: Understanding ownership and use of formal accounts. Journal of Financial Intermediation, 27 , 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2015.12.003

Ardic, O. P., Heimann, M., & Mylenko, N. (2011). Access to financial services and the financial inclusion agenda around the world: A cross-country analysis with a new data set. Policy Research Working Paper Series 5537, The World Bank. Available at http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/519351468137108112/Access-to-financial-services-and-the-financial-inclusion-agenda-around-the-world-a-cross-country-analysis-with-a-new-data-set . Retrieved April 2021

Beck, T., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Honohan, P. (2009). Access to financial services: Measurement, impact, and policies. The World Bank Research Observer, 24 (1), 119–145.

Beck, T., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Martinez Peria, M. S. M. (2008). Banking services for everyone? Barriers to bank access and use around the world. The World Bank Economic Review, 22 (3), 397–430. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhn020

Beck, T., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Peria, M. S. M. (2007). Reaching out: Access to and use of banking services across countries. Journal of Financial Economics, 85 (1), 234–266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2006.07.002

Bongomin, G. O. C., Munene, J. C., Ntayi, J. M., & Malinga, C. A. (2017). Financial literacy in emerging economies: Do all components matter for financial inclusion of poor households in rural Uganda? Managerial Finance, 43 (12), 1310–1331. https://doi.org/10.1108/MF-04-2017-0117

Bongomin, G. O. C., Munene, J. C., Ntayi, J. M., & Malinga, C. A. (2018). Nexus between financial literacy and financial inclusion: Examining the moderating role of cognition from a developing country perspective. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 36 (7), 1190–1212. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-08-2017-0175

Bongomin, G. O. C., Ntayi, J. M., Munene, J. C., & Nabeta, I. N. (2016). Social capital: Mediator of financial literacy and financial inclusion in rural Uganda. Review of International Business and Strategy, 26 (2), 291–312. https://doi.org/10.1108/RIBS-06-2014-0072

Boyd, J. H., & Prescott, E. C. (1986). Financial intermediary-coalitions. Journal of Economic Theory, 38 , 211–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0531(86)90115-8

Burgess, R., & Pande, R. (2005). Do rural banks matter? Evidence from the Indian social banking experiment. American Economic Review, 95 (3), 780–795. https://doi.org/10.1257/0002828054201242

Chakravarty, S. R., & Pal, R. (2013). Financial inclusion in India: An axiomatic approach. Journal of Policy Modelling, 35 (5), 813–837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpolmod.2012.12.007

Chliova, M., Brinckmann, J., & Rosenbusch, N. (2015). Is microcredit a blessing for the poor? A meta-analysis examining development outcomes and contextual considerations. Journal of Business Venturing, 30 (3), 467–487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2014.10.003

Cucinelli, D., Trivellato, P., & Zenga, M. (2019). Financial literacy: The role of the local context. Journal of Consumer Affairs . https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12270

Datta, S. K., & Singh, K. (2019). Variation and determinants of financial inclusion and their association with human development: A cross-country analysis. IIMB Management Review, 31 , 336–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2019.07.013

Demir, A., Pesqué-Cela, V., Altunbas, Y., & Murinde, V. (2020). Fintech, financial inclusion and income inequality: A quantile regression approach. European Journal of Finance . https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2020.1772335

Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Klapper, L. F., Singer, D., & Van Oudheusden, P. (2015). The global Findex database 2014: Measuring financial inclusion around the world. 7255. Policy Research Working Paper.

Demirgüç-Kunt, A., Klapper, A., Singer, D., Ansar, S., & Hess, J. (2017). The Global Findex Database 2017. Measuring financial inclusion and the fintech revolution . World Bank.

Google Scholar  

Demirgüç-Kunt, A., & Klapper, L. (2013). Measuring financial inclusion: Explaining variation in use of financial services across and within countries. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, 44 (1), 279–340. https://doi.org/10.1353/eca.2013.0002

Dev, S. M. (2006). Financial inclusion: Issues and challenges. Economic and Political Weekly . https://doi.org/10.2307/4418799

Di Giannatale, S., & Roa, M. J. (2019). Barriers to formal saving: Micro- and macroeconomic effects. Journal of Economic Surveys, 33 (2), 541–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12275

Emara, N., & Kasa, H. (2020). The non-linear relationship between financial access and domestic savings: The case of emerging markets. Applied Economics, 53 (3), 345–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2020.1808174

Esquivias, M. A., Sethi, N., Ramandha, M. D., & Jayanti, A. D. (2020). Financial inclusion dynamics in Southeast Asia: An empirical investigation on three countries. Business Strategy and Development . https://doi.org/10.1002/bsd2.139

Fiss, P. C. (2011). Building better causal theories: A fuzzy set approach to typologies in organization research. Academy of Management Journal, 54 (2), 393–420. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2011.60263120

Fouejieu, A., Sahay, R., Cihak, M., & Chen, S. (2020). Financial inclusion and inequality: A cross-country analysis. Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, 29 (8), 1018–1048. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638199.2020.1785532

Fu, J. (2020). Ability or opportunity to act: What shapes financial well-being? World Development, 128 , 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2019.104843

Goyal, K., & Kumar, S. (2020). Financial literacy: A systematic review and bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45 , 80–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijcs.12605

Grohmann, A., Klühs, T., & Menkhoff, L. (2018). Does financial literacy improve financial inclusion? Cross-country evidence. World Development, 111 , 84–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.06.020

Hauswald, R., & Marquez, R. (2006). Competition and strategic information acquisition in credit markets. Review of Financial Studies, 19 (3), 967–1000. https://doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhj021

Kabakova, O., & Plaksenkov, E. (2018). Analysis of factors affecting financial inclusion: Ecosystem view. Journal of Business Research, 89 , 198–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.01.066

Kaiser, T., & Menkhoff, L. (2017). Does financial education impact financial literacy and financial behavior, and if so, when? World Bank Economic Review, 31 , 611–630. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhx018

Karakurum-Ozdemir, K., Kokkizil, M., & Uysal, G. (2019). Financial literacy in developing countries. Social Indicators Research, 143 , 325–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-018-1952-x

Kim, J. H. (2016). Study on the effect of financial inclusion on the relationship between income inequality and economic growth. Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, 52 (2), 498–512. https://doi.org/10.1080/1540496X.2016.1110467

Kimmitt, J., & Muñoz, P. (2017). Entrepreneurship and financial inclusion through the lens of instrumental freedoms. International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 35 (7), 803–828. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242617700699

Klapper, L., El-Zoghbi, M., & J. Hess. (2016). Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: The role of financial inclusion. CGAP. Retrieved April 2021, from https://www.cgap.org/sites/default/files/Working-Paper-Achieving-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Apr-2016_0.pdf

Klapper, L., Lusardi, A., & Oudheusden, P. (2014). Financial literacy around the world: Insights from the Standard & Poor’s ratings services global financial literacy survey. Retrieved April 2021, from https://responsiblefinanceforum.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2015-Finlit_paper_17_F3_SINGLES.pdf

Klapper, L., Lusardi, A., & Panos, G. A. (2013). Financial literacy and its consequences: Evidence from Russia during the financial crisis. Journal of Banking & Finance, 37 , 3904–3923. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.07.014

Le, Q. H., Ho, H. L., & Mai, N. C. (2019). The impact of financial inclusion on income inequality in transition economies. Management Science Letters, 9 , 661–672. https://doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2019.2.005

Levine, R. (1997). Financial development and economic growth: Views and agenda. Journal of Economic Literature, 35 (2), 688–726.

Lusardi, A., & Mitchell, O. S. (2014). The economic importance of financial literacy: Theory and evidence. Journal of Economic Literature, 52 (1), 5–44. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.52.1.5

Mengistu, A., & Perez-Saiz, H. (2018). Financial inclusion and bank competition in sub-Saharan Africa. IMF Working Papers 18/256. Retrieved April, 2021, from https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2018/12/07/Financial-Inclusion-and-Bank-Competition-in-Sub-Saharan-Africa-46388

Nizam, R., Karim, Z. A., Rahman, A. A., & Sarmidi, T. (2020). Financial inclusiveness and economic growth: New evidence using a threshold regression analysis. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, 33 (1), 1465–1484. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2020.1748508

Nuzzo, G., & Piermattei, S. (2020). Discussing Measures of financial inclusion for the main Euro area countries. Social Indicators Research, 148 , 765–786. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-019-02223-8

OECD. (2014). PISA 2012 technical background. In OECD (Ed.), PISA 2012 Results: Students and money—Financial literacy skills for the 21st century (Vol. VI, pp. 123–145). OECD Publishing.

Chapter   Google Scholar  

OECD. (2020a). OECD/INFE 2020 International Survey of Adult Financial Literacy. Retrieved April, 2021, from www.oecd.org/financial/education/launchoftheoecdinfeglobalfinancialliteracysurveyreport.htm

OECD. (2020b). PISA 2018 results (volume IV): Are students smart about money? PISA, OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/48ebd1ba-en

Book   Google Scholar  

Omar, M. A., & Inaba, K. (2020). Does financial inclusion reduce poverty and income inequality in developing countries? A panel data analysis. Journal of Economic Structures, 9 (37), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40008-020-00214-4

Owen, A. L., & Pereira, J. M. (2018). Bank concentration, competition, and financial inclusion. Review of Development Finance, 8 , 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rdf.2018.05.001

Ozili, P. K. (2020). Financial inclusion research around the world: A review. Forum for Social Economics . https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3515515

Peet, R., & Hartwick, E. (2009). Theories of development, contentions, arguments, alternative . Guilford Press.

Philippas, N. D., & Avdoulas, C. (2019). Financial literacy and financial well-being among generation-Z university students: Evidence from Greece. European Journal of Finance, 26 (4–5), 360–381. https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2019.1701512

Ragin, C. (2000). Fuzzy set social science . University of Chicago Press.

Ragin, C. (2006). Set relations in social research: Evaluating their consistency and coverage. Political Analysis, 14 (3), 291–310. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpj019

Ragin, C. (2008). Qualitative comparative analysis using fuzzy sets (fsQCA). In C. C. Ragin & B. Rihoux (Eds.), Configurational comparative methods: Qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and related techniques (pp. 87–122). Sage.

Rihoux, B., & Ragin, C. (2008). Configurational comparative analysis . Sage.

Sarma, M. (2008). Index of financial inclusion. ICRIER working paper 215.

Schneider, C. Q., & Wageman, C. (2010). Standards of good practice in qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) and fuzzy-sets. Comparative Sociology, 9 (3), 397–418. https://doi.org/10.1163/156913210X12493538729793

Schneider, M. R., & Eggert, A. (2014). Embracing complex causality with the QCA method: An invitation. Journal of Business Marketing Management, 7 (1), 312–328.

Schneider, M. R., Schulze-Bentrop, C., & Paunescu, M. (2010). Mapping the institutional capital of high-tech firms: A fuzzy-set analysis of capitalist variety and export performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 41 (2), 246–266. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2009.36

Sethi, D., & Acharya, D. (2018). Financial inclusion and economic growth linkage: Some cross-country evidence. Journal of Financial Economic Policy, 10 (3), 369–385. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFEP-11-2016-0073

United Nations. (2019). Human development report 2019. Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in human development in the 21st century. New York. Retrieved April, 2021, from http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-report-2019

Vis, B. (2012). The comparative advantages of fsQCA and regression analysis for moderately large-N analyses. Sociological Methods & Research, 41 , 168–198.

Zins, A., & Weill, L. (2016). The determinants of financial inclusion in Africa. Review of Development Finance, 6 , 46–57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rdf.2016.05.001

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by FCT, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., Projects: PTDC/EGE-OGE/31246/2017, UIDB/04630/2020; UIDB/05037/2020.

The authors acknowledge financial, research and administrative support from the FCT (UBI&NECE: UIDB/04630/2020; PTDC/EGE-OGE/31246/2017).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

University of Beira Interior, Research Center in Business Science (NECE), Covilhã, Portugal

Helena Susana Amaral Geraldes & Ana Paula Matias Gama

University of Coimbra, CeBER, Faculty of Economics, Coimbra, Portugal

Mário Augusto

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helena Susana Amaral Geraldes .

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest.

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Geraldes, H.S.A., Gama, A.P.M. & Augusto, M. Reaching Financial Inclusion: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions. Soc Indic Res 162 , 599–617 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02850-0

Download citation

Accepted : 16 November 2021

Published : 06 January 2022

Issue Date : July 2022

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-021-02850-0

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Financial inclusion
• Financial literacy
• Human development
• Financial infrastructure
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

• Understanding Poverty
• Financial Inclusion

UFA2020 Overview: Universal Financial Access by 2020

Key messages.

• The UFA goal is that by 2020, adults, who currently aren't part of the formal financial system, are able to have access to a transaction account to store money, send and receive payments as the basic building block to manage their financial lives.
• The World Bank Group – the World Bank and IFC – has committed to enabling 1 billion people to gain access to a transaction account through targeted interventions.
• Over 30 partners have pledged commitments toward achieving universal financial access.

Financial inclusion is a building block for both poverty reduction and opportunities for economic growth, with access to digital financial services critical for joining the new digital economy.

Financial inclusion facilitates day-to-day living, and helps families and businesses plan for everything from long-term goals to unexpected emergencies. As accountholders, people are more likely to use other financial services, such as savings, credit and insurance, start and expand businesses, invest in education or health, manage risk, and weather financial shocks, all of which can improve the overall quality of their lives.

While 1.2 billion people have opened a financial account since 2011, there are still an estimated 1.7 billion adults worldwide (or 31% of adults) who don’t have a basic transaction account .  Globally, two-thirds of adults without an account cite a lack of money as a key reason, which implies that financial services aren’t yet affordable or designed to fit low-income users. Other barriers to account-opening include distance from a financial service provider, lack of necessary documentation papers and lack of trust in financial service providers.

The UFA2020 initiative envisions that adults worldwide -- women and men alike -- will be able to have access to a transaction account or an electronic instrument to store money, send payments and receive deposits as a basic building block to manage their financial lives.

At the 2015 World Bank Group-IMF Spring Meetings , the World Bank Group and public and private sector partners adopted measurable commitments to achieve Universal Financial Access by 2020 (UFA2020) and help promote financial inclusion.  Through the Universal Financial Access 2020 initiative, the World Bank Group – the World Bank and IFC – has committed to enabling 1 billion people to gain access to a transaction account through targeted interventions. 

As of the end of December 2017, our advisory work, technical assistance financing operations and investments are projected to help reach 738 million new accountholders and we are on track to meet the goal of 1 billion by 2020..

We also work with more than 30 partners to catalyze private sector investment in financial inclusion. Leading financial service providers have set ambitious targets in line with the UFA 2020 goal. 

While the UFA2020 initiative focuses on 25 priority countries  where almost 70% of all financially excluded people live, we are working with more than 100 countries to advance financial access and inclusion. Our approach centers on:

• creating a regulatory environment to enable access to transaction accounts
• expanding access points
• improving financial capability
• driving scale and viability through high-volume government programs, such as social transfers, into those transaction accounts
• focusing on reaching disadvantaged populations, such as women and rural producers 
• encouraging use of financial services, to move from access to finance to account use
• working through critical value chains in priority countries to digitize payments , and creating access to other financial services such as savings, insurance, and credit

Platform approach includes three basic functionalities or layers – a biometric identity database, virtual payment addressing and digital payment interoperability.

National policies that provide scale through combinations of digital ID, digitized G2P payments.

Globally, we engage with standard-setting bodies to set recommendations and guidelines that will to advance access to transaction accounts.

The UFA framework for action is based on the Payment Aspects of Financial Inclusion (PAFI)  framework, which was developed in 2015 a financial regulator taskforce chaired by the World Bank Group and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI). 

In 2017, the G20 committed to advance financial inclusion worldwide and reaffirmed its commitment to implement the G20 High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion , which the World Bank Group helped develop under the China G20 Presidency leadership in 2016. The eight High Level Principles encourage governments to promote a digital approach to financial inclusion, and are being used as a reference tool by many countries.  

• Web Tool UFA Progress Tracker
• WBG #FinAccess2020 blogs Private Sector Development | Voices
• Resource Center Financial Inclusion Strategies Resource Center
• Reports Global Findex Measuring Financial Inclusion | Closing the Credit Gap for Formal & Informal MSME
• Global Payment Systems Survey (GPSS)
• G20 High-Level Principles for Digital Financial Inclusion
• EVENT - 2018 ANNUAL MEETINGS Bali Fintech Agenda
• EVENT - 2018 SPRING MEETINGS Moving from Financial Access to Inclusion: Leveraging the Power of Technology
• EVENT - 2016 ANNUAL MEETINGS Financial Inclusion not Exclusion: Managing De-Risking
• EVENT - 2015 SPRING MEETINGS Universal Financial Access 2020 - Toward the Last Mile
• EVENT - 2013 ANNUAL MEETINGS Igniting Innovation in Financial Access

Infographics

What shapes the financial capabilities of young adults in the US and Asia-Pacific region? A systematic literature review

Susnaningsih Muat, Nurul Shahnaz Mahdzan & Mohd Edil Abd Sukor

Barriers and facilitators of translating health research findings into policy in sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review

Florence Upenyu Damba, Ntombifikile Gloria Mtshali & Moses John Chimbari

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the impact of cash transfers on subjective well-being and mental health in low- and middle-income countries

Joel McGuire, Caspar Kaiser & Anders M. Bach-Mortensen

Introduction

All over the world, women bear an inadequate load of poverty because of social and structural hurdles. A long-dated body of literature (Klasen, 1999 ; Dollar and Gatti, 1999 ; Klasen and Lamanna, 2009 ; Seguino, 2010 ) emphasizes the effect of numerous facets of gender inequality and economic growth. Females are found to be less educated, less paid, less on ownership and able to exercise much less economic control than their male counterparts. This discrimination, especially in education, hampers their financial development, leading to income inequality (Gonzales et al., 2015 ). Consequently, women suffer from lack of health, education, work opportunities and control over their own lives and selections (Kabeer, 1999 )

Nevertheless, we are observing a critical drive to achieve gender equality, with 193 United Nations member countries committing to achieving the sustainable development goal (SDG 5) of ending gender inequality issues by 2030. Realizing that women’s empowerment benefits not only women but also the sustainable development of the community (Vithanagama, 2016 ), numerous banks all over the world, such as Westpac in Australia, ICICI and SBI in India, Natwest in the UK, and UNITAR in Kenya, have developed products and services designed especially for women, keeping in mind their security, accessibility and affordability. To make the most of this, we need more extensive literature exploration to enable conceptually strong evidence-based solutions catalyzing women’s mobility from poverty and exploitation. Considering the vastness of literature, this can only be addressed by a scientific approach to review, which has been followed in the present study. However, due to the sheer size of the related literature, previous reviews (Holloway et al., 2017 , Kalaitzi et al., 2017 , Roy and Patro, 2022 ) are found to be fragmented as their results focused only on the factors causing the financial exclusion of women while ignoring the interventions that have been discussed all along.

Therefore, filling up this gap our review paper aims to scientifically identifying and amalgamating the related studies between 2000 and 2020 with the objective of (a) identifying the nature of major barriers, (b) exploring the most useful mediations/interventions and trends in research on the financial inclusion (FI) of women to enable the community to design thoughtful interventions for them.

The economic empowerment of women was explored in various dimensions at a much greater pace after 2000 (Priya et al., 2021 ). This inspired us to focus on the research work and other initiatives taken in the following 2 decades, defining our study period 2000–2020. Many influential articles have been published in journals dedicated to women and general development, such as World Development Footnote 1 , Feminist Economics Footnote 2 , Journal of Development Economics Footnote 3 and Gender & Development Footnote 4 . However, despite tremendous progress in the global state of FI, the gap in gender has not changed much since 2011, as a 6% difference still exists in access to Bank accounts among men and women in developing countries (Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2022 ), raising the need for considerate customized mediation.

Early studies on financial empowerment of women

Professor Irene Tinker’s work in women studies in the 1960s and 70s is the foundation for research on women development studies. Her work was instrumental in bringing about the first United Nations International conference on Women in 1975, which is also marked as International women’s year. She also founded the International Centre for Research on Women in 1976, which promotes empirical research to advocate evidence-based ways to empower women and promote gender equality.

Research in the 1970s was characterized by pioneer studies that highlighted the role of women in economic development (Boserup, 1970 ; Tinker, 1976 ), while the 1980s captured the role of females in family structures (Acharya and Bennett, 1981 ), the hardships faced by women in agriculture, which was identified as the single most important employment-generating sector for women (Staudt and Jaquette, 1982 ), and the advancement of land rights for women (Agarwal, 1988 ).

In the 1990s, research gathered pace with numerous studies about the persisting gender inequalities (Tinker, 1990 , 1999 ; Sen, 1990 ; Buvinić and Gupta, 1994 ; Mehra, 1997 , Mayoux, 1998 ; Pande, 1999 ) in cooperatives (Sen, 1990 ), financial services and microlevel entrepreneurship (Mehra and Gammage, 1999 ), and discriminations in agriculture and land rights of women to bring about sustainable development and suggest inclusive policies and practices (Mehra, 1995 ). Providing a much need direction and empirical advancement, Kabeer, 1999 proposed the measurement of women’s empowerment with the identification of the ‘resources’ they own, the ‘agency’ or commanding role they have and their ‘achievement’, which can be understood as the outcome in terms of well-being as the basic constructs to be observed. This is one of the most cited articles in the context of studies about the economic empowerment of women. By the end of the decade, the World Bank’s research report presented a cross-country comparison of the impact of gender inequalities on growth and development (Klasen, 1999 ), thus introducing crucial insights into the geographical diversity of the issue.

Thus, the literature around the financial empowerment of women began with recognizing the crucial role of women in the commercial progress at macro level then; it started to realize their critical role at family level and nature of their contribution at social level, which highlighted gender inequalities. Various dimensions in which such discrimination existed were identified giving scope to future researchers to explore various barriers in the way of women development and to develop suitable policy interventions.

Research methodology

Systematic reviews must follow the preset protocol, which is an advance plan of action specifying the methods to be used in the study and is generally accepted as a research design in social science studies. These rules are crucial to avoid researcher bias in data selection and analysis and increase the reliability of reviews (Xiao and Watson, 2019 ).

In this section, we have described systematic steps undertaken to extract data using specific channels, keywords, inclusion & exclusion criteria and expert selection explained through the PRISMA framework (Fig. 1 ).

Our initial result of 1734 documents (results as on 30 January 2022) was filtered by including only peer reviewed open access, full text English articles on Financial inclusion and women empowerment, resulting in 67 eligible documents. (author created).

Further, the studies thus extracted have been classified and synthesized qualitatively for deeper insights.

Channel used for literature search

Literature for this review has been found using the two sources suggested by Xio and Watson in 2019. These sources are:

Electronic database —Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus. WOS has the longest indexing coverage from 1900 to the present (Li et al., ( 2010 ) while Scopus has an extensive coverage of good quality academic work (Gavel and Iselid, 2008 ). A literature search using both databases despite the overlapping articles is still recommended to avoid missing out high-impact documents (Vieira and Gomes, 2009 ). Extractions from Scopus and WOS for this study were made on January 30, 22.

Backwards and forward search —Articles cited in important studies (highly cited) were traced to identify the inspiration and key background variables, likewise the articles that cited important studies were explored to determine the direction of the flow of research. (Webster and Watson, 2002 ; Haddaway et al., 2022 ). Also, publications by key authors (highly cited) who contributed to the pool of knowledge were identified to ensure that all their important studies were included.

Concepts from the search statement were extended by synonyms, abbreviations, verb forms and related terms to select keywords (Rowley and Slack, 2004 ), as shown in the Table 1 below:

To capture the essence of the study’s research objectives, a dive was made into the Web of Science and Scopus data extracting 751 and 983 records, respectively, based on identified keywords.

PRISMA approach

Data pulled out were filtered using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses—PRISMA (Fig. 1 ), that explains initial screening, determining parameters for inclusion and exclusion and outlining work limitations (Stovold et al., 2014 ; Selçuk, 2019 ).

Inclusion parameters

Publications from 2000–2020.

Open access articles.

Research areas: “Business management, social science, economics, econometrics, accounting and finance”

Exclusion parameters

Incomplete and non-English language publications.

Conference reviews, books, chapters, book reviews, conference papers, and surveys were excluded.

Articles in press.

Collaborative peer review-based exclusion

Expert selection and evaluation

After the electronic screening of records, a double screening was performed by all three authors, where all 89 studies were reviewed by each author individually. Later, 48 studies were screened out as they were not found to be measuring the population (vulnerable women) or outcomes (barriers and interventions) of interest, and 41 studies were finally selected. Additionally, 26 important and relevant studies, including 8 working papers, were identified through backwards and forward searches while reviewing the studies. The included working papers are listed in the Table 2 for reference. After the screening of the literature, a total of 67 articles were documented individually and classified and amalgamated in tables followed by a qualitative synthesis of these studies.

To achieve our research objectives, the selected articles were classified as barrier-related studies, experimental studies and studies evaluating interventions, with a few studies covering more than one dimension (Fig. 2 ).

Venn grouping of the selected studies on the basis of their evaluation of barriers or interventions and the nature of study being experimental or otherwise (author created).

Tabular synthesis

In Table 3 below, we have classified and connected 67 eligible articles based on their contribution to developing different perspectives about barriers and interventions in FI-based women empowerment.

Additionally, twenty-four experimental studies during 2000–2020 are presented in a tabular form (Table 4 ) for review. For the purpose of our study, only the gender-based findings are listed for each study. Owing to the high level of heterogeneity of quantitative data, we could not conduct a meta-analysis; instead, we summarized studies based on their characteristics, factors, mediations and results (Bohren et al., 2015 ).

Qualitative synthesis

The ideas forwarded through the tabular classifications in the studies of FI and WE have been knit to arrive at a thematic discussion about barriers, intervention-based studies and intervention types, which are the three main dimensions of our study.

Barriers to financial empowerment of women

Women have been suppressed and exploited physically, socially, mentally and economically for a long time. Developing countries particularly have a patriarchal set up where women are seen second to men (Nagindrappa and Radhika, 2013 ). While there is a section of society that encourages women empowerment, numerous barriers continue to restrict their advances.

Through our set of identified studies, we have presented below a discussion about various barriers that have been found through the discussion to be interlinked and often cyclical in nature. Figure 3 highlights the scope of our further discussion about the barriers to FI in women.

Six cyclic and interconnected barriers to the FI of women identified through an expert evaluation of selected studies (author created).

Patriarchy structures

Patriarchy is a socio-ideological concept in which men in the family (father, brother, husband, son, etc.) are considered to be superior to women. It is also described as a social arrangement in which men (patriarchs) dominate, oppress and exploit women (Walby, 1989 ).

Delving into the subject of patriarchy, noted author, Naila Kabeer, 2015 pointed to two types of inequities against women. First, gender mediated social class-based violence, rape and other sexual exploitation that women get subject to, and second, domestic violence due to scarcity or poverty and related helplessness of males within the household.

The abuse of women does not stem from scarcity or poverty; even affluent families exploit their daughters by denying them their land and property rights. The Indian government introduced a gender-progressive inheritance law to combat this injustice; despite the reforms, parents continued to deprive their daughters of their rights based on emotions and compensation in the form of higher education and higher dowries (Roy et al., 2015 ). This ill treatment of woman, which starts from her parental abode, continues in her husband’s house, where the ordered unequal power relations developed out of patriarchy further diminish her position. Her production, reproduction and sexuality are controlled by men. This biased treatment of women in the household adversely affects all levels of her social interactions, depriving her of access to resources and opportunities (Manta, 2019 ; Ghosh and Günther, 2018 ) and financial independence (Schaner, 2017 ).

Psychological factors

For obvious reasons, as discussed under the previous heading, many women lose self-confidence and self-esteem and perceive opportunities with fear of failure (Koellinger et al., 2008 ). An experimental study found that females in the lower income group tend to be more risk averse than their male counterparts and think about the negative consequences of not being able to pay back loans. (Manta, 2019 ) Thus, psychological factors must be carefully studied as crucial drivers of the FI of women (Kavita and Suman, 2019 ).

It was found that investment pattern, group experience and age impacted women’s perception about barriers to FI (Lombe et al., 2012 ), and attitude could be explained by personality traits, ability to cope-up, resource utilization, entrepreneurial abilities, organizational control, financial inclusion and economic betterment (Patil and Kokate, 2017 ).

Low income/wages

Although the concepts of income inequality and gender have been discussed separately in the literature, they cannot be compartmentalized, as they keep interacting by the way of inequality in outcomes and opportunities, which are a bye-product of inequalities mainly in education, financial access, social structures and individual perspectives.

With the biasness of patriarchy and her own fallen self-esteem, a woman’s low negotiation and bargaining power leads her to enter into the social contracts where she is able to earn a low level of income and wages compared to men for the same work. This discrimination is popularly referred to as the “glass ceiling” and is experienced by women at all levels of hierarchy. This reminds us of the much-discussed US presidential elections in 2016, where former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was subject to misogynistic attacks indicating to her being too weak to serve the nation’s highest office. (Marie et al., 2017 ). Hence, women being exploited at work in terms of work treatment and low wages are no exception. At lower levels of education and power, gendered wage gaps are even more pronounced (Gonzales Martínez et al., 2020 ) and are found to further contribute to financial exclusion (Ghosh and Vinod, 2017 ) and further impede the economic growth of women.

Low financial literacy

With cyclical interconnections with all other barriers to the financial empowerment of women, financial literacy has been much discussed by researchers. Hung, A. et al, 2009 combined all previous definitions of financial literacy to express it as “knowledge of basic economic and financial concepts, as well as the ability to use that knowledge and other financial skills to manage financial resources effectively for a lifetime of financial well-being.” Successive studies have recognized financial awareness, financial knowledge, financial skills, financial attitude and financial behavior as key factors in determining financial literacy (Kumari and Azam, 2019 )

Financial literacy has been supported as one of the critical factors to bring about FI and has greater importance for increasing economic empowerment among women, especially the rural poor (Gonzales et al., 2015 ; Montanari and Bergh, 2019 ; Kumari and Azam, 2019 ; Kaur and Kapuria, 2020 ), who in the lack of it make wrong choices and become vulnerable to high financial risks (Manta, 2019 ). With a lack of financial knowledge and skills, women cannot access financial services and the benefits of the formal financial system, making them economically dependent on men and confined to the vicious circle of low investments, low income and low profits (Manta, 2019 ). Montanari and Bergh, 2019 found that the participation of women in the earnings and decision-making activities of rural cooperatives was almost nonexistent. It insisted that women’s roles in such institutions were restricted to low-cost or free physical labor, while those who benefited were literate and generally educated people.

Spatial diversity and related factors play an important role in the effective communication of financial literacy. Gendered gaps in education were found to be greatly related to the general variation in educational achievement across countries, signifying a shortage of access to education. (Gonzales et al., 2015 ).

A cross-regional comparison showed high-level gendered discrimination based on education level and economic participation in South Asia. Observations in Asian countries indicate lessening of the gendered employment gap with the rise in gendered education levels, while in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), gender gaps in education have decreased, yet women have not obtained opportunities in employment (Klassen and Lamanna, 2009 ). This result hints at the presence of interwoven barriers that are passed on locally.

Overall, a high level of financial literacy is expected to result in greater economic participation of women, where she has an opportunity to express her thoughts and receive suggestions about investment avenues and updates about new profitable products and services, encouraging her towards group effort and informed financial behavior (Ingale and Paluri, 2020 ), which in turn improves her relative wealth (Doss et al., 2020 ) and empowers her.

Low financial accessibility

Access to bank accounts, savings instruments, and other financial amenities may result in women’s better control of their earnings, personal consumption and commercial expenditure (Bernasek, 2003 ), and lack of it pushes her back to obscurity. This was exemplified in an experimental study in Kenya that found that credit constraint prevented women from starting a business and savings constraint further barred them from sustaining it (Brudevold et al., 2017 ).

While trying to develop within the male dominant society, a woman is subject to biases that pull down her self-confidence hurling her into the loop of less education, low employment and low wages, denying her the benefits of access to formal finance such as credit, deposits, insurance, payments and other risk management services (Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2022 ). Findings in an Africa-based study indicate that access to formal finance is mainly driven by individual characteristics such as education, age, income, residence area, employment status, marital status, household size and degree of trust in financial institutions (Soumare et al., 2016 ). Most of the above factors have been identified as obstacles for the FI of women, thus emphasizing women’s overall lack of opportunity to access finance.

Women’s lack of access to financial products and services may also happen because of the absence of a bank branch in rural areas that are not commercially viable for banking. Marginalized women living in underdeveloped far-flung areas with poor infrastructure and roads find it hard to regularly visit bank branches in other areas (Manta, 2019 ), so they avoid banking altogether. This problem was addressed by Mueller et al. in 2020, who worked to develop a travel time model to indicate market accessibility, which is the summary travel time to the nearest state capital city in hours. Such indicators may help in planning inclusion strategies.

Another major reason for women’s lack of access to finance is the lack of commercial interest of banks in disbursing small credit to poor women with no credit history or collateral. Such lending may lead to the building up of non-performing assets and eventually high losses for banks. Therefore, they avoid giving loans to underprivileged women depriving them of economic opportunities. Moreover, the absence of collateral with women is further enhanced by biased traditional property rights (Manta, 2019 ), which denies her resources to build upon a better future.

Looking at the brighter side, ambitious efforts are being made through pathways such as microfinance (Kemp and Berkovitch, 2020 ) and digital inclusion to pull women out of these never-ending and self-building barriers.

In recent studies, ethnicity has emerged as an important factor to be considered while promoting FI in women. Gonzales Martínez et al. ( 2020 ) conducted a controlled laboratory experiment in Bolivia to evaluate whether credit officers in microfinance institutions rejected loan applications on the basis of the interaction of gender and ethnicity of potential buyers. Although the study supported that women were benefitting from microcredit, it indicated discrimination based on ethnicity, as nonindigenous women had twice the probability of getting loan approved, whereas indigenous women had only 1.5 times the probability of getting loan approved compared to men. This idea was supported by another contemporary study (Kaur and Kapuria, 2020 ), suggesting that households headed by females belonging to socially underprivileged backgrounds had a poorer likelihood of obtaining finance from institutions. This suggests that important insights for FI for women can be derived from ethnic studies.

Experimental studies on women’s financial empowerment

As the researchers identified various variables related to the financial empowerment of women through exploratory and descriptive studies, a number of empirical and experimental studies were undertaken to understand the relationship between them. The three main types of interventions identified during our analysis were as follows:

Economic interventions —Involving cash/asset transfer, free bank accounts, free services, subsidies

Social interventions —Comprising family counseling, life skill training, vocational training, awareness programs

Bundled Economic and Social Interventions

Mostly, field experiments measuring the long-term impact of interventions on women’s financial empowerment were conducted. Overall, economic interventions were found to be highly effective in reducing the economic vulnerability of women (Stark et al., 2018 ; Brudevold et al., 2017 ). However, Ismayilova et al., 2018 and Buehren et al., 2015 ) suggested that bundling up economic, social and psychological interventions could make them more constructive.

Interventions implemented for financial empowerment of women

Intervention studies have guided various programs and policies of governments that are essential to support, promote and scale up the literacy, access and growth of financial products and services for women’s empowerment. Realizing the fact that women’s empowerment benefits not only women but also the sustainable development of the community (Vithanagama, 2016 ), numerous banks all over the world, such as Westpac in Australia, ICICI and SBI in India, Natwest in the UK, and UNITAR in Kenya, have developed products and services designed especially for women, keeping in mind their security, accessibility and affordability. Figure 4 defines the scope of our further discussion about six successful interventions in the way of FI of women.

Six most important interventions in empowering women through FI identified through an expert evaluation of selected studies (author created).

Government/corporates programs and policies

The insights developed from the conclusive studies provided governments and public and private enterprises around the world to design suitable inclusive programs, schemes and policies to address the gender gap in finance. Interventions such as government-to-people transfers and the inclusion of post office financial services were evaluated by researchers to comprehend their success or failure in bringing about fairness for women. Swamy ( 2014 ) evaluated the Indian government’s inclusive plans, policies and programs by observing changes in income level, food security, living standards, production levels and asset creation to find that the FI initiatives had a much higher impact on women than on men. These results were cited in many successive studies and laid the groundwork for more intensive inclusive efforts in India.

While acknowledging the imperative need for women’s empowerment for nation building, governments and related organizations all over the world launched ambitious programs to support women. Strategies of the Green Morocco Plan (GMP) were explored by Montanari and Bergh ( 2019 ) to conclude towards the persisting miserable circumstances of women despite planned efforts.

Similar to the actions taken by the states, many private sector companies design schemes, products and programs to promote gender equality for the benefit of their women staff. A Turkish study (Gülsoy and Ustaba, 2019 ) investigated diversity management strategies of companies and found that company leadership played an important role in bringing about equality programs in the workplace. However, they also pointed to the profiteering motive of corporations, which could be served by associating with image building activities, higher productivity and innovation capability, which could result from greater employee satisfaction.

However, some studies claim that many such initiatives had failed because they did not fully anticipate the importance and influence of social institutions such as age, gender, ethnicity, literacy, race, background and religion towards building an enabling environment for inclusion (Gonzales Martínez et al., 2020 ; Kaur and Kapuria, 2020 ).

Microcredit/microfinance

Microfinance helps to bring about the financial independence of poor or exploited women by enabling them to participate in economic activities, improving their status in households and society and reinforcing their power to make decisions (Zhang and Posso, 2017 ; Lall et al., 2017 ). A strong correlation was found between the level of outreach of microfinance institutions and women’s empowerment (Laha and Kuri, 2014 ).

Zhang and Posso ( 2017 ) used case studies to support the constructive role of microfinance to reduce gender inequality. This idea was strengthened by the empirical diary data-based study (Elu et al., 2019 ) in Mozambique, Sub-Saharan Africa, which revealed that being a woman had a positive treatment effect on procuring microcredit. A longitudinal panel study (Khandker and Samad, 2014 ) comparing the effects of microcredit programs in Bangladesh showed that a 10% increase in borrowing by women lowered extreme poverty by 5% and increased the willingness to work of women by 0.46%.

The usefulness of microfinance, microcredit, and microenterprises to promote the empowerment of women has been widely studied (Karlan et al., 2007 ; Swamy, 2014 ; Laha and Kuri, 2014 ; Zhang and Posso, 2017 ), along with the impact of bundling them up with vocational trainings, education or counseling (Kim et al., 2007 ; Buehren et al., 2015 ; Karlan et al., 2007 ). It has been found that both economic and social empowerment programs together were effective in reducing IPV (Kim et al., 2007 ). One such intervention affirms that lifeskills and livelihood training along with microfinance resulted in the likelihood of higher earnings and consumption along with a reduction in teen pregnancy and early marriage (Buehren et al., 2015 ). Likewise, it was found that health knowledge along with microcredit could help in reducing health risks (Karlan et al., 2007 ).

On the other hand, the success of microfinance policy based on outreach was challenged with an argument that institutions and their policies had engaged in a residual rather than the relational understanding of poverty (Johnson, 2013 ). Similarly, it was also questioned by Gonzales et al. in 2020 by highlighting the regressive attitude and biasness of credit officers against indigenous women.

Formal accounts/services

Formal account ownership and its use have been established as an important indicator of FI, and with the support of several research experiments, it has been adopted as an important policy intervention in many countries. Worldwide, 55% of males have a formal account at a financial institution, whereas only 47% of women own or co-own such an account with a gloomier picture in developing countries where women are 28% less likely to have an account at a formal financial institution. (Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2022 ).

Bank accounts result in savings that lead to wealth creation, which is an identified determinant of FI. A study in Kenya found that women made use of savings account far more than men. It observed that there was a 45% increase in savings on business investments among women when commitment-saving bank accounts were opened along with a high fee on withdrawal (Dupas and Robinsion, 2013 ). However, in their successive study (Dupas et al., 2014 ), where instead of a compulsive intervention, the mediation was only to facilitate account opening, it was found that men saved more than women and were more frequent in making transactions.

Hence, the mere opening of bank accounts in the names of women will not ensure their inclusion in the financial mainstream, and their usage of the same over the long run is crucial development. An experimental study found that 22% of such mediated accounts were active in the short run, and only 7% were used in the third year. Many women claim that they use the formal account of someone else in their family so they do not need an account in their own name. In many cases, husbands hold access to the ATM card of their wife, hinting towards the family structures that deprive women of a sense of ownership, making her dependent on other family members in financial matters. (Schaner, 2017 ; Demirguc-Kunt et al., 2022 ).

On the brighter side, it was found that with the sense of ownership of wealth, women tend to appreciate themselves by spending on their personal needs, elevating their sense of self-worth. There was a 40% increase in women’s personal expenditure (Dupas and Robinsion, 2013 ) and an increase in education and health after the account opening (Prina, 2015 ). Additionally, the ATM cards issued along with bank accounts were found to be quite popular among married couples, as transactions increased up to 62% in the short run and 68% in the long run. It was found to enable wives to participate in joint financial decisions along with their husbands (Schaner, 2017 ). These results reflect the positive impact of free account opening and subsidized or free financial services on inclusion but also emphasize the need to ensure that the benefits reach out to the targeted vulnerable women and have long-term effects.

Cash/asset transfer program

CTs benefit women through financial well-being, economic security and emotional well-being, leading to a reduction in intimate partner violence and significant improvement in women’s status and relationships in the family. (Ismayilova et al., 2018 ; Buller et al., 2018 )

Studies have supported adding cognitive and emotive features such as training, counseling and coaching with economic strategies in policy interventions to empower women (Ismayilova et al., 2018 ; Brudevold et al., 2017 ). When CT intervention was compared with the one coupled with life skill training, it was found that sole cash transfers were more useful in increasing the income of women in the short run only, whereas the likelihood of employment could be increased with life skill training and CT bundled together (Brudevold et al., 2017 ). An interesting study to find the real beneficiaries of CT in the long run found that benefits were largely retained by women, as they had less pressure to share their income with their relatives on the pretext that their earning options were limited (Squires, 2018 ).

The impact of productive asset transfer (livestock) in the name of women was explored in an experimental setting in Bangladesh. It revealed that although women’s asset ownership increased significantly, the real beneficiaries were men instead of women (“fly paper effect”), male sole ownership in agriculture and land increased significantly after the intervention (Roy et al., 2015 ). This reaffirms the earlier made point about the way dowry benefits are reaped by the male members.

The usefulness of CT or asset transfer cannot be denied in the short run, where lack of cash or assets averts women from starting a business, but their limitation to save prevents them from sustaining the benefits in the long run (Brudevold et al., 2017 ).

Self-help groups (SHG), philanthropy, NGOs

SHGs are informal groups of rural women formed to socially and economically support each other with a sense of belongingness and responsibility among themselves. These groups foster FI along with the social empowerment of women. Members join the SHG mainly to obtain financial support to meet basic needs, especially in the case of emergency (Nagaraj and Sundaram, 2017 ).

Most SHG members are young in age, are less educated, have less income and lack any kind of previous experience in handling money. After their SHG experience, women have been found to be managing cash (Kabeer, 2011 ; Maclean, 2012 ; Ramachandar and Pelto, 2009 ), although some studies have found that even after SHG training, there was no impact on asset formation or income of participants (Deininger and Liu, 2013 ), women remained unsure and pressurized about their financial decisions, especially in the presence of a community member (Maclean, 2012 ; Ramachandar and Pelto, 2009 ).

It was found that when the members become old in the group, they start realizing their social responsibilities, which transforms their social participation and builds up their confidence in making decisions (Mehta et al., 2011 ), enabling them to fight against exploitation at the family or societal level.

Many philanthropists and NGOs have dedicated themselves to the cause of women’s empowerment. The BOMA project in Kenya, which works to achieve the UN sustainable development goals of poverty reduction, reducing gender inequality and mitigating the effects of climate change, has been instrumental in increasing income and savings (Tiwari et al., 2019 ). In 2019, Hendriks studied the logic and strategy of the functioning of one such philanthropic Bill & Melinda Gates foundation that aims to reduce the gender gap through FI, while in 2020, Kemp and Berkovitch worked to study feminist NGOs in Israel.

Digital inclusion

Gender was identified as a key variable in consumer readiness in adopting mobile payment services and strategizing market segmentation (Humbani and Wiese, 2018 ). Digital financial services have been discussed in papers as one of the most effective FI models (Arnold and Gammage, 2019 , Natile, 2019 ), promising greater privacy, confidentiality and control of women over their finances (Duflo, 2012 ). An influential African study by Efobi et al. in 2018 found a strong positive relationship between progressions in information technology through mobile & internet penetration and the participation of women in the economy.

With the advent of mobile banking, many women who cannot reach out to financial institutions have been linked to financial services and are more likely to save than men, even with limited amounts (Ouma et al., 2017 ), gaining greater flexibility to spend on household expenditures and child welfare measures (Duflo, 2012 ). In 2016, Suri and Jack found that Kenyan mobile money system M-PESA was able to lift 194,000 households, which was 2% of the total households, out of poverty, with a significant positive impact in female households driven by higher savings and better employment of women. Acknowledging its phenomenal reach, the drawbacks and efficiencies of mobile banking were discussed further to promote FI (Humbani and Wiese, 2018 ; Arnold and Gammage, 2019 ). Prospects of digitizing G2P payments were evaluated (Klapper and Singer, 2017 ) to find that with the backing of government, there could be a dramatic reduction in costs, higher efficiencies, transparency and greater acceptance of technology.

Deliberating imperfections, on the one hand, complex financial products and services are being launched every other day; on the other hand, almost 80% of women in low-income economies still earn their wages in cash (Klapper and Dutt, 2015 ). Inherent inequalities in financial access (Klapper and Dutt, 2015 ), innumeracy, illiteracy and unfamiliarity with technology (Tiwari et al., 2019 ) are barriers to women’s digital FI. Reiterating the above idea, the exploration of inclusionary arrangements found the exploitation of the M-PESA program to identify market opportunities causing its failure to adopt the redistributive measures necessary for the benefit of society (Natile, 2019 ). This suggests that there is a need for a very well-planned, systematic digital intervention with higher transparency, sensitivity and awareness.

Our systematic study seeks to explore its research objectives through three dimensions viz. barriers, intervention types and intervention/experimental studies (Fig. 2 ). The results obtained with regards to each dimension have been further discussed to present the contribution of our work.

Out of 67 related studies 24 studies provided us insights about the barriers in the way to financial Inclusion of women. A tabular synthesis of these studies resulted in the identification of six barriers, which were further qualitatively synthesized to find that they were interlinked and often cyclical in nature. We found that the study conducted for understanding one barrier led the way to explore other barrier. The long-term ill treatment of women due to patriarchy structures induce low self-esteem and other psychological barriers, which in turn reduce their negotiation power and more often than not they have to settle for low income and wages coupled with low literacy levels than their male counterparts. Low finances, economic power and low literacy directly affect their decision-making, leadership and opportunities. With fewer opportunities to grow, females get lesser access to finance and the women who have been underprivileged on account of their ethnicity face greater challenges in accessing finance their development. Lack of financial strength and literacy keeps pushing women into the patriarchy structures and hence the viscous cycle of disempowering women continues.

The results obtained from the tabular synthesis of 34 intervention studies, identified Government/Corporates programs and policies, Microcredit/Microfinance, Formal accounts/services, Cash/asset transfer program, Self-Help Groups (SHG), Philanthropy, NGOs and Digital Inclusion as the main interventions. These interventions have been individually documented to get insights about the related studies. The qualitative results suggest that there is a significant role of public and social institutions, related experiences, economic nature of intervention and technical advancement in financial services in fostering financial empowerment of women.

Also, we have presented a tabular synthesis of 24 intervention or experimental studies, which give an insight about the kind of intervention, the key findings and the research methodology that has been adopted in previous studies (Table 4 ). The findings from intervention studies suggest that economic interventions alone or bundled with social interventions were useful in financially empowering women.

Previous studies such as Holloway et al. ( 2017 ) and Kalaitzi et al. ( 2017 ) have used thematic mapping and traditional review methods to approach similar problem. Holloway et al. ( 2017 ) studied the impact of various saving, credit, payments and insurance products on women empowerment and found that there are numerous demand and supply-side barriers, some of which could be overcome by product design features. The study suggested that a greater degree of control and privacy surrounding women’s income and expenditure decision could boost their inclusion in the financial system. Our study results supports this finding especially while planning financial inclusion of women through digital ways where transparency, sensitivity and awareness must be considered as important variables.

Kalaitzi et al. ( 2017 ) identified 26 barriers to women leadership in Healthcare, Academia and Business, some of which were common while some were found to be starkly different across sectors. A systematic review by Roy and Patro ( 2022) synthesized evidence from 73 studies to find out that demand side factors were the main cause of gender-based exclusion. Unlike these studies, we have not only identified the different types of barriers, but also have attempted to understand the nature of these barriers, which has led to physical, social, mental, economic exploitation and overall suppression of women since a very long time. The focus of previous studies was only on the factors and the importance of the FI of women, giving us the opportunity to discuss the subject at a comprehensive level by including related interventions. Also, our findings about the experimental studies have not been presented in former studies making our contribution significant in women studies.

Thus, filling up the gaps, we have discussed the nature of six main barriers, summarized 24 key experimental studies and have clearly identified six major interventions that have been applied in the first 2 decades of the twenty-first century to provide a bird’s-view to systematically connect the factors as well as mediations found in past studies with the present and future.

However, as mentioned earlier in the result section of this paper, the presence of heterogeneity of the quantitative studies prevented us from conducting a meta-analysis, which we have tried to compensate with a rigorous synthesis of results from various studies. Sincere efforts have been made to include all the major contributors to the research topic, but due to the vastness of the subject and the limitation of our research design, some insightful studies may have been omitted from the discussion. Nevertheless, we believe that the current work covers inputs from many imminent studies, such as Kabeer ( 2011 ), Kabeer and Sweetman ( 2015 ), Beck et al. ( 2007 ), Brudevold et al. ( 2017 ), Swamy ( 2014 ), Efobi et al. ( 2018 ), Klapper and Dutt, ( 2015 ), and Dupas and Robinsion ( 2013 ) is able to provide the readers with a comprehensive, yet quick overview of the literature and its gaps while contributing to the development of useful interventions to achieve the sustainability goal of gender equality by 2030.

Practical implications

Considering the vastness of the subject and the need for urgent attention as the fifth sustainability goal, a quick understanding to formulate useful policies, programs and other interventions is much needed. Therefore, the findings of our study can provide useful insights to policy makers.

The barriers to financial Inclusion of women have been found to be inter-related and cyclical. This implies that a constant endeavor to eradicate even one such hurdle will have a multifold effect and will be useful in removing others. On the flip side, if attention is not paid to remove even one of these hurdles, they will keep occurring and obstructing the way of women’s development. Therefore, long-term policy interventions with continuous monitoring of efforts are required to bring about inclusive financial growth of women.

We have found through our exploration of intervention studies (Table 3 ) that though Government-to-people transfers (G2P), such as pensions, conditional cash transfers, financial literacy programs, microfinance, other socioeconomic transfers and products & services of public facility institutions such as post-offices, have resulted in the growth of savings and thereby higher entrepreneurship among women, but the related experiences of poor women determine their likelihood of connecting with the system in the long run. Hence, merely designing the intervention is not enough, and careful monitoring of such interventions must be done to achieve the objectives.

We have also found that SHGs, NGOs and other local communities enable women to become a part of the value chain and the familiarity and trust of vulnerable women in such organizations gives them a comparative advantage over other formal institutions. Therefore, as these formal or informal setups help women to get past the psychological hurdles, they must be included in all programs devised for including women in the financial system.

Moreover, we have found digital inclusion to be the most promising intervention with the widest range and prospects to connect with left-behind poor women. This calls for a sensitive customized approach keeping in mind the convenience of vulnerable and less educated women in adapting to the digital ways.

Furthermore, through our exploration of experimental studies (Table 4 ) we have found that economic interventions are more useful than social interventions in promoting entrepreneurship, savings, consumption and general betterment of the lifestyle of women. However, the most effective programs are those in which both economic and social components are incorporated. This insight can be utilized towards designing valuable mediations to support entrepreneurship among women, keeping in view that such intervention should not just be on papers, but must actually reach to the beneficiary and be utilized towards the identified cause only.

Future scope for research

The 67 studies discussed in this work have exposed many gaps in the related literature. As we have found that all the barriers are inter-related and cyclical, there is a need to break the cycle. Our findings can help future researchers to develop deeper insights about each of the highlighted barrier. A few future areas for research have been identified as:

Meaningful and important insights can be derived from ethnic studies to measure the impact of cultural institutions such as women’s dress codes and their expected public behavior on the level of their economic participation.

Exploration of behavioral irrationality of rural women towards financial products and services.

Biasness at the workplace in terms of income, authority and leadership should be explored further to devise suitable interventions.

The perception, attitude, and behavior of women towards finance have been evaluated in many studies, but not much has been discussed to understand the supply-side psychological hurdles at the individual level in disbursal of finance.

Likewise, our results suggest and discuss the evaluation of most effective interventions, which can help researchers to understand the way these mediations have developed so far and the way in which they can be improvised. Some future areas, which may be explored in theory may be:

The usefulness of online education to promote financial literacy and awareness in the remote corners of countries and across countries.

The lack of discussion about insurance products to mitigate risk and encourage investments among women can be addressed.

There is a need to discuss security, transparency and awareness in digital financial services along with thoughtfully designing simpler digital interfaces, tools and devices customized for women.

Moreover, as the problem of the FI of women has evidently been discussed primarily in developing nations, there is a need for exploration studies about poor or indigenous women in developed countries.

Thus, offering a deeper insight to the subject of Women empowerment through Financial Inclusion, we have identified six prominent barriers to FI of women: patriarchy structures, psychological factors, low income/wages, low financial literacy, low financial accessibility and ethnicity and have uniquely found that these barriers are interconnected with cyclical impact, resulting in redistribution effects that further widen the gaps between the privileged and the underprivileged, which must be considered while designing interventions in future.

Similarly, we have recognized six main interventions that have been introduced thus far: government and corporate programs/policies, microfinance, formal saving accounts/services, cash or asset transfer, self-help groups and digital inclusion and have presented various methods and findings of related experimental researches to provide direction for future inquiry. The consequences, appreciation and criticism of various interventions have been documented in the results and discussion to provide useful vision for future policy or theoretic implementation. Overall, this study has exclusively presented a summary of the barriers and interventions, which have been inquired into during 2000–2020 thereby contributing to achieving sustainable development goal (SDG 5) of ending gender inequality issues by 2030.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information file.

Deininger & Liu ( 2013 ) in World Development, 43, 149–163, Ghosh & Vinod ( 2017 ) in World Development, 92, 60–81, Swamy ( 2014 ) in World Development, 56, 1–15.

Klasen & Lamanna ( 2009 ) in Feminist economics, 15(3), 91–132

Prina ( 2015 ) in Journal of development economics, 115, 16–31, Roy et al. ( 2015 ) in Journal of Development Economics, 117, 1–19.

Seguino ( 2010 ) in Gender & Development, 18(2), 179–199, Kabeer & Sweetman ( 2015 ) in Gender & Development, 23(2), 185–188.

Acharya M, Bennett L (1981) The rural women of Nepal: an aggregate analysis and summary of 8 village studies. In: The Status of Women in Nepal, Vol. II, Part 9. Center for Economic Development and Administration (CEDA), Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu

Adoho F, Chakravarty S, Korkoyah, DT, Lundberg MKA, Tasneem A (2014) The Impact of an Adolescent Girls Employment Program: The Epag Project in Liberia. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6832, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2420245

Agarwal B (1988) Who sows? Who reaps? Women and land rights in India. J Peasant Stud 15(4):531–581

Article   Google Scholar  

Alzúa ML, Cruces G, Lopez C (2016) Long-run effects of youth training programs: experimental evidence from Argentina. Econ Inq 54(4):1839–1859. https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12348

Arnold J, Gammage S (2019) Gender and financial inclusion: the critical role for holistic programming. Dev Pract 29(8):965–973. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1651251

Bandiera O, Buehren N, Burgess R, Goldstein M, Gulesci S, Rasul I, & Sulaiman M (2015) Women’s economic empowerment in action:Evidence from a randomized control trial in Africa. Employment Working Paper no. 187, International Labour Office Geneva

Beck T, Demirgüç-Kunt A, Levine R (2007) Finance, inequality and the poor. J Econ Growth 12(1):27–49

Article   MATH   Google Scholar  

Bernasek A (2003) Banking on social change: Grameen Bank lending to women. Int J Polit Cult Soc 16(3):369–385

Bohren MA, Vogel JP, Hunter EC, Lutsiv O, Makh SK, Souza JP, Gülmezoglu M (2015) The mistreatment of women during childbirth in health facilities globally: a mixed-methods systematic review. PLoS Med 12(6):e1001847

Article   PubMed   PubMed Central   Google Scholar  

Boserup E (1970) Women’s role in economic development. St. Martins, New York

Google Scholar  

Brudevold-Newman AP, Honorati M, Jakiela P, Ozier, OW (2017) A Firm of One’s Own: Experimental Evidence on Credit Constraints and Occupational Choice. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 7977, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2923530

Buehren N, Goldstein M, Gulesci S, Sulaiman M, Yam V (2015) Evaluation of layering microfinance on an adolescent development program for girls in Tanzania. BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, Mohakhali, Dhaka. https://bigd.bracu.ac.bd/publications/evaluation-of-layering-microfinance-on-an-adolescent-development-program-for-girlsin-tanzania/

Buller AM, Peterman A, Ranganathan M, Bleile A, Hidrobo M, Heise L (2018) A mixed-method review of cash transfers and intimate partner violence in lowand middle-income countries. World Bank Res Obs 33(2):218–258. https://doi.org/10.1093/wbro/lky002

Buvinić M, Gupta GR (1994) Targeting poor woman-headed households and woman-maintained families in developing countries: views on a policy dilemma. Population Council

Chakravarty S, Lundberg MK, Nikolov P, Zenker J (2016) The role of training programs for youth employment in Nepal: Impact evaluationreport on the employment fund. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (7656)

Cho Y, Kalomba D, Mobarak AM, Orozco V (2013) Malawi-differences in the effects of vocational training: constraints on women and drop-out behavior. World Bank Group. United States of America

Deininger K, Liu Y (2013) Economic and social impacts of an innovative self-help group model in India. World Dev 43:149–163

Demirguc-Kunt A, Klapper L, Singer D, Ansar S (2022) The Global Findex Database 2021: financial inclusion, digital payments, and resilience in the age of COVID-19. World Bank. © World Bank, Washington, DC, https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/37578

Diaz JJ, Rosas D (2016) Impact evaluation of the job youth training program Projoven (No. IDB-WP-693). IDB Working Paper Series

Dollar D, Gatti R (1999) Gender inequality, income, and growth: are good times good for women? (Vol. 1). Development Research Group, The World Bank, Washington, DC

Doss C, Swaminathan H, Deere CD, Suchitra JY, Oduro AD, Anglade B (2020) Women, assets, and formal savings: a comparative analysis of ecuador, ghana and india. Dev Policy Rev 38(2):180–205. https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12424

Duflo E (2012) Women empowerment and economic development. J Econ Lit 50:1051–1079

Dupas P, Robinson J (2013) Savings constraints and microenterprise development: Evidence from a field experiment in Kenya. Am Econ J Appl Econ 5(1):163–192

Dupas P, Green S, Keats A, Robinson J (2014) Challenges in banking the rural poor: Evidence from Kenya’s western province. In: African successes, volume III: modernization and development. University of Chicago Press. pp. 63–101

Efobi UR, Tanankem BV, Asongu SA (2018) Female economic participation with information and communication technology advancement: Evidence from Sub‐Saharan Africa. S Afr J Econ 86(2):231–246

Elu J, Price GN, Williams M (2019) Gender and microcredit in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Mozambican small holder households. Enterprise Development & Microfinance 30(2):117–128

Field E, Jayachandran S, Pande R, Rigol N (2016) Friendship at work: can peer effects catalyze female entrepreneurship? Am Econ J Econ Policy 8(2):125–53. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140215

Gavel Y, Iselid L (2008) Web of Science and Scopus: a journal title overlap study. Online information review

Ghosh S, Vinod D (2017) What constrains financial inclusion for women? evidence from indian micro data. World Dev 92:60–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.11.011

Ghosh S, Günther MK (2018) Financial inclusion through public works program: Does gender-based violence make a difference? Gend Issue 35(3):254–286. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-017-9202-0

Gonzales Martínez R, Aguilera-Lizarazu G, Rojas-Hosse A, Aranda Blanco P (2020) The interaction effect of gender and ethnicity in loan approval: a bayesian estimation with data from a laboratory field experiment. Rev Dev Econ 24(3):726–749. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12607

Gonzales MC, Jain-Chandra MS, Kochhar MK, Newiak MM, Zeinullayev MT (2015) Catalyst for change: empowering women and tackling income inequality. International Monetary Fund

Gülsoy T, Ustabaş A (2019) Corporate sustainability initiatives in gender equality: organizational practices fostering inclusiveness at work in an emerging-market context. Int J Innov Technol Manag 16(04):1940005

Haddaway NR, Grainger MJ, Gray CT (2022) Citation chaser: a tool for transparent and efficient forward and backwards citation chasing in systematic searching. Res Synth Method 13(4):533–545

Hendriks S (2019) The role of financial inclusion in driving womenas economic empowerment Dev Pract 29(8):1029–1038. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2019.1660308

Holloway K, Niazi Z, Rouse R (2017) Women’s economic empowerment through financial inclusion: a review of existing evidence and remaining knowledge gaps. Innovations for poverty action

Honorati M (2015) The impact of private sector internship and training on urban youth in Kenya. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, (7404)

Humbani M, Wiese M (2018) A cashless society for all: determining consumers’ readiness to adopt mobile payment services. J Afr Bus 19(3):409–429

Hung AA, Parker AM, Yoong JK (2009) Defining and measuring financial literacy. RAND Working paper series no. 708

Ibarrarán P, Kluve J, Ripani L, Rosas Shady D (2019) Experimental evidence on the long-term effects of a youth training program. ILR Rev 72(1):185–222

Ingale KK, Paluri RA (2020) Financial literacy and financial behaviour: a bibliometric analysis. Review of Behavioral Finance 14(1):130–154

Ismayilova L, Karimli L, Gaveras E, Tô-Camier A, Sanson J, Chaffin J, Nanema R (2018) An integrated approach to increasing women’s empowerment status and reducing domestic violence: results of a cluster-randomized controlled trial in a West African country. Psychol Violence 8(4):448

Article   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Johnson S (2013) From microfinance to inclusive financial markets: the challenge of social regulation. Oxf Dev Stud 41(SUPPL 1):S35–S52. https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2012.734799

Kabeer N (1999) Resources, agency, achievements: reflections on the measurement of women’s empowerment. Dev Change 30(3):435–464

Kabeer N (2011) Contextualising the Economic Pathways of Women’s Empowerment: Findings from a Multi-Country Research Programme, Pathways Policy Paper, Brighton: Pathways of Women’s Empowerment, IDS

Kabeer N (2015) Gender, poverty, and inequality: a brief history of feminist contributions in the field of international development. Gender & Development 23(2):189–205

Kabeer N, Sweetman C (2015) Introduction: gender and inequalities. Gend Dev 23(2):185–188

Kalaitzi S, Czabanowska K, Fowler-Davis S, Brand H (2017) Women leadership barriers in healthcare, academia and business. Equal Divers Incl Int J 36(5):457–474

Karlan DS (2007) Social connections and group banking. Econ J 117:F52–F84

Kaur S, Kapuria C (2020) Determinants of financial inclusion in rural India: does gender matter? Int J Soc Econ 47(6):747–767. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSE-07-2019-0439

Kavita, Suman (2019) Determinants of financial inclusion in India: a literature review. Indian J Financ 13(11):53–61. https://doi.org/10.17010/ijf/2019/v13i11/148417

Kemp A, Berkovitch N (2020) Uneasy passages between neoliberalism and feminism: social inclusion and financialization in Israel’s empowerment microfinance. Gender Work Organ 27(4):507–526. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12400

Khandker SR, Samad HA (2014) Dynamic Effects of Microcredit in Bangladesh. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6821, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2417519

Kim JC, Watts CH, Hargreaves JR, Ndhlovu LX, Phetla G, Morison LA, Pronyk P (2007) Understanding the impact of a microfinance-based intervention on women’s empowerment and the reduction of intimate partner violence in South Africa. Am J Public Health 97(10):1794–1802

Klapper L, Singer D (2017) The opportunities and challenges of digitizing government-to-person payments. World Bank Res Obs 32(2):211–226

Klapper L, Dutt P (2015) Digital financial solutions to advance women’s economic participation. Report prepared by the World Bank Group for the Turkish G20 Presidency

Klasen S (1999) Does gender inequality reduce growth and development: evidence from cross-country regressions (English). Policy research report on gender and development working paper series; no. 7. World Bank Group, Washington, DC

Klasen S, Lamanna F (2009) The impact of gender inequality in education and employment on economic growth: new evidence for a panel of countries. Fem Econ 15(3):91–132

Koellinger P, Minniti M, Schade C (2008) Seeing the World with Different Eyes: Gender Differences in Perceptions and the Propensity to Start a Business (March 2008). Tinbergen Institute Discussion Paper No. 2008-035/3, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1115354 or https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1115354

Kumari DAT, Ferdous Azam SM (2019) The mediating effect of financial inclusion on financial literacy and women’s economic empowerment: a study among rural poor women in Sri Lanka. Int J Sci Technol Res 8(12):719–729

Laha A, Kuri PK (2014) Measuring the impact of microfinance on women empowerment: A cross country analysis with special reference to india. Int J Public Adm 37(7):397–408. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2013.858354

Lall P, Shaw SA, Saifi R, Sherman SG, Azmi NN, Pillai V,…, Wickersham JA (2017) Acceptability of a microfinance‐based empowerment intervention for transgender and cisgender women sex workers in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. J Int AIDS Soc 20(1):21723

Li J, Burnham JF, Lemley T, Britton RM (2010) Citation analysis: Comparison of web of science®, scopus™, SciFinder®, and google scholar. J Electron Resour Med Libr 7(3):196–217

Lombe M, Newransky C, Kayser K, Raj PM (2012) Exploring barriers to inclusion of widowed and abandoned women through microcredit self-help groups: The case of rural south india. J Sociol Soc Welfare 39(2):143–162

Maclean K (2012) Banking on women’s labour: responsibility, risk and control in village banking in Bolivia. J Int Dev 24:S100–S111

Maitra P, Mani S (2017) Learning and earning: evidence from a randomized evaluation in India. Labour Econ 45:116–130

Manta A (2019) Financial inclusion and gender barriers for rural women. Int J Manag 10(5):61–72. https://doi.org/10.34218/IJM.10.5.2019.006

Marie AC-B, Christina AS, Tracy H, Michelle AJ (2017) Women in leadership and the bewildering glass ceiling. Am J Health-Syst Pharm 74(5 Mar):312–324. https://doi.org/10.2146/ajhp160930

Mayoux L (1998) Research Round-Up women’s empowerment and micro-finance programmes: strategies for increasing impact. Dev Pract 8(2):235–241

Article   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Mehra R (1995) Women, land and sustainable development. International Center for Research on Women, Washington, DC, pp. 1–48

Mehra R (1997) Women, empowerment, and economic development. The Ann Am Acad Polit Soc Sci 554(1):136–149

Mehra R, Gammage S (1999) Trends, countertrends, and gaps in women’s employment. World Dev 27(3):533–550

Mehta SK, Mishra DHG, Singh A (2011) Role of self help groups in socio-economic change of vulnerable poor of Jammu region. International Conference on Economics and Finance Research. IPEDR 4(Feb):519–523

Montanari B, Bergh SI (2019) A gendered analysis of the income generating activities under the Green Morocco Plan: who profits? Hum Ecol 47(3):409–417

Mueller V, Schmidt E, Kirkleeng D (2020) Structural change and women’s employment potential in Myanmar. Int Reg Sci Rev 43(5):450–476

Nagaraj B, Sundaram N (2017) Effectiveness of self-help groups towards the empowerment of women in vellore district, tamil nadu. Man India 97(2):843–855

Nagindrappa M, Radhika MK (2013) Women exploitation in Indian modern society. Int J Sci Res Publ 3(2):1–11

Natile S (2019) Regulating exclusions? gender, development and the limits of inclusionary financial platforms. Int J Law Context 15(4):461–478. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744552319000417

Ouma SA, Odongo TM, Were M (2017) Mobile financial services and financial inclusion: Is it a boon for savings mobilization? Rev Dev Financ 7(1):29–35

Pande R (1999) Structural Violence and Women’s Health–Work in the Beedi Industry in India. In: Violence and Health, Proceedings of WHO Global Symposium. WHO, pp. 192–205

Patil S, Kokate K (2017) Identifying factors governing attitude of rural women towards self-help groups using principal component analysis. J Rural Stud 55:157–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.08.003

Prina S (2015) Banking the poor via savings accounts: evidence from a field experiment. J Dev Econ 115:16–31

Priya P, Venkatesh A, Shukla A (2021) Two decades of theorising and measuring women’s empowerment: literature review and future research agenda. Women’s Stud Int Forum 87(Jul):102495. Pergamon

Ramachandar L, Pelto PJ (2009) Self-help groups in Bellary: microfinance and women’s empowerment. J Fam Welf 55(2):1–16

Rowley J, Slack F (2004) Conducting a literature review. Management research news

Roy P, Patro B (2022) Financial inclusion of women and gender gap in access to finance: a systematic literature review. Vision 26(3):282–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/09722629221104205

Roy S, Ara J, Das N, Quisumbing AR (2015) Flypaper effects” in transfers targeted to women: evidence from BRAC’s “Targeting the Ultra Poor” program in Bangladesh. J Dev Econ 117:1–19

Schaner S (2017) The cost of convenience? Transaction costs, bargaining power, and savings account use in Kenya. J Hum Resour 52(4):919–945

Seguino S (2010) The global economic crisis, its gender and ethnic implications, and policy responses. Gend Dev 18(2):179–199

Selçuk AA (2019) A guide for systematic reviews: PRISMA. Turk Arch Otorhinolaryngol 57(1):57

Sen A (1990) Gender and Cooperative Conflicts. In: Tinker I (eds) Persistent inequalities. Oxford University Press, New York

Soumare I, Tchana Tchana F, Kengne TM (2016) Analysis of the determinants of financial inclusion in Central and West Africa. Transnatl Corp Rev 8(4):231–249

Squires M (2018) Kinship taxation as an impediment to growth: experimental evidence from Kenyan microenterprises. Working paper. VSE, University of British Columbia

Stark L, Seff I, Assezenew A, Eoomkham J, Falb K, Ssewamala FM (2018) Effects of a social empowerment intervention on economic vulnerability for adolescent refugee girls in Ethiopia. J Adolesc Health 62(1):S15–S20

Staudt KA, Jaquette JS (1982) Women and development. Women Polit 2(4):1–6

Stovold E, Beecher D, Foxlee R, Noel-Storr A (2014) Study flow diagrams in Cochrane systematic review updates: an adapted PRISMA flow diagram. Syst Rev 3(1):1–5

Suri T, Jack W (2016) The long-run poverty and gender impacts of mobile money. Science 354(6317):1288–1292

Article   ADS   CAS   PubMed   Google Scholar  

Swamy V (2014) Financial inclusion, gender dimension, and economic impact on poor households. World Dev 56:1–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.10.019

Tinker I (1976) The adverse impact of development on women. Women and World Development . pp. 22–34

Tinker I (1990) Persistent inequalities. Women and world development

Tinker I, Summerfield G (1999) Women’s rights to house and land: China, Laos, Vietnam. Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, Colorado. ISBN 9781555878177

Tiwari J, Schaub E, Sultana N (2019) Barriers to “last mile” financial inclusion: cases from northern Kenya. Dev Pract 29(8):988–1000

Valdivia M (2015) Business training plus for female entrepreneurship? Short and medium-term experimental evidence from Peru. J Dev Econ 113:33–51

Vieira E, Gomes J (2009) A comparison of scopus and web of science for a typical university. Scientometrics 81(2):587–600

Vithanagama R (2016) Women’s economic empowerment: A literature review. Horizon Printing (Pvt.) Ltd., Pannipitiya, Sri Lanka

Walby S (1989) Theorising patriarchy. Sociology 23(2):213–234

Webster J, Watson RT (2022) Analyzing the past to prepare for the future: writing a literature review. MIS Q 26(2):xiii–xxiii. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4132319

Xiao Y, Watson M (2019) Guidance on conducting a systematic literature review. J plan Educ Res 39(1):93–112

Zhang Q, Posso A (2017) Microfinance and gender inequality: cross-country evidence. Appl Econ Lett 24(20):1494–1498. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2017.1287851

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Pranveer Singh Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

Omika Bhalla Saluja, Priyanka Singh & Harit Kumar

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Omika Bhalla Saluja .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethical approval

Our study is designed to provide an objective, honest, and unbiased review. This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary information

Rights and permissions.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Saluja, O.B., Singh, P. & Kumar, H. Barriers and interventions on the way to empower women through financial inclusion: a 2 decades systematic review (2000–2020). Humanit Soc Sci Commun 10 , 148 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01640-y

Download citation

Received : 26 August 2022

Accepted : 23 March 2023

Published : 07 April 2023

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-023-01640-y

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

This article is cited by

Financial well-being of women self-help group members: a qualitative study.

• Barun Srivastava
• Vinay Kandpal
• Arvind Kumar Jain

Environment, Development and Sustainability (2024)

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

Explore Community Content

FinDev Gateway hosts the largest, free collection of online resources on microfinance and financial inclusion. Explore over 8,000 publications, trainings, events, jobs and announcements which have been curated by our editors and submitted by a wide range of organizations from around the world.

Learn how you can share content >

Financial Access Survey

The Financial Access Survey, launched in 2009, is a supply-side dataset on access to and use of financial services aimed at supporting policymakers to measure and monitor financial inclusion and benchmark progress against peers. The FAS is based on administrative data collected by central banks and other financial regulators.  

The dataset covers 189 countries spanning more than 10 years and contains 121 time-series on financial access and use. To facilitate cross-country comparison, the FAS also publishes 64 indicators that are normalized relative to the size of adult population, land area, and gross domestic product.

The data is disaggregated by the type of financial service provider (e.g. commercial banks, credit unions, and microfinance institutions) and the type of financial service (e.g. deposits, loans, and insurance). The FAS started collecting data on mobile money in 2014 and gender-disaggregated data in 2017.

To drive inclusive finance in Nigeria, and  EFInA and WSBI’s Scale2Save program are launching the Persona Segmentation Toolkit which allows financial institutions in Nigeria to use the EFInA financial access data, demographic, and socio economic household data in a simple, practical way.

Conducted from June to December 2020, the CGAP Global Pulse Survey of Microfinance Institutions was the first survey that aims to capture the full picture of COVID-19’s impact on microfinance at the global, regional, and national levels.

A listing of coronavirus-related data useful for the microfinance sector and the financial inclusion community. Learn who is tracking what.

Publications Index

10 research questions.

January 2012 By Jonathan Morduch

10 Research Questions: A Research Framing Note High quality evidence on the state of financial access around the world is advancing rapidly, as the chapters of this book illustrate. A happy consequence of increasing knowledge is the ability to better recognize what we don’t yet know. Here are ten questions, some micro, some macro, that need answers if we are to make informed decisions on how to improve financial access. 

January 1, 2012

Jonathan Morduch

Download full publication

STAY CONNECTED

PUBLICATIONS

NYU Wagner Graduate School 295 Lafayette Street, Second Floor New York, NY 10012-9604

© 2024 Financial Access Initiative NYU Accessibility Guidelines

Research Topics & Ideas: Finance

120+ Finance Research Topic Ideas To Fast-Track Your Project

If you’re just starting out exploring potential research topics for your finance-related dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research topic ideation process by providing a hearty list of finance-centric research topics and ideas.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . To develop a suitable education-related research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan of action to fill that gap.

If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, if you’d like hands-on help, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Overview: Finance Research Topics

• Corporate finance topics
• Investment banking topics
• Private equity & VC
• Asset management
• Hedge funds
• Financial planning & advisory
• Quantitative finance
• Treasury management
• Financial technology (FinTech)
• Commercial banking
• International finance

Corporate Finance

These research topic ideas explore a breadth of issues ranging from the examination of capital structure to the exploration of financial strategies in mergers and acquisitions.

• Evaluating the impact of capital structure on firm performance across different industries
• Assessing the effectiveness of financial management practices in emerging markets
• A comparative analysis of the cost of capital and financial structure in multinational corporations across different regulatory environments
• Examining how integrating sustainability and CSR initiatives affect a corporation’s financial performance and brand reputation
• Analysing how rigorous financial analysis informs strategic decisions and contributes to corporate growth
• Examining the relationship between corporate governance structures and financial performance
• A comparative analysis of financing strategies among mergers and acquisitions
• Evaluating the importance of financial transparency and its impact on investor relations and trust
• Investigating the role of financial flexibility in strategic investment decisions during economic downturns
• Investigating how different dividend policies affect shareholder value and the firm’s financial performance

Investment Banking

The list below presents a series of research topics exploring the multifaceted dimensions of investment banking, with a particular focus on its evolution following the 2008 financial crisis.

• Analysing the evolution and impact of regulatory frameworks in investment banking post-2008 financial crisis
• Investigating the challenges and opportunities associated with cross-border M&As facilitated by investment banks.
• Evaluating the role of investment banks in facilitating mergers and acquisitions in emerging markets
• Analysing the transformation brought about by digital technologies in the delivery of investment banking services and its effects on efficiency and client satisfaction.
• Evaluating the role of investment banks in promoting sustainable finance and the integration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria in investment decisions.
• Assessing the impact of technology on the efficiency and effectiveness of investment banking services
• Examining the effectiveness of investment banks in pricing and marketing IPOs, and the subsequent performance of these IPOs in the stock market.
• A comparative analysis of different risk management strategies employed by investment banks
• Examining the relationship between investment banking fees and corporate performance
• A comparative analysis of competitive strategies employed by leading investment banks and their impact on market share and profitability

Private Equity & Venture Capital (VC)

These research topic ideas are centred on venture capital and private equity investments, with a focus on their impact on technological startups, emerging technologies, and broader economic ecosystems.

• Investigating the determinants of successful venture capital investments in tech startups
• Analysing the trends and outcomes of venture capital funding in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, or clean energy
• Assessing the performance and return on investment of different exit strategies employed by venture capital firms
• Assessing the impact of private equity investments on the financial performance of SMEs
• Analysing the role of venture capital in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship
• Evaluating the exit strategies of private equity firms: A comparative analysis
• Exploring the ethical considerations in private equity and venture capital financing
• Investigating how private equity ownership influences operational efficiency and overall business performance
• Evaluating the effectiveness of corporate governance structures in companies backed by private equity investments
• Examining how the regulatory environment in different regions affects the operations, investments and performance of private equity and venture capital firms

Asset Management

This list includes a range of research topic ideas focused on asset management, probing into the effectiveness of various strategies, the integration of technology, and the alignment with ethical principles among other key dimensions.

• Analysing the effectiveness of different asset allocation strategies in diverse economic environments
• Analysing the methodologies and effectiveness of performance attribution in asset management firms
• Assessing the impact of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria on fund performance
• Examining the role of robo-advisors in modern asset management
• Evaluating how advancements in technology are reshaping portfolio management strategies within asset management firms
• Evaluating the performance persistence of mutual funds and hedge funds
• Investigating the long-term performance of portfolios managed with ethical or socially responsible investing principles
• Investigating the behavioural biases in individual and institutional investment decisions
• Examining the asset allocation strategies employed by pension funds and their impact on long-term fund performance
• Assessing the operational efficiency of asset management firms and its correlation with fund performance

Hedge Funds

Here we explore research topics related to hedge fund operations and strategies, including their implications on corporate governance, financial market stability, and regulatory compliance among other critical facets.

• Assessing the impact of hedge fund activism on corporate governance and financial performance
• Analysing the effectiveness and implications of market-neutral strategies employed by hedge funds
• Investigating how different fee structures impact the performance and investor attraction to hedge funds
• Evaluating the contribution of hedge funds to financial market liquidity and the implications for market stability
• Analysing the risk-return profile of hedge fund strategies during financial crises
• Evaluating the influence of regulatory changes on hedge fund operations and performance
• Examining the level of transparency and disclosure practices in the hedge fund industry and its impact on investor trust and regulatory compliance
• Assessing the contribution of hedge funds to systemic risk in financial markets, and the effectiveness of regulatory measures in mitigating such risks
• Examining the role of hedge funds in financial market stability
• Investigating the determinants of hedge fund success: A comparative analysis

Financial Planning and Advisory

This list explores various research topic ideas related to financial planning, focusing on the effects of financial literacy, the adoption of digital tools, taxation policies, and the role of financial advisors.

• Evaluating the impact of financial literacy on individual financial planning effectiveness
• Analysing how different taxation policies influence financial planning strategies among individuals and businesses
• Evaluating the effectiveness and user adoption of digital tools in modern financial planning practices
• Investigating the adequacy of long-term financial planning strategies in ensuring retirement security
• Assessing the role of financial education in shaping financial planning behaviour among different demographic groups
• Examining the impact of psychological biases on financial planning and decision-making, and strategies to mitigate these biases
• Assessing the behavioural factors influencing financial planning decisions
• Examining the role of financial advisors in managing retirement savings
• A comparative analysis of traditional versus robo-advisory in financial planning
• Investigating the ethics of financial advisory practices

The following list delves into research topics within the insurance sector, touching on the technological transformations, regulatory shifts, and evolving consumer behaviours among other pivotal aspects.

• Analysing the impact of technology adoption on insurance pricing and risk management
• Analysing the influence of Insurtech innovations on the competitive dynamics and consumer choices in insurance markets
• Investigating the factors affecting consumer behaviour in insurance product selection and the role of digital channels in influencing decisions
• Assessing the effect of regulatory changes on insurance product offerings
• Examining the determinants of insurance penetration in emerging markets
• Evaluating the operational efficiency of claims management processes in insurance companies and its impact on customer satisfaction
• Examining the evolution and effectiveness of risk assessment models used in insurance underwriting and their impact on pricing and coverage
• Evaluating the role of insurance in financial stability and economic development
• Investigating the impact of climate change on insurance models and products
• Exploring the challenges and opportunities in underwriting cyber insurance in the face of evolving cyber threats and regulations

Quantitative Finance

These topic ideas span the development of asset pricing models, evaluation of machine learning algorithms, and the exploration of ethical implications among other pivotal areas.

• Developing and testing new quantitative models for asset pricing
• Analysing the effectiveness and limitations of machine learning algorithms in predicting financial market movements
• Assessing the effectiveness of various risk management techniques in quantitative finance
• Evaluating the advancements in portfolio optimisation techniques and their impact on risk-adjusted returns
• Evaluating the impact of high-frequency trading on market efficiency and stability
• Investigating the influence of algorithmic trading strategies on market efficiency and liquidity
• Examining the risk parity approach in asset allocation and its effectiveness in different market conditions
• Examining the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence in quantitative financial analysis
• Investigating the ethical implications of quantitative financial innovations
• Assessing the profitability and market impact of statistical arbitrage strategies considering different market microstructures

Treasury Management

The following topic ideas explore treasury management, focusing on modernisation through technological advancements, the impact on firm liquidity, and the intertwined relationship with corporate governance among other crucial areas.

• Analysing the impact of treasury management practices on firm liquidity and profitability
• Analysing the role of automation in enhancing operational efficiency and strategic decision-making in treasury management
• Evaluating the effectiveness of various cash management strategies in multinational corporations
• Investigating the potential of blockchain technology in streamlining treasury operations and enhancing transparency
• Examining the role of treasury management in mitigating financial risks
• Evaluating the accuracy and effectiveness of various cash flow forecasting techniques employed in treasury management
• Assessing the impact of technological advancements on treasury management operations
• Examining the effectiveness of different foreign exchange risk management strategies employed by treasury managers in multinational corporations
• Assessing the impact of regulatory compliance requirements on the operational and strategic aspects of treasury management
• Investigating the relationship between treasury management and corporate governance

Financial Technology (FinTech)

The following research topic ideas explore the transformative potential of blockchain, the rise of open banking, and the burgeoning landscape of peer-to-peer lending among other focal areas.

• Evaluating the impact of blockchain technology on financial services
• Investigating the implications of open banking on consumer data privacy and financial services competition
• Assessing the role of FinTech in financial inclusion in emerging markets
• Analysing the role of peer-to-peer lending platforms in promoting financial inclusion and their impact on traditional banking systems
• Examining the cybersecurity challenges faced by FinTech firms and the regulatory measures to ensure data protection and financial stability
• Examining the regulatory challenges and opportunities in the FinTech ecosystem
• Assessing the impact of artificial intelligence on the delivery of financial services, customer experience, and operational efficiency within FinTech firms
• Analysing the adoption and impact of cryptocurrencies on traditional financial systems
• Investigating the determinants of success for FinTech startups

Commercial Banking

These topic ideas span commercial banking, encompassing digital transformation, support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and the evolving regulatory and competitive landscape among other key themes.

• Assessing the impact of digital transformation on commercial banking services and competitiveness
• Analysing the impact of digital transformation on customer experience and operational efficiency in commercial banking
• Evaluating the role of commercial banks in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
• Investigating the effectiveness of credit risk management practices and their impact on bank profitability and financial stability
• Examining the relationship between commercial banking practices and financial stability
• Evaluating the implications of open banking frameworks on the competitive landscape and service innovation in commercial banking
• Assessing how regulatory changes affect lending practices and risk appetite of commercial banks
• Examining how commercial banks are adapting their strategies in response to competition from FinTech firms and changing consumer preferences
• Analysing the impact of regulatory compliance on commercial banking operations
• Investigating the determinants of customer satisfaction and loyalty in commercial banking

International Finance

The folowing research topic ideas are centred around international finance and global economic dynamics, delving into aspects like exchange rate fluctuations, international financial regulations, and the role of international financial institutions among other pivotal areas.

• Analysing the determinants of exchange rate fluctuations and their impact on international trade
• Analysing the influence of global trade agreements on international financial flows and foreign direct investments
• Evaluating the effectiveness of international portfolio diversification strategies in mitigating risks and enhancing returns
• Evaluating the role of international financial institutions in global financial stability
• Investigating the role and implications of offshore financial centres on international financial stability and regulatory harmonisation
• Examining the impact of global financial crises on emerging market economies
• Examining the challenges and regulatory frameworks associated with cross-border banking operations
• Assessing the effectiveness of international financial regulations
• Investigating the challenges and opportunities of cross-border mergers and acquisitions

Choosing A Research Topic

These finance-related research topic ideas are starting points to guide your thinking. They are intentionally very broad and open-ended. By engaging with the currently literature in your field of interest, you’ll be able to narrow down your focus to a specific research gap .

When choosing a topic , you’ll need to take into account its originality, relevance, feasibility, and the resources you have at your disposal. Make sure to align your interest and expertise in the subject with your university program’s specific requirements. Always consult your academic advisor to ensure that your chosen topic not only meets the academic criteria but also provides a valuable contribution to the field. 

If you need a helping hand, feel free to check out our private coaching service here.

You Might Also Like:

thank you for suggest those topic, I want to ask you about the subjects related to the fintech, can i measure it and how?

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning from Diverse Perspectives

Subscribe to the brookings metro update, anna paulson and ap anna paulson senior economist audrey singer as audrey singer.

October 1, 2004

• 14 min read

Policymakers and academics are now catching up to financial institutions in their desire to understand how and why immigrants use U.S. financial markets. “Financial Access for Immigrants: Learning from Diverse Perspectives,” a conference co-sponsored by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program (formerly the Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, was held at the Chicago Fed on April 15-16, 2004. It included presentations from scholars and practitioners who discussed recent research on the financial practices of immigrants as well as the practical experiences of for-profit and nonprofit institutions working to provide financial services to the immigrant community.

Underscoring the broad interest in immigrant financial access, the conference audience was made up of financial institution representatives, academics, regulators, policymakers, and representatives of communitybased organizations and immigrant advocacy organizations. This Policy Brief highlights the research findings that were presented at the conference. To access the full conference presentations, visit the Chicago Fed’s homepage (www.chicagofed.org). Click on “Community Development” to get to the Center for the Study of Financial Access for Immigrants and the National Conference agenda.

FINANCIAL ACCESS FOR IMMIGRANTS

Foreign-born residents of the United States are much less likely than their native-born counterparts to use a wide range of financial services, including savings and checking accounts, business loans, and home mortgages. The degree to which immigrants have access to financial services has important implications for their current well-being as well as for the success of second generation immigrants. Because immigrants are often members of economically vulnerable groups, access to financial services may provide a means for immigrant households to cope with income uncertainty and to find pathways out of poverty. At the same time, immigrants’ access to financial services, particularly at mainstream institutions, may be hindered by factors such as low income, limited English language proficiency, residential segregation, cultural differences, or lack of experience with banks and other financial institutions.

The U.S. immigrant population grew by an unprecedented 57 percent between 1990 and 2000. One in nine current U.S. residents was born abroad. The 1990s also brought changes in immigrant settlement patterns, with movements away from traditional destinations toward areas that experienced litle immigration over the last century. Although the majority of immigrants currently live in just six states, the growth in the immigrant population in the 1990s was highest in new settlement areas in the Southeastern, Midwestern, and Rocky Mountain regions. These new destinations include major metropolitan areas as well as smaller cities and rural areas.

In the conference’s opening session, Roberto Suro of the Pew Hispanic Center described financial market participation as one aspect of the “long and complicated process of change that takes place when a society is transformed by immigration.” He said that American society is in a state of flux and that the process of assimilation involves changes not just among the newcomers but among the hosts as well. Financial markets are representative of this larger process: the nation’s financial institutions are in the process of adapting to meet the needs of incoming immigrants, and immigrants are in the process of learning the ropes.

There are several reasons to pay close attention to immigrant financial market participation. Financial institutions see immigrants as a large, growing, and relatively untapped market. Hispanics accounted for $653 billion in purchasing power in 2003, and Asians accounted for another $344 billion.

In 2002 alone, immigrants living in the United States sent $25 billion to relatives living in Latin America and the Caribbean. Total remittances to this region grew by 19 percent between 2002 and 2003. Financial institutions both large and small have made attracting immigrants a major focus of their business strategy, spending millions of dollars in advertising and developing products and services tailored to immigrants. As a result, the financial sector is well ahead of the research and policy community in recognizing the potential and the importance of incorporating immigrants into the financial mainstream.

For regulatory agencies, like the Federal Reserve Banks, ensuring fair and equal access to financial products and services is central to their missions. Regulations that formalize this mission, like the Community Reinvestment Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Fair Housing Act make it clear that financial institutions have a responsibility to ensure that their products and services are accessible to all sectors of society, including immigrants.

Community development organizations also have a stake in immigrant financial market participation because greater participation in housing and credit markets can help promote neighborhood stabilization and revitalization. A number of community-based organizations work in immigrant neighborhoods in an effort to fulfill their goals of promoting local economic development, assisting small businesses, and encouraging homeownership.

For researchers, immigrant financial market participation is relatively uncharted ground. While there is a plethora of research examining immigrant labor market and homeownership experiences, and a growing body of literature on the remittance market, there is little academic research on the topic of immigrant financial market incorporation.

CHANGING IMMIGRANT DESTINATIONS

In a presentation based on her paper, “The Rise of New Immigrant Gateways,” Audrey Singer of the Brookings Institution described immigration settlement patterns in historical and comparative perspective. This research shows how the enormous inflows of immigrants in recent decades are beginning to rearrange America’s immigration map, transforming new communities of settlement as well as established destinations.

Metropolitan areas across the United States have been decentralizing, and their suburban areas have grown during the latter part of the twentieth century. At the same time, there has been sustained immigration by a diverse set of immigrants. These trends have produced new immigrant settlement patterns that are affecting everyday life in many areas across the country.

Singer noted that more recent immigrants are going to emerging immigrant gateways such as Atlanta, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and Dallas-Ft. Worth. Thus, an increasing number of metropolitan areas across the United States with relatively small public, private, or informal infrastructure to help incorporate immigrants are facing the challenges associated with a substantial flow of newcomers.

Singer discussed the implications of these new patterns for immigrant incorporation, including the process of linking immigrants to mainstream financial markets. Identifying, developing, and maintaining community partnerships and collaborations enhances an area’s ability to extend services to immigrants. As an illustration, she described how several police departments around the country have initiated programs with local banks to encourage immigrants to open bank accounts. These partnerships help low-income immigrants put their money in banks, which reduces immigrants’ vulnerability to criminals who prey on them.

Although public safety and reducing crime is the impetus for these programs, they also serve to bring immigrants into formal relationships with the banking system and may facilitate longer-term financial integration. These programs also tend to improve relationships between police and immigrants where distrust and language barriers often exist.

IMMIGRANT FINANCIAL MARKET PARTICIPATION

Immigrants are less likely than their native counterparts to use a wide variety of financial services. They may be deterred by lower household incomes, language and cultural differences, and inexperience with domestic financial institutions.

Anna Paulson of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago presented research she conducted with Una Okonkwo Osili of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. Their research focuses on how the quality of country-of-origin institutions shape financial choices that immigrants make once in the United States.

Paulson presented data from the Census Bureau’s Survey on Income and Program Participation (SIPP) from 1996 to 2000 (see figure 1). These data show that immigrants are less likely than native-born Americans to have bank accounts, stock, or to own homes.

In their analysis, institutional quality measures the ability of a country’s institutions to protect private property and provide incentives for investment. On a scale of one to ten, countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg score perfect tens, and the United States is close behind at 9.98. Countries from which many immigrants to the United States originate score above the median of 7.07: Mexico, 7.51; China, 7.79; and Canada, 9.79.

Paulson and Osili look at two aspects of financial market participation: having a savings account and owning stock. To illustrate the impact of home country institutional quality, they demonstrate that immigrants from El Salvador, which has an institutional quality measure of 5.00, would have stock market participation that was 5.25 percentage points higher if El Salvador had been able to achieve Mexico’s institutional quality rating, all else remaining equal. The same increase in institutional quality would raise the likelihood that immigrants have a savings account by 4.75 percentage points.

Paulson and Osili find that the impact of home country institutional quality on immigrant behavior in the United States varies with age at migration. Immigrants who arrive in the United States between the ages of 16 and 21 exhibit behaviors similar to adult immigrants. Since these arrivals would have been unlikely to have had direct experience with financial or other institutions in their countries of origin, Paulson and Osili speculate that their orientation toward home country institutions stems from lessons absorbed at home or in schools in their country of origin.

Immigrants who arrive in the United States before they are sixteen years old exhibit financial market behavior closer to that of the U.S.-born population. Paulson and Osili also show that home country institutional orientation has a persistent influence on immigrant financial decisions–only immigrants who have lived in the United States for thirty-two years or more are unaffected by their home country institutions.

Sherrie Rhine of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York presented research that she conducted with William Green of New York University. They show how the use of checking and/or savings accounts by immigrants compares with that of the native-born, also using data from the SIPP. Their analysis focused on four immigrant groups: Mexicans, other Latin Americans, Europeans, and Asians. Their research shows that the factors that influence whether immigrants have bank accounts varies among these immigrant groups.

Overall, Rhine and Greene find that the most important characteristics influencing the likelihood of having a savings or checking account across most immigrant groups are education, net worth, and household income. The exception was for Mexican immigrants, whose most influential characteristics were poverty, work effort, citizenship status, and year of migration. Among Mexican immigrants, longer U.S. residence and being a U.S. citizen tend to improve the likelihood of having a savings or checking account.

MORTGAGES AND HOMEOWNERSHIP

There are wide disparities in homeownership rates between the native-born and immigrants. Past studies have suggested that a portion of the gap in homeownership rates can be explained by differences in socioeconomic, demographic, or geographic characteristics. More recently, studies have looked to alternative barriers such as citizenship status and language skills to explain differences in homeownership. Sherrie Kossoudji of the University of Michigan and Andrew Schoenholtz of Georgetown University each presented research on the homeownership status of immigrants compared to U.S.-born residents.

Kossoudji reported on joint work with Stan Sedo, also of the University of Michigan. Their analysis focuses on the relationship between immigrant citizenship status and homeownership.

Kossoudji and Sedo find that:

• Naturalized citizens and native-born residents living in urban areas are equally likely to be homeowners;
• Naturalized citizens and native-born homeowners are almost equally likely to have no mortgage, and have similar debt-to-value ratios when they do have a mortgage;
• Noncitizen immigrants lag behind on every measure, no matter how many years they have lived in the United States;
• Homeownership comprises a higher proportion of wealth for both naturalized citizens and non-citizens than it does for native-born U.S. residents.

Schoenholtz identified major barriers to immigrant homeownership and presented best practices to overcome these barriers, which were derived from his study, “Reaching the Immigrant Market and Creating Homeownership Opportunities for New Americans.” The study found the greatest barriers to immigrant homeownership included unfamiliarity with the U.S. credit system, lack of credit history, language limitations, and a limited supply of affordable housing.

In order to help guide institutions to overcome these barriers, Schoenholtz has produced a handbook for financial institutions that describes model programs for reaching immigrants who want to buy homes.

First, financial institutions should identify potential immigrant homeowners and then network with faith-based, ethnic, or neighborhood groups to build bridges to those markets. Through these partnerships, financial institutions can develop relationships with individuals who are engaged in the community, culturally aware, and bilingual. Financial institutions should also provide training on the technical aspects of the mortgage lending industry. Finally, the study recommends that loan products be affordable and better cater to the needs of immigrants.

BUSINESS LENDING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Previous research has shown that immigrants are more likely to be self-employed than native-born Americans. Self-employment continues to be an important means by which immigrants improve their socioeconomic standing. Raising start-up funds is a significant challenge for immigrant entrepreneurs. However, immigrants make little use of bank loans in financing new business ventures. While U.S.-born entrepreneurs are also unlikely to get start-up capital from banks, the reasons that native and immigrant entrepreneurs do not use bank loans are likely to differ.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago’s Maude Toussaint-Comeau described patterns of entrepreneurship among immigrant groups. She reported that personal assets are the main source of business financing for immigrants and highlighted other sources of start-up capital. The majority of immigrant entrepreneurs are ethnic minorities and often face language barriers that can hinder entrepreneurial behavior. Immigrants are more likely to start businesses in areas with high concentrations of other immigrants who speak their language and/or who come from the same country as they do. Toussaint-Comeau highlighted the importance of affordable housing in neighborhoods adjacent to concentrations of ethnic businesses.

Pyong Gap Min of Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York focused his presentation on sources of start-up capital for Asian entrepreneurs. He stressed that ethnic sources of start-up capital are not used as widely as is commonly thought. Summarizing results from studies of Korean, Taiwanese, and Japanese immigrants, he showed that Asian immigrants rely mainly on personal assets to start businesses. Recently, Asian immigrant newcomers have turned to homeland or ethnic banks for start-up capital because credit checks are simpler than in mainstream institutions, and there are typically no language barriers.

In her research on micro-lending in unincorporated cities along the U.S.-Mexico border, Barbara Robles discussed the unique economic situation of the Borderlands area and how microenterprise activities supported by community-based organizations there encourage eventual transition to mainstream economic activities. Although the Borderlands are a distinct region of the United States, they exemplify the importance of establishing trust and longevity in ethnic enclaves in order to achieve sustainable community development in an area. Robles emphasized that models that work best are built inside communities rather than externally imposed.

INTERNATIONAL LINKAGES AND REMITTANCE FLOWS

Existing research focuses on potential motivations for sending remittances, which include altruism, financing emigration of family members, investment in the human capital of family back home—such as in education and medical care—insuring family against regional shocks, and investment in economic development projects in hometown communities. The large flow of dollars from the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean has focused recent research attention on examining patterns of remittances from the United States to this region.

B. Lindsay Lowell of Georgetown University discussed the factors that may contribute to a slowing of remittance flows from the United States to Latin America and the Caribbean. According to Lowell, an estimated $19.3 billion in remittances was sent from the United States to Mexico and Central America in 2003. His analysis examines the role of duration of stay in the United States and level of education in explaining remittance flows.

Lowell finds that remitting decreases as time spent in the United States increases. Since the proportion of immigrants who have been in the United States less than ten years is a decreasing share of all immigrants, Lowell speculates that growth in remittances will slow down relative to the growth rates observed between 1990 and 2000.

Lowell also finds that since more educated immigrants tend to migrate to the United States with their families, they have less need to send money back home. As a result, they tend to remit less and stop remitting sooner compared to less-skilled immigrants.

Manuel Orozco of Georgetown University presented his paper, “The Remittance Marketplace: Prices, Policy and Financial Institutions,” which focused on changes in the remittance market, especially the cost of sending remittances over the past ten to fifteen years. He noted that while transfer costs have been gradually declining, fees remain expensive, with transfer costs varying depending on the receiving country.

Another key finding of Orozco’s study is that banks have captured only a very small fraction of the remittance market (see figure 2). Although many banks and credit unions have initiated remittance services in recent years, money transfer firms remain the dominant players in this market. Orozco pointed out links between the provision of remittance services and other financial products, emphasizing the potential for banks that offer remittance services to reach out to people without savings and checking accounts. He argues that remittance services present a major opportunity for banks to establish long-term relationships with immigrant remittance senders.

Brookings Metro

February 15, 2024

Greg Wright, Emma Berman

September 29, 2023

Stan Veuger, Tara Watson, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Leah Boustan

August 11, 2023

Get tips to file federal and state tax returns, boost tax refunds, avoid IRS penalties and more.

Popular Searches

AARP daily Crossword Puzzle

Hotels with AARP discounts

Life Insurance

AARP Dental Insurance Plans

Suggested Links

AARP MEMBERSHIP — $12 FOR YOUR FIRST YEAR WHEN YOU SIGN UP FOR AUTOMATIC RENEWAL

Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

• right_container

Work & Jobs

Social Security

AARP en Español

• Membership & Benefits
• AARP Rewards
• AARP Rewards %{points}%

Conditions & Treatments

Drugs & Supplements

Health Care & Coverage

Health Benefits

Staying Fit

Your Personalized Guide to Fitness

AARP Hearing Center

Ways To Improve Your Hearing

Brain Health Resources

Tools and Explainers on Brain Health

How to Save Your Own Life

Scams & Fraud

Personal Finance

Money Benefits

View and Report Scams in Your Area

AARP Foundation Tax-Aide

Free Tax Preparation Assistance

AARP Money Map

Get Your Finances Back on Track

Budget & Savings

Make Your Appliances Last Longer

Small Business

Age Discrimination

Flexible Work

Freelance Jobs You Can Do From Home

AARP Skills Builder

Online Courses to Boost Your Career

31 Great Ways to Boost Your Career

ON-DEMAND WEBINARS

Tips to Enhance Your Job Search

Get More out of Your Benefits

When to Start Taking Social Security

10 Top Social Security FAQs

Social Security Benefits Calculator

Medicare Made Easy

Original vs. Medicare Advantage

Enrollment Guide

Step-by-Step Tool for First-Timers

Prescription Drugs

9 Biggest Changes Under New Rx Law

Medicare FAQs

Quick Answers to Your Top Questions

Care at Home

Financial & Legal

Life Balance

LONG-TERM CARE

​Understanding Basics of LTC Insurance​

State Guides

Assistance and Services in Your Area

Prepare to Care Guides

How to Develop a Caregiving Plan

End of Life

How to Cope With Grief, Loss

Recently Played

Word & Trivia

Atari® & Retro

Members Only

Staying Sharp

Mobile Apps

More About Games

Right Again! Trivia

Right Again! Trivia – Sports

Atari® Video Games

Throwback Thursday Crossword

Travel Tips

Vacation Ideas

Destinations

Travel Benefits

Beach vacation ideas

Vacations for Sun and Fun

Plan Ahead for Tourist Taxes

AARP City Guide

Discover Seattle

How to Pick the Right Cruise for You

Entertainment & Style

Family & Relationships

Personal Tech

Home & Living

Celebrities

Beauty & Style

TV for Grownups

Best Reality TV Shows for Grownups

Robert De Niro Reflects on His Life

Free Online Novel

Read 'Chase'

Sex & Dating

Spice Up Your Love Life

Navigate All Kinds of Connections

How to Create a Home Gym

Store Medical Records on Your Phone?

Maximize the Life of Your Phone Battery

Virtual Community Center

Join Free Tech Help Events

Create a Hygge Haven

Soups to Comfort Your Soul

AARP Smart Guide

Spring Clean All of Your Spaces

Driver Safety

Maintenance & Safety

Trends & Technology

How to Keep Your Car Running

We Need To Talk

Assess Your Loved One's Driving Skills

AARP Smart Driver Course

Building Resilience in Difficult Times

Tips for Finding Your Calm

Weight Loss After 50 Challenge

Cautionary Tales of Today's Biggest Scams

7 Top Podcasts for Armchair Travelers

Jean Chatzky: ‘Closing the Savings Gap’

Quick Digest of Today's Top News

AARP Top Tips for Navigating Life

Get Moving With Our Workout Series

You are now leaving AARP.org and going to a website that is not operated by AARP. A different privacy policy and terms of service will apply.

Go to Series Main Page

Financial Access Challenges for Older Adults

The financial security of older adults varies tremendously from those who have access to bank or credit union accounts, mobile banking, and credit cards to those who may lack bank accounts entirely. COVID-19 is highlighting these gaps and its wake will strain household finances even more as banking practices and available services change. 

An estimated 3.5 million households headed by someone age 50 or older had no checking or savings accounts at a bank or credit union in 2017. People give multiple reasons for foregoing bank accounts. Many say they simply do not have enough money to keep in an account, while others cite concerns about fees, privacy, or a basic distrust of banks. But bank accounts are a basic – and critical—financial product. Without an account, consumers may ultimately end up paying twice for the most basic of tasks: first to convert paper checks to cash and again to purchase money orders or pay bills in person.

This fact sheet examines these and other findings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC’s) 2017 Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households regarding account ownership, account access methods, and credit activity for older adults.

When the 3.5 million unbanked older households are combined with older households that have accounts but also use alternative services such as check cashers or payday lenders, it amounts to 14.7 million households 50 and older who are underserved by the financial mainstream. Overall, among households with incomes less than $40,000 annually, two out of every five headed by someone age 50 to 64, and one out of every five headed by someone age 65 or older, are unbanked or underbanked.  These trends vary significantly by income, race and ethnicity, and geography. For example, among households headed by someone age 50 to 64, 3 percent of White non-Hispanic households had no bank accounts, while African American/Black non-Hispanic households had unbanked rates more than five and a half times as high, and Hispanic/Latino households more than four times as high.

These major gaps in financial access demonstrate disparities that have become particularly troublesome during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those without bank accounts face added costs, risks, and obstacles in an environment where electronic payments take precedence over cash; those with bank accounts may have limited access to bank tellers, normally the most frequently used account access method for households age 65 and older. Meanwhile, alternative sources of credit run the risk of trapping vulnerable borrowers deeper in debt.

Although the 2017 findings reported in this fact sheet reflect a pre-COVID-19 environment, the potential challenges they illustrate remain relevant—and even more so—to the financial security of older adults during and after the pandemic. An appendix to this fact sheet also provides two tables with state-level data from this survey pertaining to the 50+ population: a table with unbanked and underbanked counts and rates by state, and a table with state-level indicators for major credit cards and high-cost loans.

Suggested citation

Valenti, Joe.  Financial Access Challenges for Older Adults.  Washington, DC: AARP Public Policy Institute  https://doi.org/10.26419/ppi.00108.001

MORE FROM AARP

The Importance of Auto Features in Promoting Retirement Savings

A state-sponsored retirement savings plan could help millions of private-sector workers who are not covered by an employer plan build financial security.

Job Loss, Health Problems Worsen Debt Among Adults 50+

A new AARP survey on debt among adults 50+ reveals that crises such as job loss, health problems, and the high cost of living can worsen debt problems.    

Saving for Retirement Is a Struggle for Older Chicagoans

Three quarters of metro Chicago residents ages 45 and older are anxious they aren’t saving enough to live comfortably in retirement, AARP found.

AARP & the US Chamber of Commerce Present: Emergency Savings: Where We Are and the Way Forward

AARP and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are excited to present a one-day, in-person conference titled Emergency Savings: Where We Are and the Way Forward.

Priority Issues for U.S. Women Age 45+

Reports on questions pertaining to the financial standing, security, and future of American women 45-plus, asked as part of AARP Research's larger Vital Voices research.

Financial Research Paper Topics: Interesting Finance Questions to Uncover

Are you having trouble thinking of a good topic for your finance research paper? Believe it or not, you are not alone. It might be difficult to find the perfect financial research topic time and time again. After all, picking the right subject is crucial to your financial field. Whether you’re putting together a presentation, penning an essay, or doing research papers, your choice of subject is of critical significance.

To aid you in overcoming this obstacle, we have compiled a detailed list of organized finance topics for research papers. If you want to be sure you choose the right subject for your financial management efforts, we’ve provided a concise guide with crucial advice.

How to Choose Topics for a Finance Research Paper?

If you need assistance deciding on a subject for your finance research paper, here are some pointers. But before we get into those pointers, it’s important to keep in mind that custom writing services may be a great resource for choosing finance topics for your research paper. You may save yourself time and effort by relying on their staff of seasoned writers to help you choose a subject that is both interesting and applicable to your assignment. The following are three guidelines for deciding on a subject for a finance research paper:

• Find Unanswered Questions : Try to pinpoint issues that haven’t received enough attention so far in financial research. You may add to the corpus of knowledge already available by identifying information gaps. Investigate financial management, traditional finance, corporate finance, personal finance and similar topics in order to develop a workable solution or to provide novel ideas.
• Review Existing Literature : Gaining familiarity with the state of the art in finance research requires reading theses and academic articles. Doing so will aid you in pinpointing certain niches in which you may excel. Search the literature for broad perspectives or recurring themes that might help you zero in on a particular issue.
• Stay Updated and Seek Input : Conduct internet research to keep up with the latest financial concerns. Investigate pressing concerns in the industry, such as the effects of the global financial crisis or new developments in the financial markets. You should also talk about your topic with others who have written research papers, such as your friends, classmates, or professors. Getting their thoughts might help you hone your subject and provide vital information.

Where to Get Data for Finance Papers?

It is crucial to get accurate and up-to-date information while conducting studies in the financial sector. One efficient method is to pay for papers or to hire a finance researcher and analysts to do the work for you, especially when it comes to personal finance.

• ProQuest is a significant tool since it provides access to scholarly literature from every field of study in the form of periodicals, newspapers, industry reports, dissertations, and profiles of prominent businesses.
• Scopus and Web of Science provide a plethora of resources, including journals, books, and conference proceedings, that provide comprehensive coverage across academic subjects.
• Global Financial Data (GFD) is one such database that caters only to finance research, and its extensive research has a wealth of data on various asset classes, prices, indexes, and currency exchange rates.
• Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters Datastream, and WRDS provide faculty and researchers with institutional access to a plethora of financial data and tools. This includes real-time market data, financial statements, economic indicators, and personal finance topics to write about.

List of Finance Research Topics

This exhaustive list covers everything you need, whether you’re an MBA student, a finance management professional, or a college student. Explore the exciting field of finance research, delving into areas like healthcare financing, the latest developments in the field, corporate finance, and the aftereffects of the global financial crisis. The finance research papers” in this volume will keep you interested and well-informed.

Finance Research Topics for MBA

Investment analysis, financial management, and personal finance are just a few of the many disciplines that fall under the umbrella of finance research subjects for MBA students. Such topics in finance are essential because they provide MBA students with a solid grounding in financial theory and practice. Here are a few suggestions for MBA students looking for research topics in finance:

• Risk Management Strategies in Financial Institutions.
• Behavioral Finance in Investment Decision-Making.
• Financial Inclusion and Economic Development.
• Comparative Analysis of IFRS Adoption and Financial Reporting Quality.
• Impact of Financial Technology (Fintech) on Traditional Banking.

Finance Management Research Topics

Finance management topics include a broad spectrum of areas that dive into the complexities of managing financial resources in different contexts. Investment analysis, risk management, financial markets, and corporate finance all fall under finance management. Writing a finance research paper helps you understand financial decision-making, develop effective strategies, and advance the field. Before commencing your research paper, consider the following finance research paper ideas:

• Corporate Risk Management Strategies On Firm Performance.
• Benefit Investment Management Practices In Pension Funds.
• Assessing Financial Risks And Mitigation Techniques In Developing Market Multinationals.
• Electronic Banking And Financial Inclusion In Developed And Developing Nations.
• An Empirical Study Of Investor Behavior And Global Finance Data.

Healthcare Finance Research Topics

Explore the application of financial theory to the healthcare sector while writing about finance research paper topics. This financial research is essential for expanding our knowledge of healthcare economics, investment strategies, cost control, and healthcare policy. Finance researchers may also investigate intricate monetary systems to enhance healthcare services and the health of patients. Some healthcare finance topics might include the following:

• Impact Of Healthcare Policy On Financial Sustainability.
• Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Of Healthcare Interventions.
• Healthcare Reimbursement Models And Their Impact On Healthcare Providers.
• Economic Evaluation Of Preventive Healthcare Programs.
• Healthcare Financing And Access To Care For Underserved Populations.

Interesting Finance Dissertation Topics

For the purposes of writing finance research papers and finishing a dissertation, investigating interesting finance topics is essential. You can gain a more thorough comprehension of economic principles and their real-world applications. In order to have a high-quality research paper done quickly and with no effort, it’s a good idea to look into help with dissertation writing services. For your next research paper, you can consider the following interesting financial topics:

• The banking sector and digital transformation: customer experience and operational effectiveness.
• Corporate risk management strategies in the banking industry: Traditional vs. developing risk management procedures.
• A case study of emerging nations and how well-functioning financial systems foster economic progress.
• Financial aid programs in promoting access to higher education
• A post-pandemic examination of banking institutions’ resilience and regulatory measures’ systemic risk mitigation.

Current Research Topics in Finance

Examining current finance research paper topics is essential due to the dynamic nature of the financial industry. By digging into current financial topics to write about, you learn more about the market, investing methods, risk management, and more. This financial research supports decision-making, policy-making, and the development of new financial solutions. Here are a few lists of subjects to consider if you are looking for current financial topics to write about.

• Financial Statement Analysis And Investment Decisions In Different Industries.
• Exploring The Effectiveness Of Machine Learning Algorithms In Predicting Financial Asset Prices.
• The Role Of Financial Derivatives In Managing Risk And Enhancing Returns In The Business Sector.
• Corporate Governance Practices On Financial Performance And Asset Valuation.
• Sustainable Finance Projects In Promoting Environmental, Social, And Governance (ESG) Goals.

Best Finance Research Topics

A finance research paper topic requires the identification of intriguing subjects for extensive research. The best financial research opens the door to explorations of many facets of finance, including investing tactics and the stock market. As you start to write research papers on finance topics, you’ll open up opportunities for self-discovery, theory-building, and prudent decision-making. You’ll also help them become better researchers and writers, leading to better articles.

• Artificial Intelligence and Financial Decision-Making.
• Financial Risk Management in the Age of Cryptocurrencies.
• Behavioral Finance and Investment Decision-Making.
• The Effectiveness of Financial Regulations in Preventing Market Manipulation.
• The Role of Fintech in Financial Inclusion: Case Studies from the United States.

Interesting Finance Topics for College Students

Among the many subsets that make up the umbrella term finance topics for college students are financial research and finance topics for paper. Financial research topics are important because they help students learn the fundamentals of finance, get them ready for the issues they’ll face in the real world, and develop the analytical thinking they’ll need to make sound judgments in the future. Here are a few examples of finance topics to talk about among college students:

• A Comparative Study of E-commerce on Traditional Retail Banking.
• Comparing Interest Rate Changes with Stock Market Volatility in Developed and Emerging Markets.
• The Effectiveness of Microfinance Institutions in Alleviating Poverty.
• Financial Education Programs and College Students’ Financial Decision-Making.
• Initial Public Offering (IPO) Underpricing: Comparative Study of Developed and Developing Markets.

Finance Research Paper Topics for University Students

Investing, banking, corporate finance, and other areas fall under the umbrella of finance-related topics for the purposes of a university research paper. Because it deepens their knowledge, sparks new ideas, and helps the financial sector expand, topics in finance are more important for college students to study. Students who buy custom assignments benefit from individualized attention, time savings, and the insight of subject matter experts. Check out our extensive finance research topic list to uncover interesting topics for your next paper.

• Interest Rate Changes On Corporate Borrowing And Investment Decisions.
• Financial Literacy And Investment Behavior Among University Students.
• Impact Of International Trade And Globalization On Financial Markets.
• Factors Influencing Mergers And Acquisitions In The Financial Industry.
• Financial Derivatives In Managing Risk In The Stock Market.

Public Finance Research Topics

Research Topics in Public Finance include a broad spectrum of questions concerning fiscal and monetary policy at the national, state, and local levels of government. Understanding the effects of government spending and fiscal policies on GDP growth, income distribution, and social welfare is essential, which is why studies in this field are so important. Policymakers can do better for the world when they have access to information on financial research paper topics to read about.

• The potential of digital currencies as financial assets in public finance management.
• Impact of Tax Policy on Economic Growth: A Comparative Study.
• Government Debt and its Implications on Fiscal Sustainability.
• Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Development.
• Effectiveness of Fiscal Stimulus Packages in Times of Economic Crisis.

Corporate Finance Research Topics

Corporate Finance Research explores various financial management topics within businesses. Conducting research in this area is crucial for understanding financial decision-making, risk management, capital structure, and valuation. It helps companies optimize their financial strategies, make informed investment decisions, and enhance overall financial performance.

• Corporate Governance and Financial Performance: An Industry Comparison.
• Debt Financing in Manufacturing Sector Corporate Investment Decisions.
• Corporate Taxation and Capital Structure Decisions: A Comparative Study of Countries.
• Corporate Venture Capital and Startup Financing: A Comparative Analysis.
• Corporate Governance Mechanisms and Capital Allocation Efficiency: Emerging Markets.

Business Finance Research Topics

Subjects that fall under the umbrella of business finance topics include any and all discussions of how businesses handle their money, from budgeting to investing to making important business decisions. Researching business finance is essential since it reveals new tendencies, aids in the creation of cutting-edge tactics, and boosts monetary output. It helps companies maintain competitiveness in a fast-paced industry and make well-informed choices. These samples can assist you whether you are looking for financial research paper topics or investment research paper ideas.

• Corporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance.
• Exchange Rate Fluctuations on International Business Transactions.
• Financial Innovation and SME Financing.
• Financial Markets in Economic Development.
• Financial Leverage and Firm Value in Different Industries.

Related posts:

• Proposal Essay Topics Ideas

200 Best Ideas for Research Paper Topics in 2023

• Good Essay Topics & Ideas for College by Edusson
• Medical Research Paper Topics: Ideas on Healthcare and Medical Science

Improve your writing with our guides

Psychology Essay Topic: Theories Explaining Human growth and Development

Reflection Paper Topics: Art

Get 15% off your first order with edusson.

Connect with a professional writer within minutes by placing your first order. No matter the subject, difficulty, academic level or document type, our writers have the skills to complete it.

100% privacy. No spam ever.

Access to Credit Reduces the Value of Insurance

We analyze the value of insurance when individuals have access to credit markets. Loans allow consumers to smooth financial shocks over time, decreasing the value of consumption smoothing from insurance. We derive formulas for the value of insurance that can be taken to data, and show how that value depends on individual charac-teristics and features of loans. We estimate that access to a five-year loan decreases the values of community- and experience-rated insurance for the average beneficiary by $232–$366 (58–61%). Even for the sickest decile, this loan access reduces the value of community-rated insurance by $1,099 (17%).

More Research From These Scholars

Prevalence of covid-19 in rural versus urban areas in a low-income country: findings from a state-wide study in karnataka, india, do conflict of interests disclosures work evidence from citations in medical journals, inequality in india declined during covid.

Inclusion in US financial services is at an all-time high – and tech can take us further

Technology facilitates education, accessibility and affordability in financial services. Image:  Unsplash/Denise Chan

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} John Hope Bryant

.chakra .wef-9dduvl{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-9dduvl{font-size:1.125rem;}} Explore and monitor how .chakra .wef-15eoq1r{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-size:1.25rem;color:#F7DB5E;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-15eoq1r{font-size:1.125rem;}} Financial and Monetary Systems is affecting economies, industries and global issues

.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;color:#2846F8;font-size:1.25rem;}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1nk5u5d{font-size:1.125rem;}} Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:, fairer economies.

• Technology provides education, accessibility and affordability in financial services for the most vulnerable worldwide.
• It is a gateway for those historically excluded to manage their own financial future.
• The more financially educated customers are, the more valuable they are to financial service providers.

Technology drives inclusion in financial services. It facilitates widespread education, accessibility and affordability that were previously reserved for a wealthy few, opening doors and breaking down barriers worldwide.

Digital tools are critical to achieving the worldwide impact necessary to support the most vulnerable. The G20 published a call to action that highlighted the importance of “leveraging the opportunities that technology offers to reduce costs, expand scale, and deepen the reach of financial services (which) will be critical to achieving universal financial inclusion.” Further, the OECD reported that “digital delivery, despite its specific challenges, can facilitate the effective provision of financial education, extend its reach, and contribute to positive behavioral change.”

Operation HOPE ’s core mission is to expand economic opportunity for all, and make free enterprise work for everyone. As the US’s largest financial literacy organization, we know that success is incumbent upon creating opportunities for people to take ownership of their financial future. Increasingly, that means connecting them to technology-enabled tools.

Have you read?

How to harness ai and data portability for greater financial inclusion, 4 things to know about financial inclusion around the world right now, how new technologies create a pathway to financial inclusion.

Technology and innovations in the financial services industry have enabled the most accessible, inclusive, and low-cost financial market there has ever been in US history. Hand-in-hand with this accessibility is the need for education. According to Pew Research Center : “Technology assets are strongly tied to the likelihood that people engage in personal learning”, with 82% of the US adult population with access to a smartphone and a home broadband connection having done some personal learning activity in the past year. This tells us that technology not only provides the opportunity for increased financial education; it can also be the solution for delivering that knowledge.

Consider reporting from the World Bank that states “delivering financial services through technological innovations … can be a catalyst for the provision and use of a diverse set of other financial services – including credit, insurance, savings, and financial education. Those who are now excluded can enjoy expanded access.” Technology serves as a gateway for individuals and communities who have historically not had access to manage their financial future.

What’s more, technology can allow for real-time learning and education; a crucial complement to increased access. The US’s National Financial Educators Council estimates that “lack of financial literacy cost Americans a total of more than $388 billion in 2023.” It is necessary that we embrace the unique value – and economies of scale – that digital delivery of financial education provides.

Contextualized learning is anchored in the principle that learning improves when it exists within a context that is relevant and delivers value for the learner. This is why Operation HOPE proudly pioneered the Investors’ Bill of Rights in 2021 as a call for the entire financial services industry to provide financial literacy and education to the next generation of investors. We believe that coupling education with access is core to economic empowerment. Further, with innovations in technology a third factor – affordability – comes into play. Technological advancements have helped level the playing field for first-time investors and investors of limited means to engage in the markets in the same way the wealthy few have enjoyed for decades.

In late 2023, the SEC proposed a rule – Conflicts of Interest Associated with the Use of Predictive Data Analytics by Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers – that addresses the use of technology and could limit advancements that have been in practice for decades. Introduced with the worthy premise of investor protection, the measure could have unintended consequences given its broadness. Specifically, it could eliminate efficiencies achieved via technology, which could increase costs, hinder access and compromise progress made with regard to market inclusivity. Take, for example, the Ariel-Schwab Black Investor Survey (2022), which highlighted that when it comes to growing and protecting their assets, Black Americans are less trusting of people (32% vs. 45%) and more trusting of technology (31% vs. 21%), than white Americans. This tells us how critical technology is for inclusion.

While investor protection is paramount, it must grow in conjunction with technology. Indeed, it is why we launched the Investors’ Bill of Rights: to provide a clear path for financial institutions, asset managers and their trusted advisors to incorporate greater financial literacy, knowledge and transparency in their offerings to retail investors. Regulation should not stand in the way of technological innovation as a tool for education.

While Operation HOPE centres the needs of families in our work, there is clear evidence that financial literacy is also good for business. That’s why the Investors’ Bill of Rights works. Financial institutions know that the more educated their customers are, the more valuable they are. Take for example the work of Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund’s Bank On programme, which forges coalitions between local governments, financial services institutions and non-profit organizations to uplift communities, deliver financial education, drive wealth creation and ultimately create a virtuous cycle of financial empowerment through education.

The World Economic Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Digital Economy and New Value Creation helps companies and governments leverage technology to develop digitally-driven business models that ensure growth and equity for an inclusive and sustainable economy.

• The Digital Transformation for Long-Term Growth programme is bringing together industry leaders, innovators, experts and policymakers to accelerate new digital business models that create the sustainable and resilient industries of tomorrow.
• The Forum’s EDISON Alliance is mobilizing leaders from across sectors to accelerate digital inclusion . Its 1 Billion Lives Challenge harnesses cross-sector commitments and action to improve people’s lives through affordable access to digital solutions in education, healthcare, and financial services by 2025.

Contact us for more information on how to get involved.

Without technology to enable accessibility and affordability, a critical tool for driving economic growth will once again be out of reach for many. We need to embrace the value of digital tools to enable the financial future that so many deserve.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Related topics:

The agenda .chakra .wef-n7bacu{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:1.388;font-weight:400;} weekly.

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

.chakra .wef-1dtnjt5{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;-webkit-flex-wrap:wrap;-ms-flex-wrap:wrap;flex-wrap:wrap;} More on Fairer Economies .chakra .wef-17xejub{-webkit-flex:1;-ms-flex:1;flex:1;justify-self:stretch;-webkit-align-self:stretch;-ms-flex-item-align:stretch;align-self:stretch;} .chakra .wef-nr1rr4{display:-webkit-inline-box;display:-webkit-inline-flex;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;white-space:normal;vertical-align:middle;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:0.75rem;border-radius:0.25rem;font-weight:700;-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;line-height:1.2;-webkit-letter-spacing:1.25px;-moz-letter-spacing:1.25px;-ms-letter-spacing:1.25px;letter-spacing:1.25px;background:none;padding:0px;color:#B3B3B3;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;}@media screen and (min-width:37.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:0.875rem;}}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-nr1rr4{font-size:1rem;}} See all

These 2 internal biases cause us to fall for misinformation - here's why

Alex Edmans

April 12, 2024

Explainer: What is a living wage and how is it different from the minimum wage?

Victoria Masterson

April 9, 2024

Building equitable futures through the Ibero-American Social and Solidarity Economy Network

Juan Manuel Martinez Louvier

March 5, 2024

How countries can save millions by prioritising young people's sexual and reproductive health

Tomoko Fukuda and Andreas Daugaard Jørgensen

March 4, 2024

5 ways to drive investment in the most challenging fragile places

Andrew Herscowitz

February 27, 2024

Are global value chains leaving Indonesian SMEs behind?

Arip Tirta and Prasanti W. Sarli

February 20, 2024

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

• Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

• RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

Partner Center

• Work & Careers
• Life & Arts

Become an FT subscriber

Try unlimited access Only $1 for 4 weeks

Then $75 per month. Complete digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Cancel anytime during your trial.

• Global news & analysis
• Expert opinion
• Special features
• FirstFT newsletter
• Videos & Podcasts
• Android & iOS app
• FT Edit app
• 10 gift articles per month

Explore more offers.

Standard digital.

• FT Digital Edition

Premium Digital

Print + premium digital, digital standard + weekend, digital premium + weekend.

Today's FT newspaper for easy reading on any device. This does not include ft.com or FT App access.

• 10 additional gift articles per month
• Global news & analysis
• Exclusive FT analysis
• Videos & Podcasts
• FT App on Android & iOS
• Everything in Standard Digital
• Premium newsletters
• Weekday Print Edition
• FT Weekend newspaper delivered Saturday plus standard digital access
• FT Weekend Print edition
• FT Weekend Digital edition
• FT Weekend newspaper delivered Saturday plus complete digital access
• Everything in Preimum Digital

Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device. Pay a year upfront and save 20%.

• Everything in Print
• Everything in Premium Digital

Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders. Pay a year upfront and save 20%.

Terms & Conditions apply

Explore our full range of subscriptions.

Why the ft.

See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times.

International Edition