Women's World Banking summit on "Making Finance Work for Women" organized in India

India will play host to the Making Finance Work for Women Summit on May 24–25, 2023. The event will be held at Women's World Banking, a leader in promoting financial inclusion for low-income women globally.

The Making Finance Work for Women Summit will bring together over 300 professionals from the financial services, investor, philanthropic, policy, and technology areas for the first time since 2019 to talk about innovative approaches to economically empower all women via financial inclusion.

The president and CEO of Women's World Banking, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, stated that "we continue to face an unprecedented number of events that have a damaging influence on the global economy, usually with specific harm to women. from the COVID-19 pandemic's ongoing impacts to climate change.

"Nearly a billion women worldwide still lack access to the formal financial services that would allow them to maintain their resiliency in the face of these challenges. The Making Finance Work for Women Summit is one strategy employed by Women's World Banking to address the gender gap in the provision of financial services. We'll offer tried-and-true solutions that decision-makers and suppliers of financial services may utilise wherever.

This year's Making Finance Work for Women Summit attendees will have the chance to hear from prominent figures like Soraya Hakuziyaremye, Australia's Ambassador for Gender Equality, Rajesh Bansal, CEO of the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, and Stephanie Copus Campbell, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda.

The function of the "S" in ESG, financing for displaced women, and gender lens investment will all be discussed in panel discussions. Attendees will get the opportunity to learn more about the benefits of having financial power for maintaining economic stability as well as what they can do to help release women from financial constraints.

Mary stated, "We are lucky to have so many thought leaders gathering with us. In India, where Women's World Banking's history began more over 40 years ago and where we currently carry out some of our most crucial initiatives. This year, India is hosting the G20, making it the ideal location to create cutting-edge strategies for women's financial inclusion.

Women's World Banking is excited about the return of the Fintech Innovation Challenge as part of this year's Making Finance Work for Women Summit programme. The Fintech Innovation Challenge, an international competition, aims to spotlight creative strategies for helping low-income women.

The four finalists—GajiGesa, IndiaP2P, MeraBills, and Paycode—who were chosen from 98 applications submitted by applicants from 34 countries—will present their concepts to a panel of judges made up of experts in the financial services, technology, innovation, and regulatory agencies on the final day of the Summit. A priority pitch slot will be allocated to the winner at the Elevandi-powered Inclusive FinTech Forum in Rwanda. The Challenge is sponsored by Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

When it comes to closing the gender inclusion gap in digital financial services, fintechs have a clear advantage. According to Mary, the applicant pool for this year was filled with innovative companies that had fascinating business models for addressing the biggest obstacles to women's financial inclusion. All four of the businesses that made it to the finals, three of which are led by female entrepreneurs, have the potential to significantly increase the economic security and prosperity of women.

Women's World Banking is committed to promoting women's financial inclusion and economic development. Thanks to the international organisation, more than thirteen million women in developing countries today have better access to and/or usage of financial services and products. Over 6 million women benefited from Women's World Banking's 88 million dollar contribution to inclusive financial institutions in only the previous year.

The Making Finance Work for Women Summit's Leading Sponsor is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and its Scaling Sponsor is Ernst & Young (EY US). Women's World Banking is in charge of organising the meeting. The event has received additional funding from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, European Investment Bank, MetLife Foundation, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and United Nations Capital Development Fund. Women's World Banking receives the majority of its funding from the Visa Foundation, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

About Women's World Banking

For the benefit of women, their families, and their communities, Women's World Banking develops and invests in financial products, institutions, and policy settings in developing countries. Women's World Banking creates impact through its scalable, market-driven solutions, gender lens private equity fund, leadership and diversity programmes, and global network of 61 financial services providers in 34 countries servicing more than 136 million women clients.