Driving Financial Inclusion for Migrant Women Through Digital Remittances

The financial inclusion of the 140 million migrant women is essential to the global development discourse. Remittances from these migrant women are not only a crucial source of income for millions of households in low- and middle-income countries but are also essential to the financial inclusion and resilience of the families receiving them. Despite the strong presence of women on the sending and receiving side of remittances, it is often assumed in research, policymaking and innovation that remittance patterns are gender-neutral. Gender influences not only who migrates where, when, how and why but also the amount and frequency of remittances sent to the migrant’s country of origin and how the money is spent.

Through its Migration and Remittance Programme, UNCDF has collaborated with a number of remittance service providers (RSPs), including banks, microfinance institutions (MFIs), and fintechs, to bring a gender lens to remittance innovation. Consequently, some 550,000 remittance customers have been reached, 27 percent of whom are women.

This webinar is part of a series that explores the remittance customer’s journey from sender to recipient. In this series of webinars, the presenters will discuss how some remittance firms have used innovation pilots to increase remittance access, usage, and overall financial inclusion and resilience. Remittance sector key players will also share their findings on women’s financial inclusion.