Consumption of financial services by women still very low despite high awareness, says study

Credit cards continue to have little to no recall and usage by women.According to the survey, over 75 per cent of retailers said women within the 18-40 age group are the most digitally adept, with over 60 per cent of them owning smartphones and accessing digital content through them.Around 78 per cent of women cited cash withdrawal as the primary reason for visiting a retail store for financial transactions.The report further says while more than 74 per cent of women operate their bank accounts themselves, they are primarily for the purpose of cash withdrawals and cash deposits.

Women buying financial services such as insurance is nothing to write home about as consumption of such products and services by them through the digital mode is not even 1 per cent, even though nearly a third of them are aware of insurance products, says a study.

According to a survey by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, which is an RBI subsidiary that enables frictionless finance, and digital payment network Paynearby, insurance awareness among women, and especially those in the 18-35 age bracket, grew to 29 per cent in 2022 but consumption is still below 1 per cent. Among insurance, they prefer life insurance and health.

The findings are based on the inputs from 5,000 retail stores where women in this age group availed of financial transactions. The survey also found that cash withdrawal, mobile recharges and bill payments are the top three services availed by women at such retail stores. Other preferred services include PAN card applications, entertainment, e-commerce and travel.

For women the biggest saving goals are their children's education with over 68 per cent of them citing good education for their kids as a priority for them, savings for medical emergency and buying household electronic items.

Interestingly, despite every effort by the government and the Reserve Bank to discourage cash in the economy, including a disastrous not bank in November 2016, cash continues to hold strong, with around 48 per cent of the women in the survey preferring to deal in cash.

At the same time, UPI has seen good growth in adoption among women, with preferences ranging from 5-20 per cent. Credit cards continue to have little to no recall and usage by women.

According to the survey, over 75 per cent of retailers said women within the 18-40 age group are the most digitally adept, with over 60 per cent of them owning smartphones and accessing digital content through them.

Around 78 per cent of women cited cash withdrawal as the primary reason for visiting a retail store for financial transactions.

The report further says while more than 74 per cent of women operate their bank accounts themselves, they are primarily for the purpose of cash withdrawals and cash deposits. Interestingly, for more than 20 per cent, it is their husbands who operate their bank accounts.