Banking on women: a path to closing the gender finance gap.

Women entrepreneurs continue to grow in number - but look into the numbers, particularly to the flow of financial capital and things don’t look so rosy.

In 2009, HBR wrote?“Financial services wins the prize as the industry least sympathetic to women.” Fast forward 15 years, it is still an industry that women love to hate. But as the?single largest underserved group of customers in financial services, can you blame them?

A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of doing the closing keynote at the Alberta Women Entrepreneurs Women Entrepreneurs - Access to Capital Summit. Drawing from research and working at Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) and my own lived experience as a banker and finance consultant, I shared a few thoughts on how we can better meet the needs of women customers and how we can close the financing gap through transforming the banking experience.

Here’s a few points I highlighted for the financial sector to consider.

• Serving women clients is not just a social issue. It's an economic one.?In Canada, harnessing the full economic potential of women could unlock an additional $150B to the Canadian economy. Globally financial services providers could generate as much as $700B in additional revenue if they did nothing more than provide financial services to women at the same rate as they provide to men.?
• Set the tone from the top. If leadership isn’t bought in on the development of a women’s banking program, it makes it impossible to accelerate change.
• Focus on meaningful change. A marketing campaign has its place but if barriers such as access to financial, social and human capital aren't addressed, the value proposition falls flat. Pinkwashing isn’t acceptable.?
• Focus on creating a holistic value proposition. Women entrepreneurs have personal and business financial needs. They are important influencers of household purchases and are wealth builders.
• Understand the role of intersectionality. Women are not a homogenous group. Access to capital is an even greater burden when different identities intersect.
• Train employees in meaningful ways. It's important that we educate on how and why the financial gap exists and how collectively we can close it.
• Encourage “discouraged borrowers” - many women don’t believe they will qualify for a loan. Many hate the thought of borrowing money. Many get frustrated in the unnecessary sludge of process and policy.
• Collect and analyze gender disaggregated data. Here’s the thing. Most data fails to take into account gender differences. That leads to bias and discrimination in your systems not to mention missed opportunities.?
• Build gender-diverse teams across the value chain, especially in roles that influence the flow of capital (lenders, credit underwriters, adjudicators).
• Focus on trust, coaching, communication and relationships with women clients. Women are loyal customers who seek meaningful relationships and advice.
• Create professional connections and networks - inside and outside of the bank. Social capital is another barrier that financial institutions can influence. Introduce women to other bankers, accountants, lawyers, insurance professionals.?
• Partner with developmental lenders and non profit organizations. They are an important part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and many of these organizations open doors to the customers you’re trying to attract.

Isn’t it time we all think about what happens when?women are given equitable opportunities to entrepreneurship and access to finance?