New Cambridge network addressing persistent gaps in women’s financial inclusion

According to CGAP, a global partnership that works to advance the lives of people living in poverty, especially women, through financial inclusion, three  key issues remain on the table:

• Large  remaining  financial inclusion gaps, reinforcing existing inequalities
• Impact of financial inclusion not yet materialised, especially in terms of financial health
• Increasing consumer risks in a complex digital and data ecosystem, which could reverse hard-won gains.

The Women Regulators Network will address these gaps. The  Regulator Knowledge Exchange  was  established  in 2022  as  a peer-led,  community-driven platform for public and financial authorities to connect, learn,  co-ordinate and collaborate on their approach to digital financial services and digital public infrastructure.

The RKE today  has almost 3,000 community members from over 140 countries with women regulators making up almost half of the user base of the platform.

As a result,  CCAF is uniquely positioned to support community members to drive significant impact in financial inclusion through the Women Regulators Network (WRN), which launched in November.

Hunter Sims, Executive Director, Financial Innovation for Impact (Fii) and Associate Director, CCAF said: “No-one creates change alone. Too often, efforts around equity and inclusion are framed as the responsibility of a singled-out group (often solely women).

“But the reality is that meaningful change requires all of us. And men have a critical role to play – as partners, allies, listeners and advocates. This is why the WRN is so critical to the dialogue and action for the future of more impactful financial inclusion and I encourage us all to lean into the opportunity that this presents us all.”

The WRN will be guided by a global Council of senior women regulators and industry representatives, who will consider the challenges and opportunities for female policymakers and their impact upon the regulated communities that they represent. Together they will develop strategies and activities to address these through programmes anchored in the RKE’s digital peer-led community.

Launch events have been held in person in Singapore during the Insights Forum – part of the Singapore FinTech Festival in November – plus an online global launch attracting attendees from more than 50 countries in December.

Deborah Young, global regulatory innovation leader, WRN Lead and Adviser to CCAF, said the focus for WRN was multi faceted:

• Address the persistent gaps in women’s financial inclusion
• Increase the presence and influence of women in regulatory and policymaking roles
• Amplify  women’s voices, support their leadership, foster the development of policies that prevent discrimination and proactively advance inclusion

She said: “Our goal is to amplify their voices, tackle discrimination and encourage male peers to actively support equitable experiences. By empowering these women through the WRN we can drive greater financial inclusion for the communities they serve.”

Participation in the Women Regulators Network will result in:

• Strategic insights that can be powered into actions  benefiting  policymakers and the communities they represent
• Insights for policymakers and regulators, by sharing inclusion and diversity best practices and storytelling
• Global visibility and engagement on issues  impacting  women

To find out more contact Deborah Young via  rke@jbs.cam.ac.uk