Women's Financial Inclusion in Bangladesh: Assessing Inbuilt Challenges

The study strived to review the present status of women's financial inclusion, identify the key factors for ensuring effective financial services for women, and examine the relationship between financial inclusion and women empowerment in Bangladesh. It reveals that Female-headed households are not increasing significantly compared to other developing countries. Only 10% of women have full access, while 23% have partial access to financial services. 33% of women have bank accounts and 20% are empowered which means they can take part in the decision-making of their family. Women face a lot of inherent general challenges together with challenges originating from the supply side; regulatory and institutional framework; and social problems. The study recommends adopting a gender-sensitive financial inclusion policy. The existing regulatory and institutional framework should be updated to motivate women to be included in financial services. Financial education and financial literacy programs should be taken for rapid awareness and financial literacy building among women. Social inclusion of poor women is needed for their financial inclusion. Financing small businesses owned by women can improve women’s social inclusion.