Financial Inclusion as a Stepping Stone to Gender Inclusion and Empowerment: A Perspective

Financial inclusion strives to address and offer solutions to the constraints that exclude people from participating in the financial sector. It broadens the resource base of the financial system by developing a culture of savings among a large segment of rural population and women investors and plays its own role in the process of economic development. By bringing low income groups within the perimeter of formal banking sector; financial inclusion also protects their financial wealth and other resources in exigent circumstances. Financial services are a core enabler for consumption smoothing, risk mitigation, self-employment, SME growth, asset accumulation, and wealth creation. Lack of access to financial services substantially reduces women's ability to climb out of poverty; increases their risk of falling into poverty-contributes to women's marginalization to the informal sector-and lessens their ability to fully engage in measurable and productive economic activities. This paper presents a perspective on the status of women in the financial ecosystem, the major causes of their exclusion and the suggested measures to fill the gap and move towards the desired financial inclusion which is a prerequisite to gender inclusion and empowerment.