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The fintech gender gap

Author

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  • Sharon Chen
  • Sebastian Doerr
  • Jon Frost
  • Leonardo Gambacorta
  • Hyun Song Shin

Abstract

Fintech promises to spur financial inclusion and close the gender gap in access to financial services. Using novel survey data for 28 countries, this paper finds a large 'fintech gender gap': while 29% of men use fintech products and services, only 21% of women do. The gap is present in almost every country in our sample. Country characteristics and several individual-level controls explain about a third of the unconditional gap. Gender differences in the willingness to use new financial technology or fintech entrants if they offer cheaper services account for over half of the remaining gap. The paper concludes by suggesting potential explanations for the gender gap and implications for challenges in fostering financial inclusion with new technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharon Chen & Sebastian Doerr & Jon Frost & Leonardo Gambacorta & Hyun Song Shin, 2021. "The fintech gender gap," BIS Working Papers 931, Bank for International Settlements.
    • Handle: RePEc:bis:biswps:931
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    Cited by:

    1. Orkun Saka & Barry Eichengreen & Cevat Giray Aksoy, 2021. "Epidemic Exposure, Fintech Adoption, and the Digital Divide," CESifo Working Paper Series 9173, CESifo.
    2. Sebastian Doerr & Leonardo Gambacorta & José María Serena Garralda, 2021. "Big data and machine learning in central banking," BIS Working Papers 930, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Auer, Raphael & Tercero-Lucas, David, 2022. "Distrust or speculation? The socioeconomic drivers of U.S. cryptocurrency investments," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    4. Lucas A. Mariani & Jose Renato Haas Ornelas & Bernardo Ricca, 2023. "Banks’ Physical Footprint and Financial Technology Adoption," Working Papers Series 576, Central Bank of Brazil, Research Department.
    5. Daniela Balutel & Christopher Henry & Jorge Vásquez & Marcel Voia, 2022. "Bitcoin adoption and beliefs in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(4), pages 1729-1761, November.
    6. Frederic Boissay & Torsten Ehlers & Leonardo Gambacorta & Hyun Song Shin, 2021. "Big Techs in Finance: On the New Nexus Between Data Privacy and Competition," Springer Books, in: Raghavendra Rau & Robert Wardrop & Luigi Zingales (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Technological Finance, pages 855-875, Springer.
    7. Johannes Treu, 2023. "The Chance of FinTech to be a New General-Purpose Technology," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 16(11), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Treu, Johannes, 2023. "Finanzielle Allgemeinbildung, Finanzielle Inklusion, FinTech und SDG: Ein holistischer Rahmen," IU Discussion Papers - Business & Management 2 (April 2023), IU International University of Applied Sciences.
    9. Babina, Tania & Bahaj, Saleem & Buchak, Greg & De Marco, Filippo & Foulis, Angus & Gornall, Will & Mazzola, Francesco & Yu, Tong, 2024. "Customer data access and fintech entry: early evidence from open banking," Bank of England working papers 1059, Bank of England.
    10. Tobias Berg & Andreas Fuster & Manju Puri, 2022. "FinTech Lending," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 187-207, November.
    11. Sabyasachi Tripathi & Meenakshi Rajeev, 2023. "Gender-Inclusive Development through Fintech: Studying Gender-Based Digital Financial Inclusion in a Cross-Country Setting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-34, June.
    12. Orkun Saka & Barry Eichengreen & Cevat Giray Aksoy, 2022. "Epidemic Exposure, Financial Technology, and the Digital Divide," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(7), pages 1913-1940, October.
    13. Sebastian Doerr & Jon Frost & Leonardo Gambacorta & Vatsala Shreeti, 2023. "Big techs in finance," BIS Working Papers 1129, Bank for International Settlements.
    14. Treu, Johannes, 2022. "FinTech, General Purpose Technology und Wohlfahrt," IU Discussion Papers - Business & Management 5 (Juni 2022), IU International University of Applied Sciences.
    15. Orkun Saka & Barry Eichengreen & Cevat Giray Aksoy, 2022. "Epidemic Exposure, Financial Technology, and the Digital Divide," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 54(7), pages 1913-1940, October.
    16. repec:zbw:bofitp:2021_013 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Mariani, Lucas A. & Haas Ornelas, José Renato & Ricca, Bernardo, 2023. "Banks’ Physical Footprint and Financial Technology Adoption," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12812, Inter-American Development Bank.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    fintech; gender; financial inclusion; personal data; privacy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E51 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Money Supply; Credit; Money Multipliers
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

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