State of Open Digital Ecosystems for Social Protection (SP-ODEs) in India
Dr. Lina Sonne, Inblick Innovation Advisory,[1] has authored our latest practitioner brief titled “Women’s Mobile Phone Access and Use: Implications for Financial Services Providers”.
We undertook a study of how digitisation through mobile phones plays out among women in India, based on a review of literature, semi-structured interviews with 21 key stakeholders, and 60 interviews with low-income, women end-users across urban and rural locations in six states. The women are all customers of group-based microfinance products from Dvara KGFS, which is an NBFC providing financial services at the last-mile in six Indian states. In this brief, we present findings relevant to financial service providers and provide four broad practitioner-oriented recommendations.
The full practitioner brief is available here, while we set out a summary of findings below.
Background
India has seen a rapid increase in mobile phone access in the last few years fueled by the rapidly increasing availability of cheap mobile phone handsets and access to cheap mobile data.[2]
However, while availability and access to phones have increased overall, women lag on access, usage and ownership of mobile phones in India.[3]
We undertook a study of how digitisation through mobile phones plays out among women in India, based on a review of literature, semi-structured interviews with 21 key stakeholders, and 60 interviews with low-income women end-users across urban and rural locations in six states. The women are all customers of group-based microfinance products from Dvara KGFS, which is an NBFC providing financial services at the last-mile in six Indian states.[4] The study offers a snapshot of what women’s access to and use of phones looks like today in India. Our findings suggest that nearly all women respondents have smartphones, have their own phone (rather than shared) and have a new phone (as opposed to a hand-me-down). Nevertheless, women primarily use the phone at home to avoid raising suspicion or gossip. A majority of respondents reported calling and receiving calls on a daily or weekly basis. Women used WhatsApp more than conventional SMS. Very few women said their phones were monitored, though some noted that they have serious concerns about the risk of harassment online. While women are able to operate their phones for everyday purposes, they struggle with adequate digital literacy when it comes to advanced features such as using digital payment applications and online banking applications. There was little difference in the way women use their phones across rural-urban locations and across the six states. In this brief, we summarise our findings, and based on these insights and provide practitioner-oriented recommendations.
While more research at greater scale and depth is required to fully understand the dynamics of women’s mobile phone usage, some implications can be drawn from this snapshot.
1. Gender blind design may not be gender inclusive. Programme designers should be mindful that a gender-neutral approach may not consider differences in usage patterns of men and women. For example, women often leave their phones at home, or may only have access to a shared phone. Additionally, women report limited digital literacy. Financial services providers should consider how to design for lower levels of digital literacy, as well as consider ways to upskill women so that they are able to take full advantage of phones.
2. Who has access as services move online? Financial services providers need to be mindful of the side-effects of digitisation in terms of monitoring and control. Monitoring and controlling women’s mobile phone access may constrain women’s access to services when those services move online.
3. Women face significant constraints as to where, when and for what they can use their phones. When designing programmes that involve mobile phone use, financial service providers need to take into account the significant constraints women often face as to where, and when they may use their phones, and for what purpose. Women may be uncomfortable using their phones outside of their homes, or may raise suspicion from household members if they use the phone late in the evening, which men do not face.
4. We need more and better data to understand women user patterns and constraints. We need more and better data to understand women user patterns and constraints, and therefore more research on this topic. For example, there are no studies on women and digital finance in India. We, therefore, need to collect significantly more and better data on how women and girls from diverse backgrounds access and use mobile phones, and the constraints they face.
The full practitioner brief is available here.
The full paper is available here.
*This practitioner brief and paper presents independent research commissioned by the Future of Finance Initiative at Dvara Research in furtherance of the Initiative’s research agenda. The Initiative’s work focuses on the impacts of digitisation and technological innovation in Indian finance, leading from the low-income consumer perspective on these issues.
[1] Corresponding author’s email ID: lsonne@jgu.edu.in. Contact us at ffi@dvara.com.
[2] GSMA (2019). Connected Women: The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019. GSMA Report.
[3] GSMA (2019). Connected Women: The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019. GSMA Report.
[4] Dvara KGFS provides financial services solutions to women and men across the country and has regional offices in the six states covered in this study. As customers of Dvara KGFS, the respondents may therefore be used to certain models of thinking and financial behaviour that people who do not use financial services may not be accustomed to.
Cite this item
APA
Sonne, L. (2021). Women’s Mobile Phone Access and Use: Implications for Financial Services Providers. Retrieved from Dvara Research.
Chicago
Sonne, Lina. 2021. “Women’s Mobile Phone Access and Use: Implications for Financial Services Providers.” Dvara Research.
MLA
Sonne, Lina. “Women’s Mobile Phone Access and Use: Implications for Financial Services Providers.” 2021. Dvara Research.
