This key sheet examines the barriers women and girls and people with disabilities face in accessing financial services, and why that matters. Access to banking, insurance and investment lets people take advantage of business opportunities, invest in education, insure against risk and save for the future, so exclusion from financial services compounds other disadvantages.

It notes that 31 per cent of adults worldwide do not hold a formal account, that a seven per cent average global gender gap in account ownership has persisted across three rounds of Global Findex data, and that the gap is wider in developing countries and reaches nearly 30 per cent in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Turkey. Barriers documented include limited digital or other infrastructure, discriminatory laws, digital and financial literacy gaps, unequal access to education, mobile technology or identity documentation, and lack of assets to use as collateral. The sheet sets out key tips, good practice examples, entry points and opportunities to improve access.