Fintech Drives Women's Financial Inclusion in Developing Markets

04 November 2026

Fintech startups are increasingly targeting women entrepreneurs in emerging markets as a critical opportunity to drive economic growth and gender equality. But women-owned microbusinesses still struggle to access the capital they need to succeed.

Women entrepreneurs face a credit deficit of nearly $1.5 trillion in developing countries. Formal lenders often see them as higher risk, turning women away or requiring male co-signers on loans.

In India alone, women entrepreneurs are 19% more likely than men to have their loan applications rejected, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) found. If an Indian woman can prove she runs her business independently, fintech firm Progcap's ProgShakti program will lend up to Rs 10 lakh without a male co-applicant. The platform has enabled Rs 10,000 crore in credit and maintains delinquency below 0.5%.

The Business Case for Women

Lending to women entrepreneurs is not just a social impact play—it's good business. An IFC survey of 114 fintech firms found two-thirds believe women are as reliable as or more reliable than male borrowers. Yet only 25% of lending portfolios are women-owned small enterprises.

In Indonesia, just 5% of microloans from formal banks go to women, says the Asian Development Bank (ADB). That's why fintech platforms like Amartha and AwanTunai exclusively target women microentrepreneurs. Their average loan size is a few hundred dollars, with a one-year term for productive use only.

"It's our mission to provide capital access to rural Indonesian women, who are excluded from formal finance systems," said Amartha country head Andi Taufan. The platform combines digital marketplaces with field officers, who vet, train and mentor women merchants in hundreds of villages.

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No question, there's work to do. Women microbusiness owners often have lower financial and digital literacy. But IFC found that the majority of fintech firms now focus on women "because of a leadership belief in the importance of women's financial inclusion," not just to meet norms around diversity, equity and inclusion.

Mainstreaming Women's Access

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) launched a Women MSME Fintech Innovation Fund to support technology solutions for women-led businesses. The winners include InfoCorp, Romoni Services, and BanhJi FinTech, with digital solutions ranging from gamification to biometric registration and AI-based credit scoring.

Such advances point to a growing acceptance of fintech lending as an essential tool for building gender equity. When Amartha attracted a $199 million syndicated loan in 2023, it was no charity investment, but a commercial play facilitated by Finnfund, the Nordic Development Fund, the International Finance Corporation and the investor firms Accion, Aavishkaar Capital, and Quona Capital.

There's clearly growing private capital to be made here, not just impact to be delivered. Time and again, studies show that equitable access to finance is economic rocket fuel—this is the case in developing countries, where financial inclusion promotion is not charity or a social obligation, but economic self-interest. If fintech startups can target this market shrewdly, there's money to be made, reputation to be built and the world to be changed.