Women tend to withdraw entirety of their cash from digital accounts: Study

Women tend to withdraw the entirety of available cash from digital financial services, also known as DFS, owing to concerns regarding security, privacy and time constraints, finds a recent study revealed at a conference in the capital on Wednesday.

"The realisation of benefits associated with DFS, particularly for women in countries like Bangladesh, remains a persistent challenge. Women's limited digital and financial literacy, compounded by the influence of cultural norms, religious beliefs, and social values, necessitates a holistic socio-cultural understanding of their experiences with DFS," University of Sussex Professor Shahaduz Zaman, one of the principal investigators, said at the conference, titled "Making Digital Finance Work for Women".

BRAC Institute of Governance and Development has organised the two-day conference at the BRAC Centre in Dhaka.

This anthropological investigation delves into the intricate dynamics of women's access to DFS to identify the primary barriers encountered along their DFS journey. The study illuminates these barriers and proposes pertinent measures for service providers and other stakeholders to facilitate a smoother transition for women into the realm of DFS.

"Women exhibit a lower inclination than men to sign up for digital financial accounts. Besides, existing collective relationships often shape the management of digital accounts. For example, women frequently share the PINs of their digital accounts with others, especially husbands," the professor explained.

Imran Matin, Executive Director of BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, on Wednesday inaugurated the conference, which was attended by Michael Carter from the University of California Davis, Timothy Ogden from the Financial Access Initiative at NYU-Wagner and Erica Field from the Duke University.