News and Events Back
31 . 05 . 2019
Women Entrepreneurs and Effective Banking in Emerging Markets

Women Entrepreneurs and Effective Banking in Emerging Markets

BLC Bank Lebanon Proves A Strategy for Financial Inclusion

 

Executive Summary

  • Increasing women’s economic engagement is known to contribute dramatically to national growth. Improved financial inclusion for females is particularly beneficial, as their greater access to credit, savings, and services encourages both economic growth and stability.
  • In the Middle East, women’s participation in labour, entrepreneurship, and banking is lower than in any other region. Both customary and legal barriers contribute to women’s economic exclusion.
  • Banks can reap business benefits by reaching out to female customers, but there is often hesitation due to myths about women in financial matters.
  • BLC Bank Lebanon introduced a programme, the We Initiative, in 2012. The programme bravely confronted many of the issues that keep women, especially those who own businesses, from banking.
  • The We Initiative included innovations that reached all across the bank, from new products, to service delivery, to performance assessments for personnel.
  • Public outreach efforts openly spoke to women, addressing their concerns in a sympathetic voice. In addition, the bank found that the new products and services introduced were also attractive to men.
  • The results from the We Initiative were impressive. The outstanding loan portfolio for female SME customers grew 51% during the five years after launch, while their deposits grew 78%.
  • The women’s portfolio disproved myths about female customers. An advance exercise to disaggregate the customer database showed women were stronger customers even at the outset of the programme. After the We Initiative, the female customer base showed a stronger return on assets, as well as better loan repayment rates, than the men.
  • Women were more difficult to win over as customers, but once converted were more likely to adopt a range of products than men, thus offering greater chances for business growth. They also were more likely to refer friends to the bank.
  • After five years of BLC Bank’s aggressive effort to win women as clients, customer surveys showed that both males and females were positively impressed with the position and strategy the bank had taken. The internal rate of return for the We Initiative was 30% by the end of 2017.

 

Read the full report here!

X
Welcome
Experience our redesigned website with a host of tools and services developed for your quick and easy access
continue to site