This special report, by AFI’s Digital Financial Services Working Group, examines the role of digital financial services (DFS) in enhancing and sustaining the access, use, and overall quality of financial services for women.

The report includes a comprehensive analysis of the current body of knowledge and case studies of countries that have accelerated DFS policy actions with divergent outcomes on women’s account ownership, usage of financial services, and impact on the gender gap.

The study also presents a policy framework covering best practices and an implementation plan with an associated monitoring checklist on how to utilize DFS to reduce or eliminate the financial inclusion gender gap across the AFI network.