Women Still Locked Out of Real Finance Despite 90% Bank Account Coverage: Report

Even as India nears universal bank account ownership, women continue to face deep and persistent barriers to meaningful financial inclusion, according to the Inclusive Finance India Report 2025 by ACCESS Development Services. While nearly 90% of Indian women now have a bank account—largely driven by PM Jan Dhan Yojana and digital government transfers—the report reveals that many accounts remain inactive, women's savings and digital usage lag sharply behind men, and women-led MSMEs face significant financing challenges.

Progress in Account Ownership Falls Short of Active Usage

India has achieved remarkable progress in bringing women into the banking system, with account ownership rising substantially over the past decade.

However, the report highlighted that access has not translated into meaningful usage. Around 17% of PMJDY accounts—nearly 82 million—remain inactive, with women more likely than men to hold dormant accounts. The gender gap in account inactivity stands at 7.00 percentage points in 2024, and National Family Health Survey data shows that more than one in five women with bank accounts do not operate them independently.

Widening Gender Gaps in Savings and Digital Access

The gender divide becomes particularly pronounced when examining savings behavior and digital financial services adoption. Between 2021 and 2024, formal saving patterns revealed significant disparities.

These disparities reflect broader constraints in device ownership and digital access that continue to limit women's financial participation.

Women Entrepreneurs Face Steeper Financial Hurdles

Women-led micro, small and medium enterprises encounter particularly challenging financing conditions. The report estimates that women-led MSMEs suffer a financing gap of around 35%, nearly double that of male-owned firms. This credit shortfall restricts business expansion, limits job creation, and undermines the contribution of women-run enterprises to economic growth.

Low financial literacy remains a major roadblock, with only 21% of women in India being financially literate compared to 29% of men. This knowledge gap weakens trust in formal institutions, hampers informed decision-making, and discourages regular use of financial services.

Systemic Challenges Within Financial Sector

The report identifies gender gaps within the financial sector workforce that compound these challenges:

• Women comprise less than 25% of banking, financial services and insurance workforce
• Particular underrepresentation in high-impact, revenue-generating roles
• Only 12% of microfinance sector staff are women, despite serving predominantly women clients
• Limited women's voice in product design and delivery

Evidence shows that increasing women's representation at the frontline can significantly improve outcomes. NABARD's Bank Sakhi initiative, which trains women from self-help groups as banking correspondents, demonstrates that female agents build greater trust and increase account usage among women.

Policy Recommendations for Inclusive Growth

To address these persistent gaps, the report calls for comprehensive policy interventions:

• Embed a Gender Action Plan in India's National Strategy for Financial Inclusion
• Establish clear targets and monitoring frameworks with gender-disaggregated data
• Scale up appointment of female banking correspondents to at least 40%
• Encourage financial institutions to design women-specific products
• Publish gender-wise financial inclusion indicators through RBI

Despite near-universal account ownership, the report makes clear that financial inclusion for women in India remains incomplete. Without stronger agency, literacy, digital access and targeted policy action, millions of women will remain connected to the banking system in name, but not in practice.