Fintech has a long way to go to achieve DigitALL
Every year on the 8th In March, the world celebrates International Women’s Day. In the fintech world, great strides have been made in encouraging women into fintech. But claims of diversity and inclusion ring hollow when data shows the industry still needs to do much more if it is to live up to this year’s UN Women theme “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”.
Of course, this problem is not limited to the fintech industry. But for such an outwardly progressive sector, the overall female representation is still staggeringly low, from grassroots to management level.
The state of the UK workforce
Despite representing 52.7% of the overall UK workforce, women held just 5% of CEOs and held 21% of board seats globally at financial firms, according to Deloitte data. Across Europe, research from the Financial Times and Sifted finds that women hold 28% of management positions in Europe’s challenger banks. But that’s still less than the global average of 31% across all industries, according to data from consultancy Grant Thornton – a stark reminder of the gender imbalance blighting the industry.
Difficult barriers that still need to be overcome from the bottom to the top
All too often it starts at ground level. For a long time, many companies lacked the foresight to have formalized diversity and inclusion policies and subsequently lost out on hiring the ideal talent for open roles. Today, it is much more common for companies to put their diversity initiatives at the center because they realize that without a clear and public commitment, many women will be discouraged from applying and will seek out those organizations that actively encourage women into the workforce.
At the other end of the hierarchy, the lack of women in senior positions can actually hurt a company’s bottom line. A headline number comes from consulting firm McKinsey, which found that organizations with more than 30% of women in senior positions were more likely to perform financially better than those with a percentage between 10% and 30%. Meanwhile, those companies with a higher number of women in top management achieved a 41% higher return on equity.
If fintechs want to deliver on their widespread mission to improve financial inclusion, they need to start representing the communities they serve. And the world of work today looks very different than it did just a few years ago. With the sudden arrival of the pandemic, working from home became the norm overnight. Although more and more people are returning to their physical workplaces, the office-based 9-to-5 model has given way to hybrid work and more flexible working hours.
Established in 2016, Enfuce is one of the few female-founded fintechs and is even rarer in that it was co-founded by two women, Monika Liikamaa and Denise Johansson, who serve as co-CEOs. According to Monika: “Denise and I are both mothers, and we know how important it is to create opportunities and a flexible working environment for working parents. This includes guidelines for maternity and paternity leave, compressed working hours over shorter working weeks and other practical measures to help employees balance childcare needs with work activities.”
The importance of mentoring networks for women
According to Terrie Smith, co-founder and global ambassador for wearable tech leader DIGISEQ, it’s critical that female leaders in fintech pass on the lessons they’ve learned, the challenges they’ve faced and the success they’ve achieved to women. around them.
“Women who have battled through discrimination earlier in their careers, or have been blindsided by colleagues, can be invaluable sources of wisdom for others looking to avoid career pitfalls,” she says.
“Mentoring networks can be crucial in giving women in fintech the courage to stand up and speak out – from asking for pay equality with their male peers, rooting out inefficient processes, to promoting new ideas for services.”
Monika adds: “Have the courage to ask for help or change when necessary. I always ask myself: ‘what’s the worst that could happen?’ Usually it’s just that someone says no. It has always amazed me how afraid people are to hear “no” or for that matter ask for help. When you recognize that someone needs help, chances are you will do what you can to help them.”
DititALL + financial inclusion = success
From a business perspective, having more women in fintech can have a positive impact on the entire payments ecosystem, enabling more change and innovation.
According to Monika, there is a need for more female input in product design: “A good example is seat belts – clearly designed by a man who has never been pregnant! They are not fit for purpose as they are uncomfortable and impractical for women’s bodies. Formula 1 cars don’t have the same types of seat belts because their purpose is different, so why don’t standard seat belts fit 50% of the population? Be part of the process!”
Whether it’s tackling financial exclusion among underbanked populations or women-centric product design, many of the problems fintech is trying to solve are too big for one person or company to tackle, so it’s important to collaborate as much as possible. And when half the world’s population is women, understanding their needs will be critical to the future success of fintech.
