While globally, female entrepreneurship is rapidly growing; locally, development gaps reveal. As a global fintech leader with local expertise, we use our benefit of seeing the global picture and action on these insights tailored to the local needs.
Change is here, and it is here to stay. Women entrepreneurs represent a rapidly growing division of global entrepreneurship and are finally receiving the attention they deserve.
The importance of female entrepreneurship has won its robust place on the social agenda. The results vary from academic research to entrepreneurial education and financial support programs and various tools whose objective is to diminish the gender gap once and for all.
Women entrepreneurs are increasingly being seen as essential promoters of the economic growth of a country (particularly in emerging markets) — nurturing social inclusion and overcoming poverty and discrimination. Nevertheless, the number of women who decide to follow an entrepreneurial path is still significantly lower than their male counterparts. The gap is even more pronounced in countries in different development stages. (Source: Women Entrepreneurship, Cardella, et al., 2020)
At PayU, we are proud of our local heritage — we are born local and operate globally. Strengthening our local expertise is at the core of our business, and caring for our local communities is at the heart of this strength.
A few years back, the PayU family proudly welcomed a new member: iyzico, a digital payment services provider and one of Turkey’s most hotly-tipped fintech start-ups. When joining forces with other fintech players, it is not only the numbers we care about. Up and foremost, we care about the personalities behind the business: their ideas and spirit, their motivation and vision.
In the face of iyzico we have a strong supporter in fulfilling our vision of a world without financial borders where everyone can prosper. Enabling prosperity means enhancing financial inclusion and extending access to finance to everyone. To move the needle on these large-scale changes, our actions are based on profound local knowledge, which we keep enhancing.
Last year, iyzico teamed up with PAL (Policy Analysis Lab) in creating the Digital Financial Inclusion report—a study weighing the economic impact of increasing financial inclusion in Turkey by putting fintech in the spotlight.
Read on to explore a few of the essential findings and our main action points.
Increasing financial inclusion in Turkey needs a strong focus on SMEs and households, and particularly the inclusion of women in financial systems:
What can we – as fintech leaders – do to contribute to financial inclusion as well as to GDP growth? The following graph, which was compiled by PAL visualizes the suggested impact of fintech.
The impact map clearly shows how harnessing the potential of fintech can contribute to increasing access to financial services.
Account ownership is just one realm where fintech can play a big role in enhancing women’s involvement in the financial system. A compilation of recent World Bank Global Findex data featured in the Digital Financial Inclusion report further shows a strong correlation between the level of female workforce participation and account ownership in OECD countries. (Source: Digital Financial Inclusion report, p. 15)
Despite all the progress made towards gender equality, it is still common for female-led businesses to be rejected access to funding due to gender and cultural biases—many institutions still tend to prefer funding male-owned businesses.
Recent findings of the Women in Fintech 2021 FT Partners research, support this overwhelming fact and state that although female-led businesses in the US have doubled in the past 20 years, female entrepreneurs struggle to access funding. The research further notes that “male investors and more likely to invest in male founders.” The crushing result: 72% of female founders report lacking access to funding as the main obstacle to starting a business. (Source: Women in Fintech 2021, FT partners, p. 22)
The entrepreneurial landscape in Turkey bears no surprise: the percentage of women receiving financial support through microcredit programs remains very low.
Being an active facilitator of change rather than reacting to a changing environment is a mindset PayU & iyzico have in common. Based on the insights gained through the report and empowered by the potential a fintech leader has in supporting women entrepreneurs, this summer iyzico successfully launched their Women Entrepreneur Program. The explicit goal of the program is to democratize financial services and increase their accessibility.
The “iyzico Women Entrepreneur Support Program” is a joint venture between strong business partners such as Google, Good4Trust, IdeaSoft, Paraşüt, and Mükellef. All companies provide program participants with benefits, including financial and marketing support, training, and special discounts.
Believing in a better future with empowered women in all areas, PayU & iyzico will continue to “#StandBytheWomenEntrepreneur” until equality is reached.