In 2019,
Women’s World Banking conducted
research in India and Indonesia on an emerging business model known as social commerce entrepreneurship with enterprises blending social media, e-commerce, payments and delivery platforms. One of the findings of the study is that, despite adopting digital platforms, women are not yet fully utilizing them. “Digital adoption means achieving a state in which users gain the ability to use digital tools as they are intended and to the
fullest extent.”
The topic of digital adoption is especially relevant as the world moves towards a digital future with the economy driven by digital commerce and enabled by digital finance. We aim to raise awareness on what prevents the adoption of DFS; and, what FSPs can do to drive adoption, especially as they actively leverage digital finance for women’s financial inclusion. On
September 1st, 2021 at 8:00 AM EDT,
Women’s World Banking (WWB) and its project partners, will share learnings from their work in wage digitization and digital account activation highlighting digital adoption insights from
Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc, Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Bangladesh and
DANA Indonesia, as well as from WWB’s research in a joint effort with the ILO,
published in March 2021.
What you will learn
• What trends are we seeing in the ecosystem that hinder or facilitate digital adoption
• What the challenges and barriers are both Financial Service Providers (FSPs) and their women customers face with digital adoption
• What the solution components in digital financial services (DFS) are that drive adoption and usage among women customers
• What role MSMEs can play in supporting adoption of digital financial services, e.g., digital payments
Host
Matthew Gamser, CEO, SME Finance Forum
Speakers
Manu Rajan is the Division CEO at Wing Businesses that includes Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc. He brings over two decades of hands-on learning across an interestingly diverse blend of advertising, analytics, telecom, and consumer finance & fintech. He has been passionately consolidating all that learning to drive financial inclusion in developing markets across geographies including Africa, Asia & the Pacific. He has been a techno-marketer over 22 years and had worked with companies in the USA, Asia, Pacific and Africa that blended technology and finance that are relevant to the poor. Manu has an MBA in Marketing from the Cochin University of Science and Technology.
Md. Abedur Rahman Sikder is the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) Bangladesh. He has been with DBBL for almost 5 years now. He had been Chief Retail Banking Officer before his new assignment as COO this January 2021. Prior to joining DBBL, he was EVP at BRAC Bank in Bangladesh and prior to that, CEO at BRAC Lanka Finance in Sri Lanka. Sikder has a Master’s Degree in Governance Studies from the University of Dhaka and has two Post Graduate Diplomas, one in International Relations and the second in Business Management, Marketing and Related Support Services.
Agustina Samara is the Chief People and Corporate Strategy Officer at DANA in Indonesia. She has been with DANA since July 2018. Tina has 24 years of working experience in multinational and local companies playing various roles as banker, executive of a conglomerate company, owner of a consultant firm and executive of a start-up. At DANA, her passion is to find great talents to develop digital money and build a cashless society for Indonesia. She earned an Industrial Engineering degree from the Universitas Trisakti and deepened her leadership skills through INSEAD Leadership Executive Program. She is a certified international trainer and coach.
Elwyn Panggabean is the Director for Advisory Services at Women’s World Banking. With 14 years of experience working in financial industry and development sector, Elwyn leads the advisory projects, research and business development in Southeast Asia. He was a senior banker at one of the largest state-owned Banks in Indonesia. Prior to joining Women’s World Banking, Elwyn was a Manager at a consulting firm that focuses in financial inclusions, to assist the development of digital financial and socio-economic inclusion in Indonesia. His areas of expertise and interest include research, strategy, business development, and evidence-based policy analysis. Elwyn holds an MA in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Nithyasri Sharma is a Manager for Strategy at Women’s World Banking. She is a seasoned strategy professional focused on inclusive finance, fintech strategy, and digital innovation. She currently leads the strategy function at Women’s World Banking where she is responsible for driving the development and implementation of the organization’s strategic plan to reach 100 million women, as well as country strategies in each of the organization’s key priority markets. She also has expertise in human-centered research and product design for inclusive finance institutions from banks to fintechs, across digital credit, savings, and mobile payments. Nithyasri received her BA in Economics and English Literature from Dartmouth College, her MBA from the Yale School of Management, and her MA in International and Development Economics from Yale University.
About
Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc is the bank for every Cambodian. Since introducing instant, secure, and convenient fund transfers in August 2008, Wing Bank has revolutionized the way Cambodians access mobile financial services. Wing Bank serves the entire Cambodian population through our innovative Wing Money App, nearly 10,000 Wing Cash Xpress agents, over 55,000 participating merchants, and partnerships with industry giants. Wing Bank provides an array of advanced financial products (loans, deposits, micro savings, credit referral services, money transfers, utility and insurance payments, phone top-ups) both for individual and corporate customers. In addition, Wing offers retail payments via “WingPay”, and has the “WingMall” e-commerce platform. Small and large companies alike are also using Wing’s payroll and disbursement services. Wing Bank is committed to improving financial inclusion for the unbanked and the under-banked, allowing every Cambodian to enjoy convenience and security when it comes to financial services.
Dutch-Bangla Bank is Bangladesh's first joint venture bank between local shareholders spearheaded by M Sahabuddin Ahmed (founder chairperson) and the Dutch company FMO. From the onset, the focus of the bank has been financing high-growth manufacturing industries that exports Bangladeshi products worldwide. The bank has also won numerous international awards because of its unique approach as a socially conscious bank. Dutch Bangla Bank was the first bank in Bangladesh to be fully automated. The Electronic-Banking Division established in 2002 undertook rapid automation and bring modern banking services into this field. It now provides unrivaled banking technology offerings to all its customers.
DANA is a technology company that supports one of the pillars of a digital economy in Indonesia. As a Fintech, it aims to bring inclusive financial services to empower people for a better way of life by enabling the society to transact seamlessly. It offers a highly secured and scalable payment service platform that connects everyone based on world-class technology. DANA’s goal is to provide Indonesia with a trustworthy and convenient mobile payment system that caters to the needs of their customers, and that is a sustainable and profitable business for their stakeholders. They want to build Indonesia as a cashless society.
Women’s World Banking designs and invests in the financial solutions, institutions and policy environments in emerging markets to create greater economic stability and prosperity for women, their families, and their communities. With a global reach of 56 partners in 31 countries serving more than 70 million women clients, Women’s World Banking drives impact through its scalable, market-driven solutions; gender-lens private equity fund; and leadership and diversity programs.
