Lorena still remembers her first paycheck eleven years ago and that she got a canceled check. She earned $380 at the end of each month and it was a headache to go to the bank and wait in line for hours.

“I would leave work at 3:30 p.m. because I would leave early. I would go to the bank, and it was already 6 p.m., and there were times when I couldn’t make withdrawals because the queues were huge,” says the citizen.

That adventure kept her going for six months until the company where she worked decided to pay into bank accounts. And Lorena did not hesitate and opened an account. “Everything has changed since then. And he only went to the bank to make a payment and nothing else, but he went on a day when he knew there weren’t many people. Less than two weeks or at the end of the month,” he claims.

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After a few years, when mobile apps started appearing, he downloaded one and has been doing transactions from his mobile ever since. “It’s a huge time saver,” he says.

According to figures from the Association of Private Banks of Ecuador (Assobanca), in 2022 women made 402 million transactions, corresponding to physical, remote and digital channels. In contrast, men had 413 million surgeries.

That gap is getting shorter and shorter. And in the mobile part, women made 178 million transactions last year, which is 106.7% more than in 2021.

María Elena Pulgar, professor at the International Business School at UISEK, mentions that women’s access to banking digital media is due to ease. “We have to take into account that it is not easy to mobilize our cities. And we can do it while we are at home or at work“, comments Pulgar, adding that this approach can be increased by employment.

“If they are tied to the labor sector, then this increases their participation in the system,” says Pulgar. It also lists data from the Central Bank about which 4.1 million women have access to financial products and services (as of September 2020), and 4.4 million are men.

For him economic analyst Hector Delgado, and the statistics of Asobanka and the Central Bank mean that they are fair. “It is a reflection that this is a service regardless of gender. And I think that thanks to technology and the different channels that the financial system has developed, inclusion has increased, and women are one of the main beneficiaries,” says Delgado.

Despite this, according to Pulgar, inequalities persist. “Women’s access to work in any of its modalities also has a direct impact on their involvement, on access to banks, and this brings positive factors such as managing one’s own funds. Women usually invest in the family, not in themselves. Women’s investment is more community-based,” says Pulgar.

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And consider that there are other barriers such as marital status. “If you are single, for example, you would not be able to get a loan for larger amounts. If you are married, you will need your spouse’s signature. And there can also be cultural barriers… sometimes men are identified with the world of finance, while women are left as a separate thing,” says the expert.

Meanwhile, Asobanc data show that the use of that women give access to the bank focuses more on non-banking correspondents (CNB)they act as intermediaries between the bank and the customer, and they operate in very close shops and premises where various transactions can be performed.

In these CNBs, women carry out 54% of the total transactions, which corresponds to 85 million operations in 2022. “This shows that this channel facilitates financial inclusion and allows it to be a suitable option for women in carrying out their transactions,” Asobancia said in its report.

Delgado points out that because these CNBs are close to homes, they are actually used more by women, who tend to spend most of their time at home. “Women stay at home, which is why CNB is their preferred channel for bank transactions. It should be taken into account that the CNB cannot provide all the services performed by the banking agency; however, it is widely used to pay for services, make small deposits or withdrawals, and receive remittances,” explains Delgado.

The thumb indicates another approach to use and considers that women are in charge of certain items, and on other occasions for everythingand they always prioritize time: “A woman accesses these points because she invests in the family, otherwise you pay for basic services, make transfers, pay school fees for children.”

Both Delgado and Pulgar emphasize that the bank it is necessary to develop more products and services aimed at the female sex. “It is important to know their needs well and that these financial solutions are a real solution for them. Savings products, it could be interesting because women are very careful about money and are very planned,” says Delgado.

Pulgar believes that security needs to be improved to create more trust in digital media and the rural sector. “Typically, the financial sector will be asked to continue to improve security, to be more efficient, to move closer to the socialization of digital media and Look for spaces in areas that are not necessarily or historically underbanked, such as the rural sector. I believe that women will find the most comfortable way to carry out their financial transactions,” she says.