Peru has improved slightly in terms of financial inclusion by gender, and climbed two positions in the list of countries with the highest proportion of banked women, placing it in fifth place, according to a report by Credicorp and Ipsos.
Argentina (38%), Panama (33%), Chile (31%) and Ecuador (27%) lead the regional table; and we are better than Mexico (17%), Colombia (16%) and Bolivia (12%).
What do we understand by financial inclusion? Those citizens who regularly use banking products and services, and who positively evaluate the system.
In detail, 25% of men achieved financial inclusion, compared to 18% of women. That is, the gap is 7 percentage points.
Francesca Raffo, Corporate Innovation Manager at Credicorp, maintains that various initiatives have been deployed from her front to promote equal opportunities between men and women in favor of financial inclusion.
For example, it is estimated that 1 in 3 Peruvians uses a digital wallet, but the Credicorp and Ipsos report reveals that 47% of men use them, compared to 43% of women. Added to the fact that men have a higher average holding of credit products compared to women.
On the other hand, 24% of women have a savings or checking account, compared to 29% of men; and on debit cards, the difference is 28% versus 37%.
Regarding credit cards, only 13% of Peruvian women have one, and in the case of men, 17%; and in terms of confidence in its financial system, approval is 25% compared to 29%.
And, speaking of general financial inclusion, Peru has an average of 43.3%, barely surpassing Mexico (41.7%) and Bolivia (40.4%).
According to the Credicorp report, the citizens who have the lowest scores in terms of financial inclusion are women, workers in the informal sector or the unemployed, inhabitants of rural areas, people with a low educational level, without access to the internet and the descendants of some indigenous or native people.
The number of transactions increased
Despite the aforementioned gaps in the financial market, Visa reported that the number of online transactions in Peru rose almost 50%, in line with the trend in Latin America and the Caribbean — the increase in online debit was 20% compared to 2022—.
The greater use of debit in e-commerce transactions is crucial so that unbanked people can enjoy some important services such as streaming applications, urban mobility and for paying for online purchases.
Source: Larepublica
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