Herconomy, a Lagos-based fintech company, has insisted on the need for uniquely designed financial and saving products to cater for the need of women across the country.

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This was discussed on Monday during the “World Savings Day event” hosted by Herconomy, themed ‘Women save too’.

The founder of Herconomy, Ifedayo Durosinmi-Etti, said: “According to the Global Findex 2021 report, there are only 35 percent of women in Nigeria who have a formal bank account, meaning a lot of women don’t have access to credit facilities or financial services, and at Herconomy, we are focused on building a bank focused on women finances and economy.”

Speaking at the event, Kari Tukur, vice president and head of customer solutions, East and West Africa at Mastercard, highlighted some of the factors hindering financial inclusion for women: low literacy level, connectivity and technological structure.

According to her, “with these problems, women have less digital footprints and are less likely to have access to loans and grants and can only practise savings through traditional means.”

Ara Sadiq, manager, advisory services at African Women World’s Banking, who stated that the reason why account adoption rate is low for women is because most financial products and savings products are not designed for women, also emphasized that ‘‘Women are very dynamic when it comes to savings; they encounter unique barriers and in building saving and financial services for them, it’s really important to consider the nature of a woman,’’ she said.

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Sadiq said a lot of women don’t have the privilege to own houses or venture into different investment tools.

‘‘It is necessary to come up with different ways women can save with financial vehicles that work for them, especially one that is liquid and as sustainable as other investing in other tools,’’ she said.