Only 61% of Women in Mexico Use Financial Products

In Mexico, 61% of women have at least one formal financial product, while 74% of men do, found Mexico's latest National Financial Inclusion Survey (2021) made by the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV) and the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

The report explains that disparity extends to access to savings accounts (with only 42.6% of women holding one while 56.4% of men have one) and private insurance ownership (16.4% versus 26.1%) due to informality and lack of education.

Similar figures are observed across the region, as highlighted by the Gender and Diversity Sector Framework by the Inter-American Development Bank (2022), which indicates that Latin American women tend to earn 29% less than their male counterparts. The factors that contribute to this disparity include women's lower participation in the formal labor market, income precariousness, and sociocultural patterns hindering women's full integration into the workforce.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, over 130 million people work in informal conditions, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO). Informality keeps women away from formal financial products, pushing them toward informal money-saving strategies.

In Mexico, men have greater access to credit cards, mortgages, and automotive loans compared to women, possibly due to stringent requirements like income verification and credit history. Sociocultural limitations further exacerbate disparities.

“Financial inclusion by itself will not lead to gender equality,” says ILO. When women have fair access to a comprehensive range of need-based financial services like savings, credit, insurance, and payments, along with the necessary financial education, they have a chance for social and economic empowerment. Addressing this inequality requires reevaluating gender divisions in work and financial management across all levels, from the familial to the governmental and organizational spheres, according to Deloitte. 

In Mexico, the National Commission for the Protection and Defense of Financial Services Users (CONDUSEF) and the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS) created the Minerva Project. It is a 100% online financial education program that aims to provide Mexican women with the financial resources they need, enabling increased engagement in economic endeavors.

The CNBV, in collaboration with Women's World Banking and the Gender Equality Unit of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit (SHCP), found that from nearly 200 institutions in Mexico, only 18% of women hold executive positions, despite women comprising 50% of their employees. Some companies are taking steps to solve this problem. For example, BBVA announced a commitment to increase female representation in its senior leadership to 36.8% by 2026.