Super Apps Promote Safer Mobility, Capital for Women: DiDi

Digital platforms and super apps are mitigating structural urban planning deficits and restrictive credit landscapes in Mexico by providing safer daily transit and alternative financial tools to over 200,000 women. Driven by a 46% female economic participation rate, this tech-driven integration allows users to bypass a 36% traditional commercial banking credit restriction while complying with local psychosocial safety frameworks. Consequently, these ecosystems are reshaping operational strategy, talent acquisition pipelines, and commercial scale for stakeholders across the domestic mobility, food delivery, and digital banking sectors.

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As women's participation in the national economy has risen to almost 50% over the past 20 years, experts consider that there is still a long way to go to achieve more participation. Amid this environment, China-based mobility platform DiDi considers that technology could be an ally to bridge the gap, as it allows women to bypass structural barriers through flexible income opportunities, safer daily mobility, and direct access to digital financial services where traditional banking credit lines remain limited.

Data from the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO) indicates that over the past two decades, women's participation in the national economy has increased from 41% to 46%. Despite this growth, structural barriers continue to limit development, positioning digital platforms and technology as mechanisms to reduce existing gaps. In this sense, DiDi considers that integrated ecosystems like the DiDi super app, can help bridging this gap, as the company uses mobility, delivery, and financial services to provide economic generation and financial resources to approximately 200,000 women across the country.

Daily Mobility and Spatial Access
In terms of daily mobility and independent income generation, women represent 62% of DiDi’s passengers. These patterns reflect deeper structural deficits in domestic urban planning; Catarina Heeckt of the LSE and Anamaria Martinez of WRI Cities note that sprawling urban development and disconnected housing in the rapidly growing peripheries of Mexican cities outpace formal public services. They emphasize that "not giving women equal access to urban opportunities through well-connected and safe public and active transport infrastructure has serious economic and social consequences," forcing many to rely heavily on alternative transportation networks to navigate these gaps safely. 
 

Consequently, findings from the Asi se mueve Mexico (This is How Mexico Moves) study by DiDi and Kantar indicate that 68% of these platform trips are tied directly to labor or educational activities, while 10% correspond to health-related matters. To address these urban challenges, DiDi, in alliance with the Ministry of Women (SEMUJERES) and the Government of Mexico City, launched the Safe Mobility Guide with a Gender-Perspective, aimed at developing risk protocols and tech-driven safety assistance for the 4.8 million women commuting through the city.

The document establishes structured institutional frameworks by standardizing formal action routes and response protocols for passengers and drivers when facing gender-based violence or emergency situations. It also prioritizes tech-driven security buffers, utilizing real-time digital monitoring, identity verification filters, and immediately accessible emergency features integrated into the platform. To complement these digital parameters, the initiative integrates targeted inclusion training programs for transit stakeholders, builds community-based support networks to share safety insights, and creates structural channels designed to dismantle commercial stereotypes by encouraging female participation in traditionally male-dominated transit roles. 

“Women are present across all sectors and disciplines. However, we must update the conversation on how we can be better, safer, with greater access possibilities, guaranteed rights, and without wage gaps,” highlighted Daptnhe Cuevas Ortiz, Mexico City’s Minister of Women.

Additionally, women account for an average of 10% of the registered drivers on the platform. Economic evaluations conducted by Kreab show that female drivers experience a mean income increase of 40% after entering the platform, facilitating flexible labor alternatives that assist with personal and family obligations, as seen in cases involving vehicle ownership, gender recognition transitions, and small-scale fleet management.

The digital ecosystem also impacts the food delivery and commercial sectors. During 2025, more than 11 million Mexican women made over 100 million orders through DiDi Food, while women concurrently constituted 18% of the delivery partner workforce nationwide. The company says that this digitalization allows female entrepreneurs to scale localized culinary businesses and expand employment within domestic markets, particularly through post-pandemic optimization strategies.

Financial Inclusion and Stress Mitigation
Regarding financial services, digital tools provide alternatives to traditional banking sectors where credit access for women is historically restricted to 36%. These gaps are compounded by broader structural pressures; according to Paloma Merodio, Vice President, INEGI, 42.2% of Mexican women report significant financial stress, compared to 30.7% of men, driven largely by limited access to financial resources and economic autonomy. Furthermore, Shivani Siroya, founder, Tala, highlights that traditional financial systems were not built to serve the majority, resulting in higher loan denial rates for women.

In this sense, DiDi considers that digital ecosystems are increasingly bypassing these traditional barriers. Women currently account for 46% of the active users for DiDi Prestamos (DiDi Loans) and DiDi Card, alongside holding 30% of the financial accounts managed via DiDi Account by JP Sofiexpress.  DiDi’s metrics show that 43% of these specific credit allocations are used for emergency expenses, 30% for standard daily costs, and 24% for education or direct business investments. 

“As a segment, women possess characteristics that any bank or financial institution would find enviable: they show a greater propensity to save and maintain far more stable, long-term relationships with the financial services they use,” noted Marlene Garayzar, CGO and Co-Founder of Stori, in an MBN Expert Contributor piece.