Nearly one billion women remain unbanked around the world. This financial exclusion severely limits their ability to save, invest and plan for the future.

Providing people with financial skills to manage their household budgets and opportunities to save is a key way to reduce household debt—reducing opportunities for modern slavery to occur.

CARE’s community savings groups have provided social safety nets in case of emergencies, enabled access to capital for women to invest in their businesses, and helped connect thousands of women with formal banking.

We have seen savers, particularly women, become more financially independent, healthier, educated and contribute more to their local and national economies.

Opportunities with CARE include:

• Supporting formal and informal workforces to improve their financial literacy and access community savings programs.
• Supporting micro-enterprises from rural areas to understand how to access formal financial institutions.
• Helping financial institutions adapt and tailor financial products to be appropriate to local markets.
• Helping financial institutions ensure their approaches at global and local levels are sensitive to the needs of women.
• Helping insurance companies understand local markets by helping untapped rural communities understand the value of savings and insurance.

What role can industry play in reducing debt and promoting access to financial services?

Banner image: ©Josh Estey/CARE