Digital Financial Services and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

This review assesses how digital financial services (DFS)—mobile money, debit-card transfers, branchless savings and similar tools—shape women’s economic empowerment in low- and middle-income countries. We screened 54 studies located through AI-assisted and bibliographic searches and include 22 with credible causal designs (17 RCTs; 5 quasi-experiments). Across settings, DFS consistently boosts women’s formal or mobile savings and increases account ownership and use. Women’s say in household financial decisions also rises when accounts are in their own (or joint) names. Effects on labor supply, occupational choice, and enterprise profits are conditional: they emerge when products place earnings under women’s control and keep user costs low; simple “digitization” without those features seldom shifts work. Access to formal credit rarely expands unless it is bundled into the platform or explicitly linked to a verifiable digital history. Program design matters: lowering withdrawal frictions without adequate privacy can reduce use among low-bargaining-power women, and poorly structured fees can erode benefits. Overall, DFS can be a powerful lever for empowerment when accounts are inexpensive, private, and, where relevant, transparently linked to credit.