Enabling digital inclusion: Lessons learned from a field experiment to encourage women entrepreneurs to adopt digital tools

• by Kunal Sharma, Sadia Shahnaz, Mohak Srivastava and Ayushi Misra
• Feb 18, 2025
• 1 min
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Many women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh have access to digital financial tools but rarely use them. MSC (MicroSave Consulting) intended to explore the reason for this low usage and implemented a digital training program for women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh, under the Women’s Business Diaries initiative. The structured intervention led to 79% of non-users adopting MFS.

Women entrepreneurs in Bangladesh often struggle to adopt digital financial tools even though they have adequate access. MSC intended to bridge this gap and organized a structured intervention through which we delivered hands-on training in MFS, agent banking, and e-commerce. While service adoption increased modestly, confidence in independent use surged as 79% of previous MFS non-users embraced the service. However, rural entrepreneurs and those with lower education levels lagged. The expansion of personalized training and improved access to banking agents could further accelerate digital inclusion and business growth.