Gender-Intelligent banking is the key to unlock Kenya’s untapped market

• by Elizabeth Gathu and Saumya Jain
• Jan 29, 2026
• 5 min

This blog examines how Kenya’s financial inclusion gains have not translated into meaningful usage for many women and the risks women face in informal finance. The solution is gender-intelligent banking that can help financial institutions design better products, close usage gaps, and unlock a large, underserved market.

Christine is a market vendor in Machakos in Kenya, with 17 years of experience. She does not have a formal bank account but uses informal digital financial services (DFS) to save, borrow, and transact. She borrows weekly for stock, school fees, or medical emergencies, but high fees, unclear terms, and limited knowledge of loan products put her at risk.

Eunice, a fishmonger at Apida Beach in Homa Bay County, Kenya, often turns to local lenders known as “Maasai” for quick loans. Informal lenders charge usurious high rates, as for every KES 1,000 (USD 7.70) borrowed; the borrowers pay KES 100 (USD 0.77) daily until the original amount is repaid. Even a small loan of KES 10,000 (USD 77) carries an effective annual interest rate of more than 360%, which affects Eunice’s already tight margins. This interest rate traps many women like her in cycles of debt, which makes it difficult for them to grow their businesses or achieve financial stability.

East Africa’s mobile money revolution has turned financial inclusion into a global success story. Yet, for these women, real inclusion remains out of reach. This gap has shifted from access to usage, depth, and value. For financial service providers, it is about opportunity.

The mobile money revolution in East Africa has dramatically reduced the gender gap in financial inclusion. The gender gap in financial access in the region narrowed from 12% in 2006 to 4% in 2024, fueled by enabling policies, mobile penetration, and telecom innovation. However, access is just the first step. Usage is distinct from access and indicates the actual frequency of activity and uptake of financial services.

In Kenya, a gender gap of nearly 11% persists in usage, with a 11% gap between urban and rural women. Kenya’s of women rely more on informal channels, which reflects persistent gaps in meaningful access to formal banking and its use.

This gap in usage offers a glimpse into the daily financial lives of women. A study by MSC reveals that 60% of women rely on informal DFS, table banking, chamas, and Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs for credit. They often choose these informal options over formal institutions, such as microfinance institutions (MFIs) and banks. Such informal sources have been crucial for access, but their unregulated nature and limited financial literacy leave women exposed, and the products rarely meet their diverse financial needs.

For women, such as Christine and Eunice, limited access to fair, flexible formal finance pushes them toward high-cost and predatory solutions. This pattern is widespread across Kenya, particularly among young women, who continue to rely on chamas, local moneylenders, and social networks. In contrast, young men are more likely to use formal accounts, savings, and credit.

Yet, when women access formal or digital credit, the design and behavior of lenders often widen, rather than reduce, the gender gap. MSC’s work in East Africa shows that women tend to receive smaller loans, shorter tenures, and higher interest rates, as they are often perceived as higher-risk borrowers. Women remain the largest underserved segment in financial services, which represents a persistent gap and a clear growth opportunity.

These gaps reflect a deeper issue that financial products are largely designed with a gender-neutral lens, which overlooks women’s realities. Many assume predictable, regular cash flows, but women often earn irregular, seasonal, or daily incomes. Onboarding requires documentation or collateral that women may not control, while delivery channels assume time and mobility that household and caregiving responsibilities frequently limit. Automated credit scoring typically ignores chama records, informal savings, and other community-based financial behaviors.

For women like Christine and Eunice, these gaps are real. In Machakos, women can access Fuliza, M-Shwari, the Hustler Fund, or moneylenders, but these options often have low ceilings, rigid tenors, and interest rates up to 40%. Instead of profit reinvestments, women spend most of their earnings on repayments. These patterns are common across Kenya, especially among young women, which shows how structural barriers and product design limit access to meaningful financial services.

Financial institutions (FIs) must change their approach to service women user segments that seize this opportunity. Gender-intelligent banking (GIB) is a transformative approach that recognizes and addresses the unique realities and barriers of each customer, and creates solutions designed for their needs. GIB is a systematic approach and offers a clear, operational way for institutions to embed women customer segments-based business across strategy, products, operations, and governance, which turns intent into practice.

Women represent a gap and a growth opportunity in financial services. The closure of the gap in gender usage represents smart business. Women demonstrate stronger repayment discipline, consistent savings, and influence over household finances, which makes them a high-value, loyal customer base. Expanded offerings and increased usage among underserved women could generate an estimated KES 38.5 billion (USD 352 million) in annual revenue. Young women alone comprise more than 10% of Kenya’s population, which represents a demographic with vast untapped potential.

Tyme Bank in South Africa shows components of this approach. Launched in 2019, the GIB approach reached 10 million customers in six years, with 51% of them being women. The bank combines digital banking with accessible cash-in and cash-out (CICO) agents, many of which are run by female “friendly ambassadors.” It offers pay-as-you-go products, goal-based savings, and gender-intentional credit scoring. Tyme Bank became Africa’s first profitable digital bank. This bank holds nearly ZAR 7 billion (USD 403 million) in deposits and outperforms many traditional banks.

In Nigeria, Access Bank shows the power of gender-intelligent strategies through its W initiative and W power loan, which target women-led businesses and combine tailored financial products. These initiatives are supported by W community networks, mentorship, and W academy training, and redesigned delivery channels with internal gender inclusion through the Access Women Network. These efforts, combined with a focus on using gender data analytics and inclusive leadership, have driven a 58% increase in lending to women-led MSMEs within three years. This increase reflects that women now comprise 32% of its customer base, 40% of its loan portfolio, and 41% of its workforce.

In Kenya and Uganda, FIs are beginning to adopt GIB to serve women microentrepreneurs better. Based on MSC’s work and recent GIB training, such as loan limits, unclear rejections, and products that do not fit their needs. These institutions introduce multiple solutions. They experiment with alternative collateral and data sources, such as mobile money activity and chama histories. These alternatives simplify onboarding, align repayment schedules with women’s business cycles. It also embeds financial literacy into the lending journey and enhances outreach by connecting staff directly with women in markets and communities, rather than through branches alone.

As a result, gender-intelligent practices enable a lending ecosystem that reduces debt cycles, strengthens trust, and empowers women as high-potential clients. These practices enable the businesses of these clients to thrive when financial products align with their realities.

These examples show the potential of gender-intelligent banking. However, most efforts remain underused across the sector, which focuses on isolated elements, a single product, campaign, or channel tweak. Early success remains fragmented and fails to scale without gender-intelligent practices and policies embedded across the core of the institution. When institutionalized, gender intelligence allows FIs to diversify portfolios, expand market share, and unlock historically underserved markets. These practices support the future of smart, strategic, and sustainable finance.