The project was conceived with the recognition that women from low-income households are offered meaningful opportunities to add liabilities to their portfolios through well-serviced microloans, while comparable asset-building products, such as savings instruments, are not similarly designed or delivered.
In the first stage of the project, a conceptual understanding of the various savings products tested on this cohort was built. Fieldwork was then undertaken to capture women’s perspectives on savings and day-to-day money management. Suggestions and feedback were subsequently sought from a range of stakeholders, including Small Finance Banks, Banking Correspondents, and Chit Fund companies, so that supply-side constraints and motivations could be mapped. In the second stage, insights from these streams of work were synthesised, and core challenges affecting savings behaviour among women from low-income households were identified. Based on these insights, a novel savings product was conceptualised.
This product was envisaged not only as a mechanism for accumulating savings but also as a practical tool for managing household cash flows in ways that align with women’s financial realities.
