Pakistan leads global drop in mobile gender gap, but financial agency lags

Pakistan has achieved the largest reduction in the mobile ownership and mobile internet gender gap of any country surveyed by the GSMA over the past year. This shift marks a significant technical milestone in a region where social norms have long restricted women's access to communication tools.

According to GSMA data, the mobile internet gender gap in Pakistan dropped from 38% in 2023 to 25% in 2024. To support this digital transition, the State Bank of Pakistan launched Raast in January 2021, a real-time digital transaction platform designed to broaden financial inclusion. Simultaneously, the government is moving Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) payments from biometric cash agents toward digital wallets in an effort to curb fraud.

The barrier of systemic exclusion

For decades, women in Pakistan were largely excluded from the formal financial sector. This exclusion was driven by a combination of mobility constraints, a lack of required documentation, and hesitations rooted in literacy levels and purdah-related social norms. While the introduction of mobile money in 2009 and the expansion of BISP since 2008 created initial pathways to the formal economy, the current shift toward fintech is moving faster than the social evolution of household power dynamics.

The agency paradox

Despite the proliferation of digital tools, a gap remains between having a financial account and exercising actual control over assets. Many women lack the decision-making power to manage their digital funds independently due to shared device usage and a lack of privacy tools. This has led to a reliance on informal saving methods, such as "committees," to maintain a degree of financial autonomy.

As the Chair of Economics at LUMS noted, "While access to resources is crucial, it is control over these that is necessary for empowerment." Without this control, the tools of fintech may provide the appearance of inclusion without delivering actual economic agency.

Risks and future outlook

If fintech products are designed without accounting for the lived realities of Pakistani women—including the need for privacy from kin and specific saving goals—the technology risks becoming a tool for digital surveillance rather than empowerment. Furthermore, while the transition to digital wallets for BISP recipients aims to reduce fraud, the continued reliance on cash-out points remains a vulnerability that could expose women to extortion by agents.

Observers will be watching whether future digital financial services integrate privacy-centric features that mimic traditional informal savings, potentially bridging the gap between digital access and genuine financial independence.