![Three ways banks can attract more women customers](/sites/default/files/styles/size390x268/public/blog_post/Acceso-al-financiamiento-mujeres.png?itok=SPyqCTLg)
Three ways banks can attract more women customers
Narrowing the global gender gap could add $12 trillion in annual global gross domestic product by 2025. In Latin America and the Caribbean, access to finance for women-led companies is a key driver of this gap. Two out of five small and medium-sized businesses in the region are owned or managed by women, yet 70% of them still have unserved or underserved credit needs. Despite this discrepancy, there is an overwhelming sense of optimism: more than two thirds of active, early-stage women entrepreneurs are opening businesses because they see clear opportunities, not out of necessity.
![Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: Smart companies, pay attention](/sites/default/files/styles/size390x268/public/blog_post/Bahia_leaders_city.jpg?itok=g9zshnXj)
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: Smart companies, pay attention
On November 19, 2014, the United Nations launched Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. This day reminds me of a newspaper article I read eight years ago that changed my life. It stated that, although more Jamaican women (70 percent) than men were graduating from higher education institutions, they had a significantly higher unemployment rate -15.6percent and 5.7 percent respectively-. As a Jamaican woman then working her way through university, it marked my professional path forever.
![Banner](/sites/default/files/styles/size390x268/public/2020-08/NS%20banner%2023_2020%20v05_ENG.jpg?itok=GEYiJDnv)
Financing for Women Entrepreneurs, Key for Economic Recovery
Support for the sizeable number of women entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean must include a gender perspective to achieve economic recovery. This implies either specific funding or collateral programs to lower risks for financial institutions.