Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs

This webinar will provide insight into how government organisations can achieve this, what makes successful organisations stand out, and the performance benefits of managing diversity effectively.

With the vast majority of central banks stepping up their explorations or experiments with digital money, we explore that central bank digital currencies could provide to governments. These could include boosting financial inclusion and programmability (programmable money). What are the biggest potential benefits to government of retail CBDCs? How important are technology choices to realising these benefits?

Women in developing economies are typically less likely than men to have a bank account. As an example, Pakistan’s national payments strategy has highlighted that, as of 2019, only 21.3 per cent of adults in the country have a transaction account and, of these, only seven per cent are held by women. The World Bank and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) network and New York City-headquartered NGO Women’s World Banking, published a report in 2020 – ‘Digital Cash Transfers in the Time of Covid-19: Opportunities and Considerations for Women’s Inclusion and Empowerment’ – setting out considerations for policymakers. How can fintech solutions help?

Sandboxes and accelerators are two examples of how government/regulatory authorities worldwide are seeking to encourage fintech growth. Examples of well-established fintech sandboxes include those operated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), while newer examples include sandboxes in Greece, Spain and Brazil. Meanwhile, accelerators include a scheme launched by the Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH) in 2020. This webinar will seek to compare and contrast different approaches to encouraging fintech growth.