August is Women’s Month in South Africa, which is an opportunity to commemorate advances made in respect of women’s rights, and to draw attention to gaps remaining in terms of gender equality and female inclusion in society.
The theme of the 2024 Women’s Month is “Celebrating 30 Years of Freedom Towards Women’s Development”. This year’s campaign will take stock of progress made on the socio-economic empowerment of women since the advent of democracy.
Financial inclusion is a key aspect of female socio-economic inclusion. Although great strides have been made, there are remaining issues with access to and use of financial products by women in South Africa. Women remain the most financially vulnerable demographic, and research indicates that although South African women are largely financially included in terms of bank account ownership, they are less included in, and don’t make full use of a range of other financial products or service such as savings and investments.
According to Statistics South Africa’s General Housing Survey 2023, over 42.3% of households in South Africa are led by women. The vast majority of these households struggle to make their salaries last until the end of the month and fear the consequences of a financial emergency. Many are just one unexpected medical or transportation expense away from a crisis.
But things are beginning to shift with the advent of financial services designed specifically to empower previously excluded demographics, including women. One such service is earned wage access (EWA), an innovative financial solution which allows employees to access a portion of their already-earned wages before payday, at very low fees. This also comes at no cost to their employer.
Paymenow analysed their usage data and found more women than men are using already-earned wages to access cash, bolster savings and purchase vouchers for necessities such as data and groceries.
More than half – 53% – of Paymenow’s users are women. 61% of women using the platform have reached the gold usage tier, indicating that they are active users of the service and take advantage of the financial education modules Paymenow offers.
Women typically transact two to three times a month with Paymenow, using their earned-wages to buy necessities. 51% of the earned wages accessed by women are used for groceries, and 35% of female users’ purchases are for airtime, with20% for data. Women also use the platform to save a portion of their salary. On average, Paymenow records two savings transactions and one withdrawal each month for each female who uses the feature.
Denise Neethling, head of marketing at Paymenow, says: “We are very pleased to note that Paymenow is being equally accessed by women and men. This is in line with our mission to promote financial inclusivity among women and empower all South Africans equally. Having an Earned Wage Access (EWA) offering at your organisation can help this underserved market make ends meet, assist them access necessary items, and ultimately stretch their money further each month.”