Women’S Banking in Southeast Asia
In Southeast Asia today, recent developments have led to increased educational opportunities and new jobs for the estimated 540 million people living in this region. Specifically, the changes have had a significant impact on the female population in the ten member countries that make up Southeast Asia, as more and more women continue to gain access to education and obtain the skills and qualifications needed to enter into the workforce. In Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, for instance, the numbers of female graduates entering the workforce significantly outnumbers the males.
Due to these recent developments, women in Southeast Asia have been able to gain more control over their own finances. As a result, women entrepreneurs in this region have become increasingly important drivers of growth, with forty to fifty percent of businesses in developing markets owned by women. In Malaysia, for example, there are approximately 83,000 woman-owned enterprises, and this number is only expected to increase. Due to their newly acquired financial responsibility, women are seeking banks that can cater to their specific needs. Banks located throughout Southeast Asia can tap into this growing market by providing personalized bank products and services to women throughout this region.
Banking for Women
Throughout Southeast Asia today, there are only a few banks that cater their services specifically to the needs of women. In Bangladesh, for example, Grameen Bank has been recognized as an exclusively female-based organization with approximately 95 percent of its borrowers being women. Additionally, The Women's Credit Union (WCU) of Sri Lanka has provided its female members a mechanism for saving and making loans. Formed in 1989 with assistance from the United Nation's Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) and Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Credit Union helps to enable low-income women to become the active agents of their own development. The WCU encourages these women to have control and management of financial systems not only in their households but also in the community. Additionally, the WCU helps low-income women to become more responsible for decisions regarding who obtains loans in their families, as well as how to save money.
As women continue to manage their financial responsibility and independence in Southeast Asia, the need for new and specific banking products and services for this market has also emerged. Modern Southeast Asian women will benefit from financial institutions that provide private, personal and comfortable banking environments and offer enhanced, targeted, financially compelling, and more personalized services than the traditional banking experience.
Islamic Banking
Making up about 40% of the entire population, Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Southeast Asia. According to a report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the number of Muslims living in Asia-Pacific Region is approximately 972.5 million, outnumbering the Middle East-North Africa Region which has only about 315.2 million Muslim residents. As many Islamic banks continue to export Islamic banking services outside of the Middle East, there is enormous potential for these banks to open women-only Islamic branches in these countries as well.
While several conventional banks in Southeast Asia have shown some progress in providing banking products and services designed specifically for women, Islamic Banks are much better positioned to serve this market due to the growing number of women working in the Islamic finance sector. Unlike many areas in the Middle East, where men and women are segregated, there is no public segregation of the sexes in Malaysia. As a result, the female presence in the Islamic finance industry is expected to continue growing. Though women-only branches have yet to take form in Southeast Asia, women are taking the Islamic finance sector by storm, serving as bank chief executives, regulators and scholars of Shariah, or Islamic law.
Training
As women continue to take control of their finances throughout Southeast Asia, there is a growing need for banks to provide products and services that will meet their needs. The most effective way for banks throughout Southeast Asia to reach this growing market is to implement a top quality training program that is customized to train sales and service personnel to serve the needs of women. A training program will help all employees at a bank to become familiar with this growing demographic and understand the importance of being sensitive to the needs of these new customers. A well-educated staff will prove to their clients that the bank is aware of the financial impact that women are making throughout Southeast Asia.
Additionally, a training program will teach bank employees how to successfully communicate with their female customers while providing outstanding sales and service. Learning professional customer services skills will help employees listen to their customers' needs and answer any questions they may have, helping their female customers to feel confident in their banking experience. Through training, employees will also become familiar with the products and services available for their female customers, such as current, savings and investment accounts, credit cards, auto finance, real estate and much more. Most importantly, employees will learn how to sell these products; following proper policy and procedure, protecting themselves, their banks, and their female clients.
Final Word
As Southeast Asia continues to invest in human resource development, the number of women entering the workforce will continue to rise as they make their mark in the regions growing economy. In order to serve this emerging market, banks throughout this region must be able to provide products and services that meet the specific needs of their female clientele. By training their staff on how to best serve their female customers, Southeast Asian banks will help women to transform the economy, while experiencing growth that overwhelms their competition.
Due to these recent developments, women in Southeast Asia have been able to gain more control over their own finances. As a result, women entrepreneurs in this region have become increasingly important drivers of growth, with forty to fifty percent of businesses in developing markets owned by women. In Malaysia, for example, there are approximately 83,000 woman-owned enterprises, and this number is only expected to increase. Due to their newly acquired financial responsibility, women are seeking banks that can cater to their specific needs. Banks located throughout Southeast Asia can tap into this growing market by providing personalized bank products and services to women throughout this region.
Banking for Women
Throughout Southeast Asia today, there are only a few banks that cater their services specifically to the needs of women. In Bangladesh, for example, Grameen Bank has been recognized as an exclusively female-based organization with approximately 95 percent of its borrowers being women. Additionally, The Women's Credit Union (WCU) of Sri Lanka has provided its female members a mechanism for saving and making loans. Formed in 1989 with assistance from the United Nation's Centre for Human Settlements (UNCHS) and Children's Fund (UNICEF), the Credit Union helps to enable low-income women to become the active agents of their own development. The WCU encourages these women to have control and management of financial systems not only in their households but also in the community. Additionally, the WCU helps low-income women to become more responsible for decisions regarding who obtains loans in their families, as well as how to save money.
As women continue to manage their financial responsibility and independence in Southeast Asia, the need for new and specific banking products and services for this market has also emerged. Modern Southeast Asian women will benefit from financial institutions that provide private, personal and comfortable banking environments and offer enhanced, targeted, financially compelling, and more personalized services than the traditional banking experience.
Islamic Banking
Making up about 40% of the entire population, Islam is the most widely practiced religion in Southeast Asia. According to a report by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, the number of Muslims living in Asia-Pacific Region is approximately 972.5 million, outnumbering the Middle East-North Africa Region which has only about 315.2 million Muslim residents. As many Islamic banks continue to export Islamic banking services outside of the Middle East, there is enormous potential for these banks to open women-only Islamic branches in these countries as well.
While several conventional banks in Southeast Asia have shown some progress in providing banking products and services designed specifically for women, Islamic Banks are much better positioned to serve this market due to the growing number of women working in the Islamic finance sector. Unlike many areas in the Middle East, where men and women are segregated, there is no public segregation of the sexes in Malaysia. As a result, the female presence in the Islamic finance industry is expected to continue growing. Though women-only branches have yet to take form in Southeast Asia, women are taking the Islamic finance sector by storm, serving as bank chief executives, regulators and scholars of Shariah, or Islamic law.
Training
As women continue to take control of their finances throughout Southeast Asia, there is a growing need for banks to provide products and services that will meet their needs. The most effective way for banks throughout Southeast Asia to reach this growing market is to implement a top quality training program that is customized to train sales and service personnel to serve the needs of women. A training program will help all employees at a bank to become familiar with this growing demographic and understand the importance of being sensitive to the needs of these new customers. A well-educated staff will prove to their clients that the bank is aware of the financial impact that women are making throughout Southeast Asia.
Additionally, a training program will teach bank employees how to successfully communicate with their female customers while providing outstanding sales and service. Learning professional customer services skills will help employees listen to their customers' needs and answer any questions they may have, helping their female customers to feel confident in their banking experience. Through training, employees will also become familiar with the products and services available for their female customers, such as current, savings and investment accounts, credit cards, auto finance, real estate and much more. Most importantly, employees will learn how to sell these products; following proper policy and procedure, protecting themselves, their banks, and their female clients.
Final Word
As Southeast Asia continues to invest in human resource development, the number of women entering the workforce will continue to rise as they make their mark in the regions growing economy. In order to serve this emerging market, banks throughout this region must be able to provide products and services that meet the specific needs of their female clientele. By training their staff on how to best serve their female customers, Southeast Asian banks will help women to transform the economy, while experiencing growth that overwhelms their competition.