Security, openness and inclusion are the most crucial factors women look for when obtaining financial services in their daily lives. However, the majority of financial services marketing efforts miss the mark, with only 8% of women being motivated by increasing social status.

That is according to a report produced by Futura, Solaris’s network for women in fintech. The low number of respondents who are interested in increasing their social status is especially significant because it demonstrates how, despite assurances that their products are gender-neutral, financial services businesses often miss the mark completely, even when it comes to marketing.

The study, titled ‘Finance for Everyone’ aimed to discover the key influencers that women look for when taking out financial services. The research collected responses from 221 women through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods. The average respondent age was 33 and typically had an above-average level of knowledge and comfort with financial services products due to working in the fintech sector. 

Building financial security is a big factor for women

When it came to evaluating what women typically want from financial services, building financial security was the main factor noted by 77% of respondents ahead of wanting to grow their money in the long term. Saving for retirement was third most popular at 68% with protecting themselves from inflation and other crises being acknowledged by 47%.

Alicia Close, Senior Manager, Cards Business at Solaris said: “There is at least $330 billion annual global revenue waiting to be unlocked by giving women better access to finance. It’s time to ask the question, ‘Where are the products that serve them?’ This research reveals refreshingly simple yet powerful solutions that providers can start turning to in order to remove the barriers for women within current financial services products.”

When Futura analysed the factors that appeal most to women to use financial products, simplicity was the most important factor, noted by a huge 88% of respondents. This is ahead of accessibility (77%), flexibility (63%) and security (58%).

When it comes to the barriers that women feel are holding them back from using financial products, lack of knowledge was the overwhelming primary factor for 71%, a figure that would likely be higher among respondents that had lesser familiarity with the financial services sector. Fear of making wrong decisions was noted by 55% and too much complexity by 40%.