Karandaaz opens applications for Financial Inclusion for Women Challenge

Karandaaz, with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), has launched its Financial Inclusion for Women Challenge.

It invites applications from women-centric financial products and services that reflect needs and preferences of women. The aim is to offer mentoring and capital support of up to PKR15 million to increase financial inclusion for women.

The applicants must target proposed solutions within the two defined thematic areas:

Type A: Technology solutions that enable and encourage adoption of formal financial services by women.

These technology-enabled solutions must include but should not be limited to opening a bank account, carrying out online transactions, and accessing a financial service.

Type B: Women Centric Financial products and channels

This category refers to the designing and creating of financial products such as credit, savings, insurance, investments and etc, with an adoption strategy that ensures the need of a specific segment of women to enable access, profitability and reach.

Who can apply?

Marketplaces and other E/M-Commerce players, digital social platforms, digital use-cases for women (lifestyle apps, recommendation apps, ride hailing etc), and non-financial sector players can apply for the Type A thematic area.

Banks, branchless banking providers, fintechs, NBFIs, MFBs and other entities in consortium with a licensed provider can apply for the Type B thematic area.