Gender and the social impacts of rural mobile finance

International organizations and many researchers consider that mobile finance can help narrow the financial inclusion gender gap for rural women in the Global South (Adegbite and Machethe, 2020; Gammage et al., 2017). Yet, little is known about how mobile finance affects the livelihoods and well-being of women and their families, particularly in rural areas, and new digital services may increase risks of negative outcomes, such as over-indebtedness and fraud. This chapter provides a brief review of literature on the topic published in the last decade. First, we describe the logic behind the idea that mobile finance is helpful to the well-being of women in the Global South, particularly those in rural areas. Then we discuss the ways in which scholars approach and interpret impact in relation to mobile finance and rural women. We then explore the limitations of the literature and the kinds of women’s practices that may fly “under the radar.” We conclude that the literature discussed in this chapter suggests that digital financial tools can have a range of positive impacts on women living in rural areas. However, the evidence is rather scarce, and mostly focuses on positive impacts. More research is needed to determine both the positive and negative impacts of digital financial services in the Global South.