About 47% Female Earners In Metros Take Independent Financial Decisions: Report
About 47 per cent of Indian female earners make independent financial decisions, as revealed by a recent study
Women over 45 years of age, leveraging their wealth of experience, emerge as leaders, with 65 per cent making independent financial choices compared to 41 per cent of those aged 25-35 years, as indicated by a study titled ‘Women and Finance.’
DBS Bank India, in partnership with CRISIL, conducted this study, surveying over 800 women across 10 cities in India.
The study covered a wide range of behaviours, including their involvement in financial decision-making, goal-setting, saving and investing patterns, adoption of digital tools, as well as their preferences for different banking products.
Prashant Joshi, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank India, said “The insights from the survey highlight the importance of financial stability in the aspirations of independent female earners across India. Ownership of financial decision making, diverse investment and borrowing choices and growing adoption of digital channels are all evidence that the modern Indian woman is not just a participant, but a planner of her journey. More than 35% of our own DBS Treasures customer base are female and we have seen many inspiring examples of how women can take charge of their own finances. The DBS Women and Finance study is a step forward in the much-needed movement to a more equitable financial playing field and it underlines our commitment to enabling all customers to ‘Live more, Bank less’.”
Women earners in the metros tend to be risk-averse with 51 per cent of their investments parked in fixed deposits (FD) and savings accounts, followed by 16 per cent in gold, 15 per cent in mutual funds, 10 per cent in real estate and just 7 per cent in stocks. This tracks with behaviours from DBS Bank India’s customer insights where 10 per cent of female customers have an active fixed deposit, while just 5 per cent of male customers have opened an FD.
The presence of dependents understandably plays a major role in women’s investment behaviour. Specifically, 43 per cent of married women with dependents conservatively allocate 10-29 per cent of their income to investing, while in contrast, a quarter of married women without dependents choose to invest over half of their income. Regional variations lend greater depth to the insights. For example, Hyderabad and Mumbai lead the way in credit card usage, with 96 per cent of women in Mumbai relying on credit cards, while only 63 per cent of women in Kolkata use them. More significantly, the report revealed that half of the salaried women stated that they have never taken a loan. Among those who have borrowed, the majority opted for a home loan, which reflects the deep cultural importance associated with homeownership in India.
The study also deep dived into women’s usage of different banking and payment channels. 33 per cent of those in the 25-35 age bracket prefer to use UPI for online shopping, while only 22 per cent above 45 years use UPI.
This finding aligns with the customer profile of digibank by DBS, the mobile-first, digital bank where more than 78 per cent of the female user base is below 40 years of age. The report showed that UPI stands out as the preferred choice for urban women for a variety of payment needs: money transfers (38 per cent), utility bills (34 per cent) and e-commerce purchases (29 per cent), signalling decreasing dependency on cash. Although regional nuances were stark in some cases with only 2 per cent of women in Delhi opting for cash payments, while 43 per cent of women from Kolkata favoured this option.
