The second installment in a new case study series from FinEquity on informed design and digital financial services (DFS). This study examines product and service design by Lucy, a neobank for entrepreneurial women—specifically Foreign Domestic Workers in Singapore—providing DFS and business-building tools and training through a mobile app to help them start and grow their businesses. 

Mercy Corps was primarily interested in understanding how poultry inputs and savings group interventions had helped women earn income, save and access loans to improve their economic well-being. But nearly all the women they spoke with talked instead about how the poultry livelihoods had increased their self-esteem, confidence and aspirations, and changed men’s perceptions of women’s economic contributions toward the household and made financial decisions more equitable between men and women - in other words, bolstered their social resilience capacities.

Sophie Romana, international consultant, sat down with us to discuss the importance of building gender-inclusive workplaces, her recent work in gender-smart investing, equity for women entrepreneurs and more.