The Power of Jan Dhan: Making Finance Work for Women in India

To understand women’s savings behaviors in India, Women’s World Banking worked with Bank of Baroda, an institution holding 14 percent of the bank accounts under the government scheme of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), with approximately 31.8 million women Jan Dhan accounts (as of July 2021).

The theory of change was that women were active and committed financial savers, but were doing so in informal ways. Women do not consider using a bank for savings since they typically save small amounts. To test this, Women’s World Banking designed Jan Dhan Plus, a product to motivate women to adopt a behavior that emphasizes consistent savings, and to use their account to access credit, insurance, and other financial products. 

This report highlights the design of Women's World Banking's unique Jan Dhan Plus solution and learnings from a subsequent pilot study that helped nurture regular savings behavior among low-income women in the country.