Traditionally, women in the Arab world have had a limited role to play in decisions involving finance and investments. More often than not, their destinies are controlled by their father, brothers or husband.

In a study of inequality between men and women across 134 countries published by the World Economic Forum (the ‘WEF Gender Gap Report 2013’), the GCC and Arab region rank amongst the lowest in the world on gender equality. While Iceland and Scandinavian countries rank at the top, the highest ranked Arab country is the UAE (109th place), followed by Bahrain (112), Qatar (115), Kuwait (116), Oman (122) and Saudi Arabia (127).

The WEF Gender Gap score is a composite score based on four parameters — economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political empowerment. Interestingly, GCC countries score low at the aggregate level, not due to education or health factors, but due to lower scores on economic opportunity and empowerment for women. This clearly indicates that the Arab woman, while not lacking in access to education and healthcare, is behind her male counterparts in terms of economic opportunity.

Does this mean that targeting women for financial services is not viable in the Arab region? Well, not entirely. While they still have a long way to go, women in the Middle East are increasingly demanding attention from financial services providers. This is a function of the following:

* Increasing levels of education among women: Across most GCC states, the level of enrolment in higher education is higher for females. With increasing levels of education comes greater awareness of opportunities and confidence in their own capabilities.

* Greater participation in economic activity: Given the limitations that women in the region face with regard to finding employment, especially in Saudi Arabia, many of them are opting for entrepreneurship.

* Increase in marital insecurity: In recent years, divorce rates have increased quite significantly. Due to this insecurity, women are feeling the need to plan for a secure future for themselves and their children.

* Presence of inherited wealth: Given the higher levels of education and awareness, women with inherited wealth are considering investment options other than in precious metals as well.

According to a report by Boston Consultancy Group, women in the Middle East controlled around $0.7 trillion of the region’s total assets under management. This represented 22 per cent of the total assets under management in the region. The presence of a large base of educated — and increasingly progressive women — presents an opportunity for financial service providers.

We believe that financial service providers should look at building the following aspects into their product offerings:

1. Focus on women’s long term goals: While males typically tend to look at short term gain, women’s goals are usually longer term in nature, for instance, related to children’s education or retirement plans. This has implications on the type of advice and investment products being offered. It also means that service to women has to be provided at a more empathetic and personal level.

2. Provide ease of access: Given the restriction on movement of women in some of the GCC markets coupled with the high penetration of smartphones, it is imperative to offer mobile and internet banking facilities.

3. Provide micro-finance facility; Encourage greater entrepreneurship among women by providing easy access to micro-finance. Lessons could be learnt from the example of Bangladesh, where Grameen Bank created a highly successful model for providing micro-finance to women.

4. Create offers catering to the small-ticket size customer: While many financial services providers tend to focus on the premium profile of customers, there is a large segment of “small-ticket” customers who are looking for small but regular saving options — for example, UAE’s National Bonds scheme has been able to cater to this segment quite well.

5. Target the progressive mindset: We are seeing the emergence of an Arab woman who is more confident and seeks greater empowerment for herself and a better future for her children. This is a mindset that needs to be targeted by financial services providers.

For a society to progress, it is essential that women are economically empowered and also financially secure. By addressing the needs of this, so far, underserved segment, financial services providers would not only be tapping into a potentially large opportunity, but would also be contributing positively to the larger eco-system.

— The writer is the CEO at AMRB, the market research firm.