Improving the process of financial inclusion for women entrepreneurs in Indonesia

摘要

The financial inclusion of women micro entrepreneurs is both important and necessary for the holistic socio-economic development of a nation. This paper aims to address the gap in the study of the processes of financial inclusion by women micro-entrepreneurs in Indonesia. The research will contribute to the pool of academic resources that pertains to financial inclusion, micro credit, and women entrepreneurship, intending to improve the processes and benchmarking for financial inclusion initiatives. There is an extensive literature research plus in situ research conducted in Indonesia. There is also significant evidence of factors pertaining to gender inequality, which is a result of financial inclusion of women. Both desk research and field research found financial exclusion is linked to financial education, cultural norms of rural Indonesia and high banking cost and mobile payments. In conclusion, the authors recommend a better processes in designing financial products, improving financial education, lowering cost of banking especially in the use of mobile payment technology, and instituting micro-insurance. Further research is recommended to generate hypotheses relating to financial inclusion and women entrepreneurship in Indonesia.