By: Hafiz Hamza Mubashir, Mahnoor Nasir, Muhammad Hamza, and Zernab Akram

Imagine you have a bank account in your name, a phone in your hand, and you even know how to use apps. But you still can’t spend your own money, because you need permission from your husband, brother, or father to do so. This isn’t a hypothetical situation. It’s the lived reality for many women in urban Pakistan today.

Although over 70% of adults in Pakistan now own a mobile phone, the gender gap in access to digital financial services remains significant¹. Specifically, when it comes to mobile wallets like Easypaisa or JazzCash, women are still far less likely than men to use these tools. To understand why, we conducted a mixed-methods study that combined large-scale survey data by Karandaaz from thousands of Pakistanis with 91 in-depth interviews across diverse neighbourhoods in Lahore, including Defence, Old Lahore, Chuburji, Model Town, Azam Market, and Charrar Pind. Our findings shed light on a deeper, more structural issue.

What we found is that the problem isn’t just about access. It’s about power, who has it, who gets to use it, and who decides when and how technology should be used in a household. The answer, unsurprisingly, is gendered.

Many development programs and policies have tried to increase women’s financial inclusion by giving them access to phones, mobile wallets, or internet bundles. While well-intentioned, these interventions often overlook a deeper truth: access does not equal agency.

This gap between access and agency became particularly clear when we looked at how mobile wallets were being used in practise. On paper, a woman may have a mobile wallet registered in her name. But in practice, she may not own the phone it’s linked to. In many cases, it’s her husband’s or brother’s device. She may be required to hand over passwords or PINs. Some women reported they weren’t even allowed to keep the phone with them.

As one respondent put it, “Even if I get a phone, it’s my brother’s. I have to ask him to use it.”

This illusion of ownership creates a false sense of inclusion. The tools are technically available to women, but the power to use them is not.

This power imbalance extends beyond devices and into the everyday financial decision-making structures within families. Financial decisions inside a household are rarely neutral. In many Pakistani families, men are the primary decision-makers, about everything from what to buy, to whether the family needs a mobile wallet, to who is allowed to operate one².

This dynamic severely limits women’s ability to use financial technology, even when they’re educated or tech-savvy. Our regression analysis backed this up: women who had more decision-making power at home were significantly more likely to adopt and use mobile wallets. Those who lacked this influence, even if they had a phone, rarely used digital financial services. More than a technology problem, this is a power problem. The apps are there. The phones are there. But the freedom to use them isn’t.

Another key insight from our research was the role of trust, not just in technology, but in the systems and people behind it. And how that trust (or lack of it) plays out differently across genders. For women, trust was often about safety and competence. They worried about losing money, making a mistake, or clicking the wrong button. They were concerned that if something went wrong, they wouldn't know how to fix it, or worse, they'd be blamed for it.

“What if I press the wrong thing? What if money disappears? Then my husband will say I don’t know how to do anything.”

For men, the issue of trust looked different. They were more likely to voice concerns about surveillance and control. Some believed mobile wallets allowed the government or financial institutions to track their spending. This made them hesitant, not because they feared using the apps, but because they feared being watched. In other words: women feared risk; men feared oversight. Both are trust problems but rooted in very different experiences.

Digital and financial literacy undoubtedly also plays a role. But our findings complicate the narrative that education alone can fix the digital gender divide. Even educated women frequently lacked confidence in using mobile wallets. This wasn’t because they couldn’t learn, it was because they were unaware of how to use one and how to troubleshoot if faced with a security or technical concern. Most said their first experience using a mobile wallet involved a male relative setting it up and showing them what to do. The result? Women often became passive users or didn’t use the wallet at all.

“If someone teaches me, I’ll use it,” one woman told us. But no one ever did. Men, meanwhile, were more willing to experiment. But this had its own risks. Some took out digital loans without understanding the fine print. One young man said, “I opened the account in my mother’s name, but it got blocked.” This contrast reveals two core issues which are confidence without knowledge can be dangerous and lack of confidence without support can be paralyzing.

One often overlooked barrier to digital finance is physical mobility, the ability to leave home to go to a bank, mobile agent, or retail shop to verify identity, withdraw cash, or resolve issues. For men, this step is simple. For many women, it’s not. Even in a major city like Lahore, women, especially in low-income neighbourhoods, faced restrictions on movement. Some didn’t know where their nearest mobile wallet agent was, while others weren’t allowed to go alone. One woman told us she couldn’t even leave the house without asking for permission from her husband, and that only men in the house owned smartphones. Women weren’t even allowed to own a normal phone. Another said her mobile wallet remained unused because there was. This shows that mobility isn’t just about geography, it’s deeply gendered. If you can’t leave your home freely, you’re cut off from much more than just the outside world. You’re cut off from opportunity.

So, what really needs to change? Recognizing these layered barriers, we explored what might help is training women to use mobile wallet apps is undeniably important but it’s far from sufficient. The assumption that simply giving women access to phones or digital tools will automatically result in financial inclusion overlooks the deeper, more entrenched barriers at play. Our research makes it clear that these barriers are largely social, not technical. To create meaningful change, interventions must go beyond the interface and address the environment in which women live and make decisions. One promising step is the creation of women-only training spaces: safe, judgment-free environments where women can ask questions, make mistakes, and build confidence without fear of control or ridicule. These spaces can foster not only digital skills but also self-efficacy and peer support.

Equally important is the development of female agent networks. When trusted women from within the community take on the role of registering, guiding, and troubleshooting mobile wallets, it lowers both the logistical and psychological barriers for new users. This peer-to-peer model is more likely to resonate in communities where women might hesitate to approach male agents. Another crucial approach is launching household inclusion campaigns. Financial inclusion shouldn’t be viewed as a women’s issue alone. When male family members understand how empowering women financially can benefit the entire household; there is a greater chance that restrictions will ease. These campaigns can reshape the narrative, promote shared decision-making and reduce the perception of threat or loss of control. Finally, home-based onboarding solutions can address mobility constraints head-on. If women cannot visit retail agents due to household norms or safety concerns, then services must come to them either through door-to-door support or via secure remote verification tools. Meeting women where they are both physically and socially is key to closing the gap.

Taken together, these solutions point to a broader truth. Ultimately, digital inclusion cannot succeed unless it is grounded in social inclusion. Tools alone are not enough—what women need is the freedom, confidence, and support to use them.

The digital divide isn’t just about who has a device. It’s about who is allowed to use it, who is trusted with it, and who gets the chance to learn from their mistakes. Until we change the social structures around digital technology, not just the tech itself, we’ll continue to leave many women behind. Building better apps won’t help if women still have to ask for permission to click “Send”.

Author Bio 
The authors are senior economics students at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), researching gender barriers to digital finance in Pakistan. This study was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Farah Said and supported by the Saida Waheed Gender Initiative (SWGI).

1. Ali, A., Naseer, S., Qamar, S., & Khokhar, M. F. (2024). Spatio-temporal analysis of gender gap in mobile internet use across Pakistan. Scientific Reports, 14(1), Article 63445. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-63445-6
2. GSMA. (2020). Mobile Gender Gap Methodology Report 2020. GSMA. https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/GSMA-Mobile-Gender-Gap-Methodology-Report-2020.pdf