Center for Effective Global Action

Can increasing women’s use of digital financial services raise their empowerment? We test this hypothesis using a randomized control trial with 152 female microfinance groups in Tanzania, where treated groups were randomly switched to repay their loan using mobile money instead of cash. This exogenous shift in women’s use of mobile money for loan repayment substantially increases their use for other types of transactions. Women’s control over their finances increases, they have higher levels of empowerment in the household and expenditures shift towards goods plausibly aligned with their preferences. These findings highlight the benefits of greater use of digital technologies for women.