Digital Micro-Savings Behaviour among Women Entrepreneurs: Implications for SDG 5 and SDG 8

Abstract

Digital micro-savings programs have developed into essential female empowerment in entrepreneurship, although few attempts have found systematic evidence of the behavioural effect of the intervention. This paper examines the behaviour of digital micro-savings by female entrepreneurs and its effects on SDG 5 (Gender Equality) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). The main issue under consideration is the endemic disparity in the attainment of formal means of savings, financial independence and capital formation by women that limit business development and economic involvement. The paper takes a mixed-methodology that incorporates a systematic survey of women micro-entrepreneurs, transaction data on digital savings apps, and statistical analysis of savings behaviour. The findings show that the use of digital micro-savings instruments increased the participation in regular savings by 42.6 percent, and the volume of savings per month increased by 37.4 percent versus informal traditional approaches. Artificial independence in financial decision-making increased in 48.1% of the participants which directly contributed to SDG 5 goals on women economic empowerment. Economically, 31.8 percent of users said that through the accumulated savings, they had reinvested their businesses and businesses became more stable in terms of enterprise income, which was in line with SDG 8 results. The results also indicate that there was a decrease of 26.3 percent in the use of the high interest informal credit because of the availability of online savings buffers. The conclusion of this study proves that digital micro-savings systems contribute greatly to financial resilience, continuity of entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic development of women-led businesses. All in all, the article serves as empirical evidence that digitally enabled savings behaviour is an effective policy and fintech intervention to promote gender equality and sustainable job creation in the developing economies.