Airtel Payments Bank partners with Frontier Markets, Mastercard to support 1 lakh women-owned businesses
Airtel Payments Bank, Mastercard Center, and Frontier Markets launch She Leads Bharat:Udyam to empower women-owned small businesses.
Airtel Payments Bank, Mastercard Center and Frontier Markets on Saturday announced the launch of She Leads Bharat:Udyam, an initiative to elevate 100,000 women-owned small businesses. As per the official statement, in the first phase, this initiative will enable 100,000 women-owned small businesses in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh to learn and earn via Frontier Markets’ proprietary, flexible Meri-Saheli platform. 10,000 of these women small business owners will be further enabled to grow their business by becoming Airtel Payments Bank Business Correspondents (BCs).
“Taking our commitment forward to empower women in rural India to embark on their entrepreneurial endeavours, we are collaborating with Frontier Markets and Mastercard on She Leads Bharat:Udyam,” said Anubrata Biswas, MD&CEO, Airtel Payments Bank. “We take pride to welcome them on board as Business Correspondents, joining hands with our existing network of 50,000 women BCs who play a vital role in taking banking and financial services to underserved rural pockets of the country. We look forward to our journey in building a financially inclusive economy,” Biswas added.
Women-owned small businesses face challenges that can often prevent them from achieving their full potential. In India, women-owned micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) constitute 20% of all MSMEs yet receive only 5% of the total financing provided by public-sector banks. According to the experts, women in India are often less digitized and receive less training to build their businesses. However, when properly supported, women entrepreneurs are more likely to hire women, more likely to repay credit and more likely to share increased income with their families and communities, serving as core drivers of inclusive economic growth.
“More women entrepreneurs are coming into India’s workforce and adding energy to the economy. When these business owners can access credit and digital tools, they can keep expanding and become more resilient. That’s good for their families, employees and communities. That’s what inclusive growth is all about,” said Ari Sarker, President Asia Pacific, Mastercard.
According to the aforementioned firms, the She Leads Bharat:Udyam programme will bring together the private sector, social enterprise, and philanthropy in the banking, financial services, and insurance sector to demonstrate a digital-first model designed to unlock ways for women-owned small businesses to increase their incomes.
Frontier Markets will implement the program and leverage its cadre of Saral Jeevan Sahelis—women entrepreneurs—to identify and onboard women-owned small businesses onto their Meri-Saheli platform. In partnership with Airtel Payments Bank, Frontier Markets will onboard eligible women-owned small businesses as business correspondents and leverage its Saheli network and platform to increase product and brand awareness and generate leads to maximize their earning opportunities.
She Leads Bharat:Udyam will be funded by the Mastercard Impact Fund, and Mastercard will bring the catalytic capital and global expertise of its Center for Inclusive Growth in small businesses.
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