Financial Health

RISE Financial Health supports workers, especially women, to access, use and benefit from financial products and services and build their financial capability to improve their financial health and resilience. RISE also works with the garment industry and financial sector to make the case for improving workers’ financial health, including as part of responsible wage digitization. We collaborate across the ecosystem to identify and address barriers to improving garment workers’ financial health.

Capacity strengthening

Support workers, especially women, to access, use and benefit from financial products and services, and build their financial capability to improve their financial health and resilience.

Market transformation

Partner with global brands, suppliers and financial service providers to support wage digitization, that considers the needs of women workers and increases efficiency and transparency in global supply chains.

Influencing

Collaborate with a range of stakeholders to identify and address systemic barriers to increasing financial inclusion and improving financial health for low-income workers, especially women.

Results & impacts

RISE Financial Health brings proven benefits for employers and workers, especially women. For example, in Cambodia our partnership with Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth led to:

54 percentage point increase of workers (men and women) using mobile money accounts including for merchant payments, sending remittances, topping up airtime and paying bills

38 percentage point increase of women saving regularly including for expected expenses (such as medical bills, household items), for emergencies, and to buy land

25 percentage point increase of women reporting confidence to manage financial emergencies

84 percent reduction in admin costs dedicated to preparing and disbursing payroll.

In Bangladesh, RISE's Founding Partner HERproject worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support 70 garment factories to digitalize their payroll, which led to over 150,000 workers (58 percent women) being paid into accounts. Participation in training led to an increase of 18 percentage points in the number of workers who saved regularly, keeping monies safe in their accounts rather than in cash at home, and a 24 percentage point increase in the number of women reporting confidence about their ability to manage financial emergencies.

I was nervous at first, but now I prefer to be paid into an account as it helps me to manage my money better. I spend less when I don’t have cash in my pocket, and I only cash out what I need. The training has been very helpful, especially the saving module. Before I was spending a lot on shopping and clothes. I am now saving for my marriage – I want to save 30,000 EP to buy things for my married home [eg household goods, furniture].

Fatma

Egypt

Resources