Women own more bank accounts in India, yet lag in building wealth
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India has made a significant progress in bringing women into the formal financial system, but evidently access has not yet translated into real financial power.
According to a report by wealth platform Lxme in collaboration with EY, women now own bank accounts in large numbers and participate in the workforce, yet they continue to lag behind men in building long-term wealth and making independent financial decisions. The report notes that women in India earn roughly ₹73 for every ₹100 earned by men. Lower and more unstable earnings, combined with caregiving responsibilities and longer life expectancy, affect their ability to accumulate wealth over time.
Despite rising workforce participation, women also end up with significantly lower retirement savings. The study estimates that women have about 40% less retirement wealth than men, highlighting what the report calls a structural gap in financial security.
“India has built one of the world's most extensive financial inclusion infrastructures. But inclusion without agency is an incomplete story. Our data shows that when women are given the right environment; confidence, community, and products designed for their real lives, they don't just participate in markets, they lead them. This report is a call to the entire ecosystem: regulators, banks, fintechs, and policymakers. The ₹40 lakh crore opportunity is not hypothetical. It is waiting. And unlocking it starts with designing for women not around them,” said Priti Rathi Gupta, co-founder, Lxme.
Women save small amounts with discipline, but lifelong conditioning, vulnerability and lack of exposure keep those savings trapped in low-return instruments, limiting compounding, the report said.
High account ownership, limited control
Financial inclusion initiatives such as Jan Dhan accounts have expanded women’s access to banking dramatically over the past decade. Women’s bank account ownership in India has risen from 26% in 2011 to about 89% in 2024.
However, the report argues that ownership does not always translate into meaningful financial participation.
Many of these accounts function mainly as conduits for government transfers or cash withdrawals, rather than as tools for saving, investing or building assets. As a result, women remain on the margins of wealth creation even when they are formally included in the system.
The report also points to a similar pattern in property ownership. Women’s asset ownership, particularly in housing, has increased over time, often through joint registrations encouraged by policy incentives. But joint titles do not necessarily guarantee decision-making power over those assets.
As the report notes, “Policies which incentivise joint ownership do solve stamp duty for female buyers but often do not solve the deeper issue of control over assets, limiting women’s effective property rights and decision-making power.”
The investment gap
One of the starkest disparities emerges in investment participation.
Only 14.2% of women invest in mutual funds, the report said, while about one-quarter of women have any mutual fund investment at all. Even when women do invest, they tend to prefer safer and more liquid options rather than higher-return instruments.
Women’s savings are therefore concentrated in traditional avenues such as gold, insurance or deposits. For instance, about 32.3% of women’s assets are held in physical gold compared with 25.4% for men.
At the same time, only 23.2% of women invest in mutual funds, compared with 42.3% of men, pointing towards a large gap in exposure to market-linked wealth creation.
This conservative allocation pattern is shaped by social norms as well as financial behaviour. The report highlights that women frequently prioritise financial security and family needs, leaving limited room to take investment risks.
Still, the report suggests that change is possible if financial systems move beyond access and focus on financial agency which means women’s ability to make and act on financial decisions.
“India has made significant strides in financial inclusion, but the report highlights, through comprehensive data analysis, that the financial system can improve in catering to the specific needs of women. The ₹40 lakh crore opportunity shows the potential that can be unlocked by enabling financial policies and practices that support women's economic needs,” said Saurabh Chandra, partner - Financial Services, EY India. He added that for India to sustain its economic momentum, prioritising women's financial empowerment must be viewed as an essential component of our macroeconomic strategy.
Platforms that recognise this continuity and support habit formation over time play an important role in deepening engagement, the report noted, adding that consistent participation in financial products is key to turning inclusion into sustained economic empowerment.