Report lists lack of trust among the 5 reasons only 3 in 10 women own bank accounts in Nigeria

The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that only 3 in 10 women between the ages of 15-49 own a bank account.

NBS disclosed this in its Global MICS Programme survey report obtained from its website.

According to the report, 38,806 women were surveyed for the report out of which 64.6 percent (25,085) did not have bank accounts.

This indicated that only 35% of Nigerian women in the report owned bank accounts.

The percentage of women with bank accounts was 11.8 percentage points lower than the percentage of men with bank accounts, which stood at 47.2 percent.

The survey also highlighted the financial exclusion of women in Northern Nigeria and young people as two key groups mostly excluded from the financial system.

States with the highest women with no bank accounts

The NBS report also provided a breakdown of the states with the highest percentage of women without bank accounts.

Kano: 5.7%

Katsina: 3.8%

Bauchi: 3.2%

Kaduna: 3.1%

Jigawa: 2.6%

Niger: 2.6%

Reasons for lack of bank accounts

The report also identified reasons why the women captured in the survey gave for not owning a bank account.

Here is a list of reasons identified.

Unavailability of banks in their locality

High cost of reaching the nearest bank

Unstable incomes Unemployment or job loss

Lack of trust in banks Religious reasons

Time-consuming documentation processes

Perceived lack of benefit in having a bank account

Other unspecified reasons