Tuesday 19 May, 2026
Women micro-entrepreneurs play a vital role in Pakistan’s economy but face persistent barriers to starting and growing their businesses, including limited access to finance, a lack of digital skills and restrictive social norms. Digital financial services (DFS) offer significant potential to support financial management, business growth and resilience, yet adoption and active use among women micro-entrepreneurs remains limited.
This report presents findings from a multi-year collaboration between the GSMA Connected Women programme and JazzCash. It explores how JazzCash has designed, tested and refined a model to drive adoption and sustained use of the JazzCash Merchant app among women micro-entrepreneurs.
The report highlights key barriers to DFS adoption, outlines the evolution of JazzCash’s female agent-led, event-based onboarding and post-sales support model, and examines the reported impact for both women micro-entrepreneurs and JazzCash. It also sets out practical recommendations for DFS providers seeking to boost adoption and use of DFS among women micro-entrepreneurs, particularly in countries, subregions and communities with restrictive social norms.
