Financial inclusion is an important driver of economic growth, but gender gaps persist in financial activity, especially in low-income countries. This study analyses the impact of text messages that make salient neighbours' savings behaviour on account usage and savings behaviour of low-income men and women in Senegal. We performed a randomized field experiment in which 2056 clients of a local financial institution were assigned to one of three experimental conditions. We found gender differences in how these text messages impact savings and account usage. Account usage, account activity and average savings balances of female clients who received weekly savings reminders making their neighbours' savings behaviour salient increased compared to those who received generic savings reminders and those who received no savings reminders. The treatment had no impact on male clients. These results suggest that content-specific text message reminders can create benefits for both the supply and demand side of financial services for women in low-income countries, thereby increasing financial inclusion.

中文翻译：

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低收入国家的社区社会资本、账户使用和储蓄行为：塞内加尔的现场实验证据

普惠金融是经济增长的重要驱动力，但金融活动中的性别差距依然存在，特别是在低收入国家。本研究分析了短信对塞内加尔低收入男性和女性的账户使用和储蓄行为的影响。我们进行了一项随机现场实验，其中一家当地金融机构的 2056 名客户被分配到三种实验条件之一。我们发现这些短信对储蓄和账户使用的影响存在性别差异。与收到一般储蓄提醒和未收到储蓄提醒的女性客户相比，收到每周储蓄提醒的女性客户的账户使用情况、账户活动和平均储蓄余额使邻居的储蓄行为显着增加。该治疗对男性客户没有影响。这些结果表明，针对特定内容的短信提醒可以为低收入国家妇女金融服务的供需双方带来好处，从而提高金融包容性。