Gender gaps in the world of payments

Gender gaps are widespread. The world of payments is no exception, as our research using novel survey data from Dutch households shows. First, we find that men are more likely than women to have experienced paying with a credit card or contactless via their smartphone or smartwatch. Differences in digital literacy and attitudes towards new payment instruments lie at the heart of these gender gaps, with men expressing higher levels of digital literacy and greater enjoyment when trying out new payment instruments. Second, our research shows a division of payment tasks within households. For example, men are more involved in paying housing-related costs, while women tend to be in charge of grocery payments. Finally, women have poorer payment fraud knowledge and express more fear of the digital world. Our research underscores the importance of policies aimed at improving digital literacy and fraud knowledge, especially among women.

Keywords: payments; gender gap; inclusion; fraud knowledge; digital literacy
JEL codes D12; D83; G50; J16; J33

Working paper no. 805