Women avail higher EMIs, spend more than men on education, ZestMoney survey shows
A ZestMoney survey, based on a sample of 50,00,000 users and 2019 data, looked at women vs men spending in sectors like education, ecommerce, and healthcare to 'gauge growth' and 'understand customers'.
On an average over 20 percent of loan amounts taken by women were for education as compared to 6 percent taken by men for the same purpose, a survey conducted by ZestMoney has revealed.
Women spend more on education than men and avail higher EMI amount, the survey showed.
ZestMoney is a consumer lending fintech company founded in India by Lizzie Chapman, Priya Sharma, and Ashish Anantharaman in 2015. The survey, based on a sample of 50,00,000 users, looks at a period of 10 months.
"Financial inclusion will become a reality when people from all demographies and geographies get affordable EMI solutions. Women spending more on education underlines the aspirations of women in India to upskill and lead much more independent lives. These customers are macro influencers and we really want to understand such open opportunities to drive our future product strategy,” Lizzie said.
The survey also looked at other segments such as ecommerce and healthcare. The maximum loan taken by men is for ecommerce purposes - they avail 83.4 percent as compared to women who take 68.4 percent.
The research also found that the average loan amount for women is 35 percent higher than men. Based on 2019 data, the average amount of EMI financing taken by men is Rs 15,000; for women, it's around Rs 20,000.
EMIs for everyone
On what prompted ZestMoney to take this survey, Lizzie says it helped them gauge growth and understand their customers. "While initially the bulk of our customers were in the largest cities, the growth is now coming from elsewhere. In the last 12 months we have seen a 10x growth in applications from non-metros," she said.
Speaking about the objective behind this survey, she said, “Our objective is to make life more affordable and provide EMIs for everyone. ZestMoney has customers spread across different geographies. Such surveys help us understand the outcome of our products and how we are impacting and enhancing people's lives.”
