The female market for financial services is a huge opportunity for banks and other financial institutions. This report presents the approaches required to profitably bank the largest (and most undervalued) segment of all.

Analyses:

-- Global demographic and legislative trends.

-- Commonly made mistakes in marketing to women.

-- Short term wins and longer term responses to the present market situation.

-- Using web 2.0 to provide female-friendly financial services.

-- The corporate social responsibility case for female-friendly financial services.

Answers:

-- Are bespoke financial services required for every situation?

-- Can generic products be remarketed to women?

-- Can lessons in improving financial services for men be found in the creation of financial services for women?

There are currently more than three billion women worldwide. In a number of societies, at all social and economic levels, more women are taking key decisions on household spending. The gender pay gap is narrowing, more women are working, and more are predicted to become the main breadwinner in families by the middle of the century.

A huge and neglected opportunity, the female-friendly lesson has already been learned by a large number of industries and has led to improved customer satisfaction, positive PR and increased revenue and sales.

The financial services industry has been somewhat slower than most to learn this lesson, and yet the women's market presents a huge opportunity for financial services companies.

Defining 'female-friendly' is not a straightforward task, and one which varies considerably by society. 'Women' are no more a homogenous group than 'men' and there are a number of areas where statistical evidence and feedback suggests that gender is not a key issue in creating and marketing a product.

However there are a number of areas where more attention needs to be paid to gender in financial services, see the shaded box.

The report brings together a wealth of global research, including: an extended interview with UK Asian Businesswoman of the Year, Gita Patel; Monica Ball, Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch International; and Clare Logie, Director of HBOS Women and Chair of the Global Banking Alliance for Women.

These industry observers offer as unique an insight into the issue as the hard statistical information presented.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/84f436/creating_femalefr