15 - A new take on community currencies with Mercedes Bidart

01:23 Starting where insurance stops – the mandate for AXA Emerging Customers(Find out more about AXA Emerging Customers here)03:26 How COVID has exposed the vulnerabilities of emerging customers…04:22 …and forced us all to take a crash course in health management06:03 What is different about women’s insurance needs and preferences?(You can read more in the brilliant “She for Shield” study from AXA, IFC and Accenture)08:45 Debunking myths about women as insurance customers. Myth #1: Women are more loyal09:50 Myth #2: Women are risk averse10:29 Myth #3: Women are less fraudulent10:54 What it means to serve women as decision-makers14:13 The product changes that make a difference for women16:19 Putting these lessons into practice to serve women in emerging markets 19:57 Insurance without a Chinese wall – making insurance work for women at the heads of families and businesses21:41 How to get gender on the strategic map for a company24:11 Success as an intrapreneur

00:39 Before we start on the interview, a shoutout to the Homebrewed Feminism podcast. You can find the podcast at homebrewedfeminism.com and listen to their discussion of our interview with Marion Sharples in Episode 6: Equity > Equality.01:07 The Women's Budget Group report on Migrant Women and the Economy. Read the full report here.02:31 Immigration in the UK and the "hostile environment"10:01 How men's and women's pattern of migration vary13:27 Impacts on the economic position of migrant women19:59 Challenges in accessing financial services22:10 The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on migrant women30:32 And what about when lockdown rules are relaxed?35:53 The rights of migrants and the Black Lives Matter movement39:38 The proposals of the Women's Budget Group to improve the economic position of migrants in the UK46:00 Migrant women have faced the worst of our collective crises in 2020. Here, I also talk about the Women's Budget Group's webinar which brought together many organizations supporting migrant women, including Southhall Black Sisters, the Latin American Women's Rights Service, Women for Refugee Women and Foleshill Women's Training. You can find the webinar here.

You can find out more about Quipu through their website and find updates on their instagram.And read here about the company's recent recognition in the Visa Everywhere Initiative awards, in which it won third place in Latin America and the Caribbean.01:15 - The micro-businesses at the centre of local economies03:11 - How COVID is both challenging and bolstering local economies05:47 - The history of community currencies and how they can apply in Latin America today09:08 - How Quipu uses a digital marketplace and community currency in order to build and maintain wealth locally14:42 - Launching the Quipu platform in Baranquilla, Colombia, in the midst of a pandemic16:10 - How micro businesses are using the Quipu platform in Baranquilla19:07 - Co-designing the platform: What does a solidarity economy mean to you?23:58 - Helping entrepreneurs access credit at fairer rates28:31 - The importance of creating solidarity economies, and why its moving up the agenda now32:06 - Next steps for Quipu33:41 - Are we all in need of an emergency community currency? 

Find out more about Caribou Digital: cariboudigital.netAnd you can read more on these topics and others from Savita, Hélène, and their colleagues in Caribou's blog.Time-stamped show notes:01:05 About Caribou02:45 User research: shifting our focus from the technology and bringing it back to the end user04:09 What do digital financial services (DFS) have to offer women? (Clue: it's not so much about the digital)08:32 And what is getting in their way of accessing digital financial services?15:21 Why trust and control are so important for women19:57 Financial literacy and the role of cash21:55 When money becomes mobile and the tricky issue of registering your own SIM25:55 The companies and organizations proactively taking on the challenges women face29:33 The impact of COVID-19 on use of digital financial services32:37 Is online work better work? The benefits and complications of digital platform work for women37:42 Hélène and Savita help us define a feminist future for digital financial services

01:14 What is blockchain?05:42 Big potential and broken promises10:00 Why Lisa began knish.io and how she hopes to tackle some of the challenges of blockchain15:09 How can blockchain help with payments?18:25 Providing a system for triple-bottom-line initiatives20:09 An initiative to track sexual harassment24:00 How blockchain can be relevant to governments28:58 Can blockchain help fight a global pandemic?31:18 Supporting women and minority founders through COVID-19 (and beyond)Find out more at knish.io

01:28 Introducing APCOM and the Finance Inc. project03:56 Addressing new actors in LGBTQI inclusion: development banks and the private sector06:27 APCOM's work with the Asian Development Bank07:44 How development banks could do more09:35 Discrimination in the domains of education, work, health and financial services compound one another. The results of APCOM's research into experiences of exclusion of LGBTQI groups.15:21 Experiences with financial institutions19:02 How financial institutions can support LGBTQI individuals19:53 The need for two-way capacity building between financial institutions and LGBTQI organizations20:54 Might digital financial services help reduce discrimination?23:54 What would a financial system that was truly inclusive of LGBTQI people look like?26:52 My reflections on the interview27:24 What about COVID-19?You can find out more about APCOM's research into the impact of COVID-19 and its effects on diverse SOGIESC communities, HIV services and key populations here.

00:47 - Why the economy is central to gender equality; about the Women's Budget Group's Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy03:41 - Gathering inputs across the UK to design a gender-equal economyYou can read about the evidence submitted to the Commission here.07:46 - The economic barriers women face09:01 - What women want from a gender-equal economy10:19 - Care and the cycle of inequalityYou can take a look at this short video which the Women's Budget Group created to illustrate the spirals of inequality related to care and read the report here.14:28 - Might there be a silver lining for care in COVID-19?Here, Marion mentions a poll from the Fawcett Society which showed that 65% of respondents supported an increase in income tax to fund a pay rise for care workers.She also highlights this Financial Times editorial which argues that COVID-19 has made clear "the fragility of the social contract", and that "radical reforms — reversing the prevailing policy direction of the last four decades — will need to be put on the table."20:53 - The need for huge government investment in care, including universal childcare provision23:46 - A Green New Deal should be a feminist deal; care jobs are green jobsFind out more about the WBG's proposals for a feminist green new deal through this webinar recording, paper and article.29:11 - What's next for the Commission on a Gender-Equal EconomyYou can find upcoming webinars from the Women's Budget Group here.And read more about the Commission on a Gender-Equal Economy here.

01:17 About Iona's pioneering Young Money blog02:12 The impact of COVID-19 on young people - the millennials and the "coronials"04:11 The economic impacts of the crisis in the UK06:53 How women are drawing the short straw11:35 The long-term impacts on the coronial generation and rethinking university education14:01 The case for a debt jubilee21:11 Who is benefitting from banks' measures to address the crisis24:23 The need to know your financial rights - how can we get the message out?25:50 Why women's financial independence should no longer be up for debate29:47 Financial education doesn't belong in maths classes31:32 A feminist financial system - Iona's take34:11 Wrapping up and a reflection on two themes coming up repeatedly in the Feminist Finance podcast:Care at the centre of women's financeThe need for a new kind of financial education in schools

Resources and contacts:If you work in insurance and would like to know more about how your company can support victims and survivors of economic abuse, please do get in touch: [email protected] You can find out more about economic abuse at survivingeconomicabuse.org or by listening to episode 8 of the Feminist Finance Podcast with the Founder and Chief Executive of the charity, Dr. Nicola Sharp-JeffsYou can also read our article on this topic in the Insurance PostAnd read Clare Throssell's story hereTimestamped episode notes00.37 A recap - what is economic abuse?01:49 Introducing a project that is close to my heart - how can insurers support victims of abuse?02:59 The story of Clare Throssell. How a cancelled home insurance policy left her unprotected05:30 Victims and survivors of abuse struggle to get insurance06:13 Details of insurance wording are leaving domestic abuse victims unable to claim on their insurance08:26 Victim's private information can be put at risk09:21 How policies can be taken out, canceled or changed without consent10:11 Economic abuse is a mainstream issue that insurers must address11:29 Changes to insurance policies and processes that could make all the difference for victims and survivors12:52 Insurance wordings haven't changed for decades and weren't written with the reality of women's lives in mind13:44 Helping insurance staff recognise abuse and support victims14:51 Could you help us better support victims and survivors of abuse?

Find out more about Surviving Economic Abuse at: survivingeconomicabuse.org