HejFin

Recent studies have shown that approximately 70% of the female population is financially illiterate, making it less likely for women to invest, compounding any financial disadvantages and limiting their collective influence globally. Women’s and men’s experiences of the world, and money, are vastly different. In addition to discriminatory financial information presented to either gender, most financial apps target the male audience. A clear lack of financial education is provided at the primary educational level. Conversations with women around us led to the discovery that there is an immediate need to create a financial education platform designed by and for women, taking into consideration women’s diverse experiences and backgrounds.

Our goal is to provide a one-stop reliable financial education platform called HejFin for female/non-binary people to help them improve the management of their personal finances, and start investing. We will provide financial information in bite-sized, easy-to-digest, and follow modules tailored to the needs of women. These modules will end with interactive quizzes to ensure knowledge retention.The first three modules will be provided for free to increase accessibility across users and to get them introduced to the world of investments. Thereon, they can subscribe to a premium plan where they can access 3 new modules each month. From the information gathered from our user research interviews, we realised that women are curious but unsure whom or where to ask their finance-related questions. Therefore, via our platform, we also aim to create a safe and supportive community where women can feel confident in asking and answering financial-related questions and advice from our premium members. Additionally, we are going to symbiotically partner with online broking and forex platforms. In the future, we would like to include a real-time and gamified version of a stock market simulator to initiate women into the world of finance, without taking the risks of a real investment.

Our platform does not view women as a “niche” market but recognises them as drivers for change. The users will get trustworthy and jargon-free information from the platform, which aims to provide knowledge, skills, and foster the motivation to engage with responsible investing. Furthermore, fear and uncertainty attached to investing will be reduced. By starting to invest, they will achieve further dividends, become financially independent, and tailor it to different phases of life. Women’s economic empowerment is one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, as it has been shown that women are more likely to make investments with positive social and environmental impacts.

Similar apps are designed for women in the UK and India, but not in the Nordics, where only 25% of the female population is actively investing. Users may get some general financial information from these apps, but the specific market information and how-to’s for the Nordic markets are missing. Women could seek help from online courses, friends/family members, websites or the bank, but this information is spread out and not always reliable. Moreover, as per our user research via detailed and structured interviews, women often feel ashamed to ask questions related to personal finance. Due to broad marketing and information, women have less interest and confidence when it comes to investing. For that reason, our approach is tailored towards women and uses techniques that help women learn faster at their convenience, while also providing a forum where they could post their questions and concerns.

Our team is driven by the empowerment of minorities and especially women. Being a diverse group of women ourselves, it is in our fundamental interest to support fellow women around the world so that they can become independent individuals irrespective of their background or identity. In our opinion, a solid financial foundation may be the first step in this direction. A digital product, such as our app, would be a great tool for women to get accessible information and empower them to take responsibility for their lives. We believe it is high time that women were stopped from being excluded from such circles, and it is time for women to take charge of their own situations.

With a background of being active members in “Women in Science'' and the “Inclusion and Diversity” group at Baxter Medical, we are continuing to engage in the empowerment of women on the next level. Our commitment to the cause has brought 5 women from different countries and ethnicities together to combine our efforts and work towards a singular cause. Our team comprises members with strong training and skills in research, UX design, marketing and business analytics as well as backend development. Creating this platform has been a great learning journey for all of us, beginning from developing a business model, working effectively across time zones to building a prototype. We have a clear vision for the future of our platform, which has been nurtured by the overall creativity in our group. We believe that with the right resources and mentorship, HejFin can be a successful platform to financially educate women not just within Nordics, but also globally.