IWD 2025: How Women are Transforming FinTech
Every historical change begins with an invisible impulse - a quiet spark that eventually grows into a significant wave. A similar process is now occurring in the financial sector, where, contrary to familiar stereotypes, more and more women are entering FinTech and expanding the industry's horizons.
According to a Deloitte report, women still make up less than a third of employees in FinTech companies globally, and occupy no more than 7.7% of leadership positions. Although these indicators are changing each year, access to investment remains limited: only 1.2% of global venture capital goes to startups founded by women.
However, women's influence on the fintech industry is confirmed by the stories of well-known leaders. Blythe Masters, former head of global commodity markets at JPMorgan, led Digital Asset Holdings for a long time and is now implementing blockchain solutions. Adena Friedman became the first woman to lead the Nasdaq exchange and is actively developing innovative products. Meanwhile, Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet and Google, teaches how to combine traditional financial approaches with cutting-edge technologies.
Women are also successfully creating fintech startups. Kathleen Breitman of Tezos is developing a blockchain platform with an innovative approach to security and scalability. Amber Baldet, former blockchain product director at JPMorgan, founded Clovyr to make decentralized applications more accessible. Among other examples is Anne Boden, who created the digital Starling Bank and broke the stereotype of "banking only for the elite." On a global scale, it's worth mentioning Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank, who supports the implementation of digital currencies. Very often, the female approach focuses on socially important aspects. Therefore, recognizing women's contributions to the development of financial technologies will help shape a new reality where innovation and progress become possible through diversity of opinions and approaches.
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), increasing the number of women in leadership positions improves companies' financial results by 15-20%. Beyond an open corporate culture, mentoring initiatives are a significant factor for success. For example, the Women in FinTech organization conducts regular training sessions where successful female specialists share experiences with beginners. And the Girls Who Code initiative works to attract female students to programming and financial engineering.
Looking deeper, fintech is not only about innovative products but also about social evolution. Women who confidently enter the industry are shaping a more ethical, diverse, and customer-oriented ecosystem. In the coming years, new success stories will likely emerge. The main thing is to continue supporting this movement. After all, the "quiet revolution" is not about displacement or competition, but about complementation and mutual development. And who knows, perhaps the next groundbreaking FinTech company that will change the world will have a woman's face.
Julia Raubishke is a fintech expert at International Fintech Business, specializing in financial licensing and regulatory solutions for global institutions. In this article, she examines the growing influence of women in the financial technology sector.
