Paytm, Axis Bank, HDFC Life talk about women’s financial independence in new spots…

Released on the occasion of Women’s Day, the three films focus on enabling and educating women to make financial decisions.

Despite not being widely spoken about, financial literacy poses deep questions that we need to ask ourselves today, especially in the context of gender disparity in Indian society. While modern Indian woman don’t lack ambition or ability when it comes to financial conversations, many are still surprisingly uncertain and lack confidence.

To date, women’s financial knowledge is not given due importance. It is believed that men handle financial matters better and, therefore, should be in control.

Paytm, in partnership with Dentsu Impact India, the creative agency from the house of Dentsu International, launched a film ‘The Divide’ on the occasion of International Women’s Day that centres around this very topic.

The campaign, an experiment conducted by award-winning director Ruchi Narain, aims to make the viewers realise that making women financially literate and confident is a major and crucial step in the path towards gender equality.

The four-minute-long film encourages women to become financially equal.

Based on a similar idea is Axis Bank’s Women’s Day film. The over two-minute-long film #BillInTheMiddle features daily episodes that don’t happen deliberately.

It is a social experiment that shows three different tables in a restaurant. The video states that for all the tables, the woman is in charge of making the reservation, selecting the dishes, placing the order and even calling for the bill. However, in each case, the bill is always handed only to the man by the restaurant staff.

The film encourages people to change this viewpoint and, instead, asks for the bill ‘in the middle’, for the table to decide who will pay.

HDFC Life’s latest campaign #TheTalk features three mother-daughter duos – the 'women of today' and the 'women of tomorrow'.

The film features mothers, who are trying to make their daughters financially independent. The mothers help their daughters to make their own financial decisions by having a talk with them at an early age. It encourages the 'women of today' to have the talk (about finances) with the 'women of tomorrow'.