Women adapt to new tech faster than men

Women running businesses are adapting to new technology - such as mobile payments - faster than their male counterparts.

Bank of America's annual Women Business Owner Spotlight found that more women are likely than men to use the latest technology to conduct business and market their companies.

Thirty-three percent of women entrepreneurs use a mobile device to process digital financial transactions, compared to 26% of men. More women also are using mobile devices to accept payments from customers (71% to 65%), to issue refunds (29% to 19%) and even to pay employees (19% to 14%).

The survey also found that 44% of women are more likely to keep up with social media updates by mobile devices compared to 33% of men. In addition, they are more likely to use mobile devices for hiring (12% compared to 8%).

And 42% of women surveyed said they are using or exploring at least one advanced technology, such as the Internet of Things, 3-D printing and virtual reality.

While women are ahead on tech, the frontier keeps changing. Small business are just learning the advantages they can have with artificial intelligence to monitor customer satisfaction, data analysis and human resources tasks, according to JP Morgan Chase research. At least 54% of business and IT executives say they are making big investments in AI.

Tech isn't the only place where women are outpacing men. A Boston Consulting Group study of 350 companies found that for every dollar raised by a women-owned startup, they generate 78 cents in revenue, compared to 31 cents for men.