Ideas worth spreading

Financial inclusion, the digital divide and other thoughts on the future of money

1,385,671 views |

Ajay Banga |

TED@BCG

• October 2020

Roughly two billion people worldwide don't have access to banks or financial services like credit, insurance and investment -- or even a way to formally prove their identity. How do we bridge this divide? Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga sits down with TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers to discuss how innovative public-private partnerships can help bring everyone into the digital economy -- and why COVID-19 recovery hinges on financial inclusion.

Roughly two billion people worldwide don't have access to banks or financial services like credit, insurance and investment -- or even a way to formally prove their identity. How do we bridge this divide? Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga sits down with TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers to discuss how innovative public-private partnerships can help bring everyone into the digital economy -- and why COVID-19 recovery hinges on financial inclusion.

Learn more about One Billion Stronger, Mastercard's commitment to bring one billion people into the financial economy by 2025.

Learn more about Mastercard's principles for responsible data stewardship, keeping consumer rights and privacy front and center.

Get involved with Mastercard's Priceless Planet Coalition, aimed at putting together a wide range of partners to help the planet thrive.

About the speakers

Ajay Banga

CEO of Mastercard

See speaker profile

Ajay Banga is CEO of Mastercard and a member of its board of directors, and will become executive chairman of the board of directors in January 2021.

Whitney Pennington Rodgers

Whitney Pennington Rodgers

TED current affairs curator

See speaker profile

Whitney Pennington Rodgers is an award-winning journalist and media professional.

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About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute

Learn more about One Billion Stronger, Mastercard's commitment to bring one billion people into the financial economy by 2025.

Learn more about Mastercard's principles for responsible data stewardship, keeping consumer rights and privacy front and center.

Get involved with Mastercard's Priceless Planet Coalition, aimed at putting together a wide range of partners to help the planet thrive.