All the technological innovation in the way goods and services are designed, created, and traded doesn’t mean a whole lot to someone who is on the other side of the digital divide. Today, close to two billion people are unbanked or underbanked.3 This means that nearly 30 percent of the world’s population either doesn’t have access to a bank account and therefore a mortgage, insurance, or a small business loan, or, if they have a bank account, they are still not fully participating in the financial system in a way that is favorable to their lives.
When someone doesn’t have a phone, the internet, or a bank account—and this is often already the most vulnerable part of the population—it is a barrier to housing and travel, makes them more susceptible to robbery, and excludes them from personal and business growth.
What the technological leaders of tomorrow will inevitably have to consider when they design and lead new financial ecosystems, whether through biometric cards or the advent of a completely cashless society, is how to include this sizable chunk of the world’s population in a way that enables them to benefit from it sustainably.