Business Diplomacy Today Podcast
Business Diplomacy Today addresses contemporary international relations and geopolitics, looking at the issues from a business perspective. It helps business leaders anticipate changing political and societal trends, build and leverage political networks and take a proactive stake in societal and political matters that influence their business environment.
Episode #011: Why digital payments can help us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
In this episode, Marjolaine Chaintreau, Head of Private Sector Digital Payment Innovation at the Better than Cash Alliance, and Matthias Catón discuss the evolution, importance, and impact of digital payments and, more broadly, access to financial services.
The discussion examines how digital payments promote social inclusion and empowerment among individuals and the innovation and regulation driven by the private sector, financial institutions, and governments in finding solutions to increase access to digital payments. Marjolaine explains how traditional methods of digital finance (such as credit cards and ATMs) are incredibly costly to implement, hence why many parts of the world have been unable to adopt them properly. Their conversation also focuses on how businesses can benefit from increased digital payments and through increased revenues and security. Matthias and Marjolaine put these ideas into geographical context, drawing examples from Bangladesh, Germany, India, Kenya, and Ghana.