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Welcome to the HBR Idegcast from Harvard Business Review. I'm Allison Beard.

Each Thursday this May, we're bringing you a series of interviews with some of the world's

leading current and former CEOs to hear their perspectives on their most important challenges

and aspirations. Today we'll hear a conversation I had with Ajay Banga, the Executive Chairman

and former CEO of MasterCard, during our recent virtual conference, HBR Live, leaders who

make a difference. Before becoming board chair, Ajay served as president and CEO for 11 years,

a period in which MasterCard tripled its revenues, increased net income 6 fold, and saw

its market cap rise from below 30 billion to more than 300 billion. This growth was driven

in part by a strategy that focused on serving the previously unbanked via new technologies.

Before MasterCard, Ajay held a variety of senior roles at City Group around the world,

and at Nestle and PepsiCo in India. I was excited to speak with him about his tenure at MasterCard.

The role financial inclusion has played in its success, and how he's also making the

organization a more inclusive one.

So Ajay, let's start with financial inclusion. Why was that such a core part of MasterCard

strategy during your tenure?

You know, we're in a business where 11 years back 85% of the world's retail transactions

with transactions of a consumer with a merchant was still happening in cash, and not even

to talk about B2P, which is all kinds of inefficiencies built into it, but just retail transactions.

And so trying to figure out a way to target the aperture of the company's competitive desire,

...