As financial service providers race to keep up (or catch up) with the stunning growth of technology and Internet access at the BoP, global financial inclusion no longer seems like an impossible goal. Yet it's still far from clear when - or whether - the vast potential of emerging technologies will be realized for the billions who still lack access to formal financial services.

But as Greg Chen, Senior Financial Sector Specialist at CGAP points out, "For those two-billion plus (unbanked) people - even if we just affect their lives in some very small way - it will add up to great things. And I think that fixing some of the globe's problems does require some solutions at scale that don't cost us anything additional. In financial inclusion, these are all solutions that are win-wins for the providers and the clients, and therefore should not cost us any more tax money. If we get things right, that opportunity sits in front of us in the next decade or two."

In this interview with Mercy Corps' Kyla Yeoman,  Chen discusses the benefits of moving toward a cashless society, and the ways that financial service providers are using technology and innovation to onboard (and maintain) new clients and increase uptake among the unbanked.