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FORTUNE.COM // SEPTEMBER 2019
The mobile-chip designer
has been a leader in wireless
tech since the earliest smart-
phones. Now it’s building
chips for 5G connectivity,
which promises speeds 10
to 100 times as fast as those
of today’s phones. Already,
phonemakers are using
Qualcomm modem chips to
power 5G-compatible de-
vices. But the company will
soon introduce inexpensive,
low-power versions for smart
devices and sensors that
could have a profound im-
pact on the planet. As such
sensors become pervasive,
cities will be able to monitor
air and water quality in real
time, farmers can avoid over-
watering or overfertilizing
crops, and self-driving cars
will communicate with each
other to avoid traffic jams
and reduce emissions.
Mastercard is
spreading the
wealth. With rev-
enue up 20%
to $15 billion in
2018, the pay-
ments company
has put more re-
sources behind its
efforts to reach
consumers who
lack access to the
digital economy.
Through a subsid-
iary, the Center for
Inclusive Growth,
Mastercard es-
tablished the first
chamber of com-
merce in India de-
voted to rural
women entrepre-
neurs in the cities
of Pune, Satara,
and Chiplun. Six
months in, the ini-
tiative has reached
5,660 women at
3,275 businesses
in agriculture, food
production, and
artisan manufac-
turing, providing
them with access
to credit, train-
ing in financial lit-
eracy and mar-
keting, and more.
The work is part of
Mastercard’s goal
to reach 500 mil-
lion people pre-
viously excluded
from financial ser-
vices by 2020—it
has only 100 mil-
lion more to go.
THE LIST 1– 4
1
Turning Faster
Connections Into
Green Gains
A top designer of mobile-phone
chips creates building blocks for
the 5G revolution.
SAN DIEGO
Qualcomm
Mastercard
Inclusion for
400 million
and counting.
PURCHASE, N.Y.
NO.
2
NO.
CHANGE
THE
WORLD
MASTER-
CARD’S
GOAL IS
TO REACH
500 MILLION
PEOPLE
PREVI-
OUSLY
EXCLUDED
FROM
FINANCIAL
SERVICES.
IT HAS
ONLY 100
MILLION
MORE
TO GO.
