To realize a global scale-up in cash transfers, countries facing crises must have the necessary infrastructure and financial services in place to make payments safely and efficiently.

We had watched the dinghy from about a mile out, making its way slowly across the Aegean Sea to the island of Lesbos. The scene along this eight-mile stretch of coastline has become familiar: a small corps of volunteers waiting on the shore, using hand gestures to caution the person steering the boat to slow down; the overcrowded dinghy full of anxious faces turned toward land tantalizingly close.