Digital Leadership: Embracing the New Tech Age This week, we sit down with Pedro Sousa Cardoso, Chief Digital Officer at Emirates NBD, to explore the state of banking in the UAE. We have an in-depth conversation on the evolving role of CDOs, increasing collaboration between banks and fintechs, and venture building within banks, using Liv Bank as an example. ... Show More
Aug 18
Why Islamic Fintech Is Still Being Underestimated
Islamic finance is growing globally, but the companies pushing it forward are not always the ones talking about it the loudest.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Abdullo Kurbanov, CEO and Co-founder of Ayan Capital, shares how he helped build Alif from a $200,000 start i ... Show More
52m 55s
Aug 11
The $80 Billion SME Lending Opportunity Banks Keep Missing
SMEs are central to the UAE economy, yet access to credit remains one of their biggest challenges.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Hassan Reda, Co-Founder & CPO of CredibleX, and Anand Nagaraj, Co-Founder & CEO of CredibleX, unpack why SME lending has remained difficul ... Show More
51m 44s
Jul 28
Why Most Digital Banks Will Never Make Money
Digital banks have spent years chasing customer growth. But scale alone does not create profitability.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Simon Loong, Founder and Group CEO of WeLab, explains what it takes to build a successful digital bank across Asia.He shares why lendi ... Show More
55m 50s
Dec 2024
Ep 18. Innovation in action : how DBS earned the title of the world’s best digital bank
Send us Fan MailIn this episode, Piyush Gupta, the inspirational CEO of DBS Bank, tells us how a Singaporean bank raced ahead in innovation and digitisation to be crowned the world’s best digital bank. Is Technology the new “front office” of a bank? Will pure-play digital banks e ... Show More
56m 46s
Oct 2025
1002. Insights: The digital transformation race: big banks vs neobanks.
About this episode:In this episode, in partnership with Enfuce, host Benjamin Ensor dives into the real state of banking transformation in today’s digital-first world. It’s no longer just legacy banks versus neobanks; it’s about who can truly meet rising customer expectations, ma ... Show More
47m 5s
Aug 2020
What does Covid-19 mean for the future of Banking?
How has the banking industry adapted to the changes that we've all been affected by in 2020? Emirates NBD’s Senior Executive Vice-President and Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Suvo Sarkar and Executive Vice-President, and Head of Retail Banking UAE, Marwan Hadi, tal ... Show More
16m 40s
Jul 2024
Ep 6. Banking in transition : A conversation with Surya Subramanian
Send us Fan MailIn Episode 6 of Money Majlis, Suvo Sarkar is in intimate conversation with Surya Subramanian, the past Group CFO of Emirates NBD, Dubai’s biggest and Middle East’s most profitable bank, discussing the past and future of banking.Have the fundamentals of banking cha ... Show More
38m 42s
Jul 2021
545. Insights: How can tech and culture work together to shape the future of banking?
Our expert hosts, David Brear and Tim Heard, are joined by some great guests to dive into all thing new banking business models.
We start by looking at what the industry looks like now. Where are we, what are the banking models that we’ve seen come out and how has the industry ... Show More
54m 38s
<h3>🔍 Topics include:</h3><ul><li>How Emirates NBD became a pioneer in Open Finance</li><li>Building secure, scalable, API-first banking platforms</li><li>Real-world fintech partnerships (and what went wrong)</li><li>From core banking to GitHub Copilot: AI’s growing role</li><li ... Show More
<p>🎧 Topics include:</p><ul><li>The DFSA’s innovation strategy inside DIFC</li><li>Building a regulatory framework for digital assets</li><li>What makes Dubai’s fintech zone globally competitive</li><li>Tokenization, custody, and real-world experimentation</li><li>Lessons in bal ... Show More
