About this episode
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
Jul 15
Could Your Data Become Your Next Asset?
Every day we create data, but almost none of us know who really owns it.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, André Vellozo, Founder and CEO of DrumWave, joins the show to explore one of the biggest questions facing the digital economy: what if people could own their data t ... Show More
52m 50s
Jun 30
Can AI Build Fintech Unicorns Faster?
Can Europe build the next generation of global fintech leaders?In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Stefan Klestil, General Partner Fintech EMEA, joins the show to discuss venture capital, fintech investing, AI, digital assets, founder psychology, and why the Middle East a ... Show More
49m 26s
Sep 2025
Redefining Microloans Beyond Credit Scores
From Wall Street to fintech, James Chemplavil has seen both sides of lending. After 16 years underwriting corporate debt at Barings, he launched Salus to tackle a problem too many hardworking people face: being denied small but critical loans. Now as Founder and CEO, James is hel ... Show More
24m 53s
Oct 2020
Using Data to Reinvent the P2P Lending Market in ASEAN
Fintech as a sector has been exploding for the better part of a decade now. Fueled by mass amounts of new data and powerful algorithms, startups around the world have sprung up to innovate within a once stagnant industry. Within fintech, peer-to-peer lending quickly emerged as on ... Show More
27m 43s
Jun 2025
Emirates NBD: New, Bold, & Decisive | Saud Al Dhawyani at Emirates NBD Fintech Summit
25m 43s
Jul 2025
984. Insights: Are financial services still failing small businesses?
About this episode: Small and medium-sized businesses -or SMEs - are the backbone of the global economy. But despite their vital role in the financial ecosystem, they’re still too often overlooked and underserved. This week, we’re putting SMEs back in the spotlight - and for good ... Show More
49m 56s
Jan 2025
Empowering SMEs Through FinTech: Lessons from Beehive's Marketing Lead
54m 13s
Aug 2025
5 Steps to Get ₹10 Crore Funding? Millionaire Investor drops INSIDER Secrets | Arjun Vaidya
In this episode of the Indian Business Podcast, we sat down with Arjun Vaidya (founder of Dr. Vaidya’s) and now a leading investor at V3 Ventures. From bootstrapping an Ayurvedic legacy brand and facing rejections, to scaling during the D2C boom and exiting in a ₹144 Cr deal, Arj ... Show More
1h 44m
Jul 2025
Bonus Episode: How Fintech Can Power SMB Growth Through Open Banking
In this special bonus episode brought to you in partnership with Mastercard, Suneera Madhani explores one of the biggest opportunities in fintech today: open banking. If you're a fintech founder building tools for small businesses, this episode is packed with insights to help you ... Show More
8m 27s
Jun 2021
539. Insights: Lending - the next evolution of fintech?
Adam Davis is joined by a fantastic panel of guests to discuss lending.
Lending has traditionally been the fastest and arguably most lucrative route for banks to make money, and we want to look at why so many new fintechs are turning to lending as the next product in their arsen ... Show More
52m 40s
Sep 2020
Focus on the SMBs part 2- How do we awaken Sleeping Beauty?
<p>The economic crisis has been met with a tremendous response by banks and fintechs in the lending space. In this episode, we look at the great efforts around PPP. What secrets have the lenders unearthed? Will they lead the financial recovery and become a force that small bu ... Show More
23m 16s
May 2025
Open Finance in Action with Harry Gill & Shadi Dawi at Dubai FinTech Summit
8m 37s
💸 What’s the real fintech miracle? Lending to SMEs — and staying alive 9 years later. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we’re joined by Nikhilesh Goel, Co-Founder & CEO of Validus, Southeast Asia’s largest SME financing platform. We unpack how Validus scaled to $5B+ in credit across the region by avoiding the hype and building disciplined, an ... Show More
<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>💡 <strong>What’s inside this episode?</strong></p><ul><li>Milda's career evolution: From creative to corporate</li><li>The unique challenges of FinTech marketing</li><li>How Beehive empowers SMEs with fast, accessible funding</li><li>Strategies to simplify complex financial c ... Show More
<p>🔍 Topics include:</p><ul><li>How Pay10 became the UAE’s first live Open Finance platform</li><li>Why instant settlement can transform SME growth</li><li>Building with three licenses: SVF, RPS, and Open Banking</li><li>Real-time infrastructure vs legacy card systems</li><li>Ad ... Show More
