Couchonomics with Arjun
by Arjun Singh
How Alan Built an €840 Million Health Insurance Business From Scratch
About this podcast
Decoding the New World Order of Finance - Unfiltered, global, weekly
As tectonic shifts reshape the financial world, Couchonomics continues to explore the trends transforming commerce, capital, and culture. This season, we expand our lens - building on our deep focus in the MENA region while bringing in voices, stories, and innovations from around the globe.
Why? Because the future of finance is no longer regional - it’s interconnected.
Whether it’s AI in Asia, tokenization in Europe, or fintech policy experiments in Africa, today’s financial shifts cross borders, industries, and disciplines.
Whether you’re in the industry or just fintech-curious, tune in weekly as we decode the big moves, bold ideas, and brilliant minds shaping tomorrow’s economy.
Episodes drop weekly. Arabic subtitles available on YouTube: youtube.com/@couchonomicswitharjunsingh438
Learn more: www.couchonomics.com
Season 4 supported by:
Adyen | Mastercard | SC Ventures | Thunes | Hala | e& | Digit 9
About the host:
Arjun's expertise covers a broad range of areas including Fintech, Payments, Digital Assets, Embedded Finance, Application of Emerging Technologies, and the Emergence of New Business Models within the Financial Services Sector in the MEA region and globally.
Arjun is deeply engaged in the Tech Start-Up ecosystem. He serves as a passive investor, advisory board member, and a notable commentator on the rapidly evolving scene.
In recognition of his impactful contributions, Arjun was honored as a Top Voice of the region by LinkedIn in 2020.
Learn more at www.couchonomics.com.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 189 episodes
- How Alan Built an €840 Million Health Insurance Business From Scratch · 46 min · Season 4 Episode 49Health insurance is one of the few products people pay for while hoping they never have to use it. Alan is trying to change that. In this episode, Jean-Charles Samuelian…
- How Creditas Built a $3.3 Billion Fintech by Taking on the Hard Loans · 42 min · Season 4 Episode 48Latin America has a massive consumer credit market, but high interest rates and short loan maturities continue to put pressure on borrowers. In this episode, Sergio Furio…
- Why Islamic Fintech Is Still Being Underestimated · 53 min · Season 4 Episode 47Islamic 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…
- The $80 Billion SME Lending Opportunity Banks Keep Missing · 52 min · Season 4 Episode 46SMEs 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…
- Why Most Digital Banks Will Never Make Money · 56 min · Season 4 Episode 45Digital 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…
- Could Your Data Become Your Next Asset? · 53 min · Season 4 Episode 44Every 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…
- Can AI Build Fintech Unicorns Faster? · 49 min · Season 4 Episode 43Can 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…
- Why Open Finance Could Change UAE Banking · 55 min · Season 4 Episode 42Is digital banking really about technology anymore? It is becoming a battle for customer relationships, trust, data, and who owns the financial experience. In this episode of…
- Why Uzbekistan May Be Digital Banking’s Next Big Story · 49 min · Season 4 Episode 41Digital finance is no longer only about banking apps and payments. It is becoming a question of infrastructure, trust, customer behaviour, and how financial systems evolve in…
- When Hackers Understand Banks Better Than Banks Understand Hackers · 55 min · Season 4 Episode 40Cybersecurity is no longer just a technical issue, it is now a human, business, and financial system challenge. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by…
- What Happens When Trading Infrastructure Starts Changing the System · 47 min · Season 4 Episode 39Before a trading app reaches a user, there is an entire system underneath it doing the real heavy lifting. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Yoshi…
- What Happens When Stablecoins Start Competing With Banks? · 47 min · Season 4 Episode 38Money is no longer just held. It is moving, earning, and quietly reshaping the system around it. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Anton Golub…
- Can Stablecoins Scale Without Expanding Systemic Risk? · 59 min · Season 4 Episode 38Fraud is not new. But the scale, speed, and sophistication have changed. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined by Navin Gupta, CEO of Crystal Intelligence…
- How AI Agents and Stablecoins Are Reshaping Modern Banking · 57 min · Season 4 Episode 37Is banking really changing at the core, or are we just putting better apps on old rails? In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined in studio by Jayesh Patel…
- How Tokenization and Stablecoins Will Change Money Movement · 53 min · Season 4 Episode 36Technology is changing what people expect from money, and stablecoins are turning that into reality. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined from New York by…
- Why Japan’s Payments Are About to Change Fast · 42 min · Season 4 Episode 35Japan is often seen as a “mature” financial market. But the real story is in what’s quietly shifting underneath. In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun is joined from…
- How Deep Payments Infrastructure Creates Real Fintech Advantage · 33 min · Season 4 Episode 37Payments in emerging markets are often discussed as infrastructure. But the real differentiation happens in how deeply payments are embedded into business operations. In the…
- What It Really Takes to Launch a Fintech in Qatar · 28 min · Season 4 Episode 36Financial innovation in the GCC is often framed around payments, licenses, and launch timelines. But the harder work happens long before a product goes live. In this special…
- What It Takes to Scale a Tech Company Like Snoonu From Qatar · 32 min · Season 4 Episode 35Most startup stories focus on what companies become. This one focuses on how they are built. In this special Qatar Development Bank series of Couchonomics with Arjun, Arjun sits…
- Why Ecosystem Design Matters More Than Funding in Startup Growth · 39 min · Season 4 Episode 34Innovation ecosystems in the GCC are often judged by funding numbers and startup announcements. But the real work happens in how institutions, capital, and regulation move…
