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Couchonomics with Arjun
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.
Couchonomics with Arjun
Why Most Digital Banks Will Never Make Money
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
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 lending remains central to profitability, why standalone fintechs face a harder path, and how banking licences, AI, stablecoins and regional expansion are shaping the next phase of digital banking.
🎙️ In this episode:
• Why customer numbers are the wrong measure of scale
• What separates profitable digital banks from the rest
• Why lending remains central to digital banking economics
• The advantages and costs of obtaining a banking licence
• Why ecosystems improve a digital bank’s chances of success
• How digital banking strategies change across Asian markets
• Where AI is actually creating value inside banks
• How stablecoins and digital assets may connect with traditional finance
• Why profitability deserves more attention than growth
⏱️ CHAPTERS
01:43 Building one of Asia’s largest fintech companies
08:22 Leaving banking to become a fintech founder
10:31 Why fintechs pursue banking licences
19:33 The playbook behind profitable digital banks
27:19 Serving mature and underbanked markets
39:40 Can a pan-Asian digital bank succeed?
45:32 Where AI is actually delivering value in banking
49:16 Stablecoins, tokenisation and digital assets
SOCIAL LINKS
Arjun's LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunvirsingh/
Couchonomics LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/couchonomics-with-arjun-singh/
Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/couchonomics/
Twitter (X) → https://twitter.com/Arjun_Vir_Singh
TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@couchonomics
Newsletter → https://bit.ly/3WI4A6E
PARTNERS
Couchonomics with Arjun Season 04 is brought to you by:
Adyen → https://www.adyen.com/
Thunes → https://thunes.com/
Mastercard → https://mastercard.com/
e& → https://www.eand.com/
Digit9 → https://www.digitnine.com/
SC Ventures → https://scventures.io/
Our website 👉 https://bit.ly/3jk7UH0
Find us on our social media platforms:
- Arjun's LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/arjunvirsingh/
- CCN LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/couchonomics-with-arjun-singh/
- Instagram https://www.instagram.com/couchonomics/
- Twitter https://twitter.com/Arjun_Vir_Singh?s=20
- TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@couchonomics
Subscribe to Arjun's LinkedIn newsletter, Couchonomics Crunch: https://bit.ly/3WI4A6E
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