Joining us on the latest episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, all the way from Tbilisi, Georgia 🇬🇪, is Salim Dhanani, founder and CEO of Pave Bank—the world’s first programmable bank. 

In our conversation, Salim explains how Pave Bank is shaping the future of financial services by leveraging blockchain and smart contracts to revolutionize trust and eliminate counterparty risks. We also dive into why they adopted the full reserve banking model, the impact of tokenization, and how evolving regulations are influencing the fintech space.

We're joined by Deepak Mehra, Chief Economist at Commercial Bank of Dubai, on the new episode. We explore the megatrends that are shaping our world—from the impact of AI and environmental changes to the challenges posed by aging populations across various countries.

Our conversation covers the complexities of wealth management, trading strategies, and the best approaches to investing in today’s unpredictable markets. We also take a closer look at the economies of the UAE and Saudi Arabia, discussing their reliance on fossil fuels and their ongoing efforts to diversify. Lastly, we touch on the inspiration behind Deepak's latest book, 'Think Like a Golfer, Win Like a Golfer.'

In this episode, Arjun engages in a fascinating conversation with Mikhail Lomtadze, CEO and co-founder of Kaspi, the groundbreaking super app that is transforming daily life in Kazakhstan and beyond. 

Mikhail shares Kaspi's journey from traditional banking and financial services to becoming a super app that offers everything from shopping and payments to government services and even marriage registrations—all within one platform.

In this episode, Arjun sits down with Roger Rouhana, CEO of Alpheya, to explore the future of wealth management in the MENA region.

Their conversation delves into global wealth and asset management trends, highlighting the growing demand for innovative digital solutions and the crucial role of robo-advisors in making wealth management more accessible.

They also discuss Alpheya's mission and foundation, the evolving landscape of wealth management in the GCC region, and the impact of trading apps on the wealth tech industry.

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.

Tune in to discover how Emirates NBD is leading the charge in banking innovation.

Digital Transformation of the banking value chain is a key challenge for every Banking CEO - doesn’t matter where in the world they are operating.

In our latest episode, joining Arjun on the #couch is Jouk Pleiter, CEO of Backbase—a platform that specializes in helping banks modernize their customer interactions by transforming their technology stack from front to back. Jouk shares his candid insights on how changing consumer expectations and the influence of challengers entering the banking sector from multiple sectors is raising the bar for innovation and encouraging banks to modernize at a faster rate and take substantive decisions which require wholesale changes in the way banks operate.

Welcome back to Couchonomics with Arjun! This week, we're diving into Pakistan's financial services with Kabeer Naqvi, Chairman of the Pakistan Microfinance Network. We explore the dynamic interplay between traditional banks, microfinance institutions, and fintechs, and discuss the digital transformation of Pakistan's financial ecosystem. Plus, we cover key topics like microfinance, regulatory advocacy, digital vs. traditional banking, and the challenges of serving MSMEs. Don't miss this insightful conversation! Available now on YouTube and all podcast platforms. Tune in!

Welcome back to Couchonomics! In line with the theme of rearchitecting the global financial system, this week we explored the banking sector in the UAE and the wider GCC: regulatory focus, financial crime regulation, innovation, and in general, what the banking sector could do differently.

Helping us explore these topics, we had the privilege of hosting Raheel Ahmed, CEO of RAKBANK, on our show. During our conversation, Raheel shared his insights on the dynamic relationship between fintech and banks, his views on central banks, and Arjun even managed to slip in a CBDC question. 💸

In the latest episode of Couchonomics, Arjun was joined on the couch by Medhi Fichtali, Founder & CEO of FinaMaze, MENA’s first AI digital wealth manager. Founded by a highly experienced team with decades of track record in capital markets and asset management, their hybrid human/machine teams are currently managing hundreds of portfolios. We spent a fair amount of the episode breaking down AI’s role in wealth management and the need for a product like FinaMaze.

Ready to take a deep dive into the future of banking? In this riveting episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we explore the digital transformation journey of traditional banks with our esteemed guest, Radu Topliceanu, the Executive Vice President, Head of Neo and Personal Banking at Mashreq. With over two decades in the industry, Radu deciphers the key pillars—customer obsession, innovation, and partnerships—that are steering Mashreq into the digital age. This episode is an invaluable resource as we also delve into hot topics like Embedded Finance, Open Banking, and the vision of creating a "Super App." Don't miss out on these insights; click the play button and let's decode the future of finance together!

In this episode of Couchonomics, we welcome Wael Fakharany, CEO of Edenred Middle East, a leading provider of smart technology solutions in the UAE. Wael shares his expertise in empowering businesses across various sectors, including retail, facilities management, and construction, through technology-driven financial solutions.

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, Oliver Hughes, former CEO of Tinkoff, discussed the future of digital banking and how it is changing the financial industry. Hughes shared his thoughts on the challenges that traditional banks face in building ecosystems, the importance of unit economics in digital banking, and the future of traditional branch-based banking.

In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we discuss with Hisham Al-Falih, how open banking and open finance are transforming the financial industry.

What role will neobanks play on the global stage? Wio Bank CEO Jayesh Patel joins Arjun on the couch to share his perspective.

Join us in Season 02 of Couchonomics as we go beyond fintech and payments, and embark on the journey into the future of financial services, a future which will be shaped by existing and new developments in technology and innovation, including and not limited to the likes of embedded finance, open banking, ESG, various versions of metaverse, decentralized finance, digital currencies, and other trends. On the couch, we're going to have the most influential and progressive-minded founders, executives, investors, regulators, innovators and industry commentators from across the MENA region and beyond. Join us as we unravel a multitude of layers of the financial services industry and try to learn how technology will continue to impact the world that we live in.

In the latest episode of Couchonomics, Dr van Linder, CEO of Commercial Bank of Dubai, shares his view on the future of the financial eco-system and predicts an explosion of banks applying digital innovation across all levels. Dr Van Linder is excited to drive innovation and change in the region by expanding how banks view their competition.

Mo Aziz, Co-Founder of Pluto, took a deep dive into the future of corporate spending and how the customer and competitive landscape will evolve in the region.

In today’s modern world where physical currency is slowly being phased out by online purchases and even cryptocurrencies, how do you communicate the value of money to a teenager?

Pakistan, a nation with over 50 million active bank accounts, has been relatively slow to conform to the trend, with only 500 thousand credit cards nationwide. Omar Ansari, the founder of ABHI, takes this surprising statistic as a sign of great opportunity in the region.

Zand, the first digital bank to provide both retail and corporate banking is set for imminent launch in the UAE, subject to final regulatory approvals. Is Zand the way of future banking? Can traditional banks transform and catch up with fintech digital platforms that are emerging?