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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
How Creditas Built a $3.3 Billion Fintech by Taking on the Hard Loans
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Latin 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, Founder and CEO of Creditas, shares how the company built an asset-backed lending model around cars and homes, giving customers access to longer-term credit at better rates.
They discuss why Creditas moved away from partnering with banks, how securitization became central to the business, why complexity created a stronger moat, and how the company reduced production costs from more than 20% of loan value to below 9%.
Sergio also explains how Creditas built a base of 20 million registered users, what its valuation reset changed, why the company remains focused on Brazil, and where tokenization could change lending next.
🎙️ In this episode:
✔️ Why Sergio chose Brazil to build Creditas
✔️ How Creditas moved from a marketplace to asset-backed lending
✔️ Why securitization became central to the business model
✔️ How operational complexity became a competitive moat
✔️ Why profitability depends on lowering production costs
✔️ How Creditas reduced production costs to below 9%
✔️ What its valuation reset changed about how Sergio thinks about growth
✔️ Why tokenization could reshape lending and fixed income
⏱️ CHAPTERS
02:59 Why Sergio left New York to build Creditas in Brazil
05:28 The $225 billion lending opportunity Creditas saw
13:43 Why Creditas stopped relying on banks
17:46 Why complexity became Creditas’ competitive moat
22:27 Can cheaper credit and profitability coexist?
28:37 How Creditas cut the cost of producing a loan
32:31 From a $4.8B valuation to a $3.3B reset
40:33 Why tokenization could change lending
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/
#CouchonomicsWithArjun #Creditas #Fintech #Lending #ConsumerCredit #DigitalLending #LatinAmerica #BrazilFintech
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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