Most fintechs chased hype. Abhi chased cash flow.In this episode of Couchonomics with Arjun, we sit down with Omair Ansari, Co-Founder & CEO of Abhi, one of Pakistan’s fastest-growing fintechs.Abhi began with earned wage access, giving workers instant liquidity. Today, it has scaled into payroll financing, SME lending, and invoice factoring — and even acquired a licensed microfinance bank in Pakistan to materially lower its cost of funds.We explore:- Why profitability and cost of capital decide who survives fintech’s winter- How Abhi scaled from earned wage access into a full-stack working capital platform- Pakistan as the anchor, GCC as the growth frontier- The real potential (and limits) of tokenization & private credit- Why licences and compliance, not glossy apps, are the true moat in fintech- How embedded finance at payroll and receivables lowers costs and expands inclusionThis is more than a growth story — it’s a blueprint for building durable fintech in emerging markets.🎧 Full episode now streaming on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts.Couchonomics with Arjun Season 04 is brought to you by our partners: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/Hala https://hala.com/chapters:00:00 Episode Highlights00:59 Welcome to Couchonomics02:19 FinTech Evolution and Market Dynamics06:28 Business Model Adaptations12:21 Manual Operations and Testing14:34 Credit Models and Market Realities17:24 Funding and Capital Challenges23:54 Regulatory Landscape and Innovations27:38 Navigating Regulatory Challenges29:14 The Debate on Fintech Regulation32:07 Embedded Finance: Progress and Challenges35:24 The Future of Banking and Fintech38:44 Crypto and Digital Assets in Emerging Markets43:27 Expanding into Pakistan: Opportunities and Risks46:52 Strategic Focus and Future Vision51:41 Conclusion and Final ThoughtsOur website 👉 https://bit.ly/3jk7UH0Find 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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