1 billion underserved. 1 powerful mission. In this special episode of Below the Fold, recorded at the Dubai FinTech Summit, we dive into the future of inclusive finance with two founders on a mission to change how the Muslim world accesses credit. Maxim Chernuschenko, CEO of Fingular, and Saad Ishfaq, CEO of Shareeq Neo, share how they’ve teamed up to launch a Sharia-compliant neobank model—built to serve blue-collar workers, migrants, and underbanked communities across Qatar, the GCC, and beyond. 🎙️ Hosted by: Andreas Frangeskides and Shadi Dawi
📡 In collaboration with @BelowTheFoldPodcast @launchfoundryai @datewithtech @dubaifintechsummit @dubaiaicampus
===
[00:00:00] Hi everybody, and welcome to Date with Tech here at the Dubai FinTech Summit in association with Trescon, uh, Launch Foundry and Below the Fold. Um, we are joined today by the wonderful MAXIM CHERNUSCHENKO from Fingular. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. Most welcome. Um, for those that don't know, Fingular is a Singapore Based Neobank and have recently launched a phenomenal product called Shareeq Neo, which we'll be hearing about later, which is a, uh, joint Islamic Neo Lending Brand, um, targeting effectively global Muslim markets, um, and with a focus on digital credit.
So I think there's a very, very pertinent conversation happening today at the summit, but also the fact that it's a, um, proposition that will benefit not only the Middle Eastern world. But the Islamic world, um, especially to drive inclusion effectively for underserved Muslims worldwide. Maxim, what, what, what, what's [00:01:00] behind the launch of Shaik Neo as a separate Islamic brand, and how does the project different from your existing venture?
Very good question. Thank you. So singular is a global company by design. Singular is aspiring to be present in all developing markets. Eventually all markets around the globe. And when you look at those markets, there is a very important subset, which are Muslim countries. There are several reasons why this subset is so important.
First of all, rate of population growth in the Muslim countries exceeds that of any other developing country. Secondly, the problem of financial inclusion or rather exclusion is the most acute for people living in these markets. And thirdly. People who live in these markets, they care about Islamic principles of finance.
So when you, when we put all these three factors together, we decided that they are worthy setting up a separate business direction inside singular, which will focus on Muslim markets in general, and Islamic finance in uh, [00:02:00] particular. Okay. And in terms of like your global goals and global positioning, does that differ from how you plan to launch here?
In the Middle East, or is, is this something that you will have a consistency and message? Most definitely. Muslim markets will have their peculiarities, but the good thing about, uh, singular approach is that since we're solving the problem of financial inclusion, we are fighting the same kind of problems in pretty much every single market.
So the technology that LER uses. To tackle this task is quite universal, and, uh, that's why we can strive to be in so many markets at the same time, or over a very short period of time because the technology that singular possesses allow us to enter new markets at an enormous speed takes only three months for us to enter a new country, and that, that's why we think that we will be able to be truly global, covering both non-Muslim and Muslim markets as well.
We'll hear a bit later about your products and obviously the, the, the cutting edge tech behind what you are doing. But I really wanna ask a pertinent [00:03:00] question, which is, why is it that so many billions of Muslim people feel financially underserved today? What's the blocker to credit access, um, by so many banks worldwide.
I. It's a great question. Indeed. So many banks and so many unbanked and underserved people, how can these two, you know, come together? It's actually two-way, uh, kind of a problem because on the one hand, the banks, they do not really know how to work with the underserved, uh, segment of the society. And they do not really care.
They do not want to go into trouble of, uh, figuring out how to service these people. They do not have the tech, they do not have the inclination on the other hand. Customers are also to blame to a certain extent in that underserved people, uh, they do not know how to behave with traditional financial institutions.
They do not know how to handle complicated financial products. That's why it is very important for intermediaries like singular to step in and to bridge this kind of a gap. [00:04:00] It's really fascinating. Your position, your position and your play here in terms of how you are supporting people, both in their kind of like financial journeys, but also in their also human journeys effectively, to be economically sound, economically viable.
Um, but do you think then that there are certain exclusions that are befitting of certain environments or certain markets, is exclusion the same everywhere? Or is it a regional cultural problem? I believe that the problem is inherently the same everywhere, um, because it's this mutual distrust of banks with respect to unbanked clients and also clients not knowing how to handle complicated financial products.
This creates the disconnect. Um, and, uh. Um, the positive side of that is, is that in order to solve this problem, you, you, you can apply the same technology everywhere, and that's what really makes singular technology universal. Once we figured out how to tackle certain issues, we can take it across borders and it'll work literally in every [00:05:00] single market.
It feels like a, a commitment effectively to, uh, not just innovation, but inclusive prosperity to the Muslim world. And it's very, very unique and also very, very no noble what you guys are doing, and I, I feel very proud to be sat here seeing your journey in its fruition. Just to close our conversation today, before I hand over to your partner who can.
Tell us a bit more about the, the, the neo shaik, NEO proposition, but what do you think matters most to people from a product or design or UX standpoint? When they have little or no banking experience and they're approached by ULA and the, and the Neo product? I think we have to work our ways, our way up.
Together with the clients, we have to grow together with the clients. We, uh, you have to start it simple and then work your way up. For example, in case of, um, in, in ER's case, we start from relatively simple lending products such as, uh, installment loans. Then we proceed to something more complicated like BNPL or a credit line, or eventually all um.
Uh, rolls up into a full blown retail [00:06:00] banking ecosystem, but we take it step by step. That's what's important. Educational component is extremely important, and that's what singular brings to the table. Not only the tech, but also willingness to work with, um, these type of clients and willingness to educate, uh, them and grow with them along the way.
One second. I'm so sorry guys. Just to cut there. Sorry. Maxim, very warm in here and I think I'm, uh, suffering again with Yeah. Maxim, thank you so much for your time. It's been amazing to hear from you this morning. I look forward to seeing where Ola go, not only uh, locally, but globally as a brand and as a promise.
And we'll be following you closely and good luck at the event and with the folk that you'll meet and the network that you'll create. And, uh, see you soon. Thank you very much. It's great to be here. Thank you so much, sir. Right, my goodness.
Tissue. The microphone must, must be the ac. Can we open the door set? It's just so hot. So hot. Maxim, thank you so much for being here. It's a pleasure to have you on the show. I [00:07:00] wish you every success in the future of Ula and Shari Neo and we look forward to seeing what happens with the brand and enjoy the festival.
Whilst you, pleasure here. Thank you. Thank you very much. It was great talking to you. It was, it was great to be here at this event. Thank you, Maxine afternoon. This is Shadi Dawi. I'm your host for today, A Date with Tech episode from Dubai FinTech Summit to 2025, and today we have two special announcement.
First is the company that we are talking about is an amazing initiative. It's a FinTech initiative initiative, and they have. Uh, a message behind and beyond what they are doing. Number two is I have, um, a man with an ambition, Mr. Saad Ishfaq. He's the CEO of uh, uh, Shareeq Neo. And he will tell us about all the, those amazing strategies and initiatives and the FinTech products that serve around 1 billion.
I wanna start by asking you about you, uh, who is Ishak? What are your values? What do you want to achieve in your life? I'm Ishak, I basically belong [00:08:00] to Pakistan, and I was born and raised in, in a town named Raval Pindi, which is very adjacent to the capital Islam about, I, I wanted to be a filmmaker back in my university days.
I'm a, a graduate of communications and, and media studies, and then I swapped multiple industries from, from, from. Filmmaking, I stepped into advertising and then tobacco and then, and then telecom. And then eventually I worked with social, uh, uh, organization by the name of British Council. And then in 2013, I was blessed enough to, to get into a, a brand name, which was then known as Mobi Cash.
But now it is known as Jazz Cash, right? Which is one of the largest mobile financial services operator in, in Pakistan. I was blessed to be the pioneers, one of the pioneers in that team. What is the strategic foundation of your partnership? In Qatar. And what makes your product offering unique in this market?
The one entity is Fala, which is adjusted and based in, in Singapore, and currently operational in five Southeast Asian markets. And the second entity is test payments with a, which is a Qatar homegrown, uh, FinTech entity. Test [00:09:00] payments is licensed by Qatar Central Bank and. We achieved a few of the LA Landmark milestones last year in terms of our volume processing.
We processed $1.2 billion in GMV, so both entities connected basically on, uh, a platform. And we connected the dots on, on how basically both the organizations have a, have a real value towards serving the the Muslim population and basically to create a larger impact. See, for all of us, which you have mentioned and asked.
Earlier as well that what is our value as individual and as as as the group as well, is how we can create a positive impact in the lives of humans utilizing financial technology. Alright? Right. It is not always about the balance sheet in the boardrooms. So that's how we came to a true problem, and that was access to credit and access to finance in Qatar and beyond and to further.
Trickle down is the blue collar workers, is the the population, which is approximately 60% or does not have access to credit and access to finance, right? So this is where basically we created a [00:10:00] Shaik neo and then this is how we formulated this, this partnership. And now Shaik NEO is a registered entity based out of to HA Qatar, allow me to ask you what makes Shaik Nao unique or different in what you are doing.
So the exact, from the use case perspective, which we are going start to build the right traction is, is advanced salary or, or advanced 30 day salary loan or 30 day pay loan. What we have done is we have partnered up with, with banks and financial institutions who are managing blue collar workers WPS system across, right?
So, so at one side you have a tangible data to digitally credit score and, and do the risk assessment of this particular product. And for the customer perspective, you see all these migrant workers have their families back home and there can be an urgent need and they can, they can. Avail this quickly.
Yes. They can apply. Yes. What about the process? Because we experience, or we know, or, or the impression is it takes a lot of paperwork and time Yes. To apply. What about the security or the guarantee or, since they're nel loans and they're insecure loans, so, and they're instant loans, so by instant we mean [00:11:00] approximately if, if, if I eliminate the, the customer behavior to, to perform the entire process.
Mm-hmm. We are talking about five to seven average minutes to, to five to seven minutes, minutes, and. They can get the money. They can get the money. Wow. Instantly credited into their existing salary card from the bank. That's amazing. Can you share more about the landmark investment deal you completed in Qatar and why it has been so significant and what is unique about it?
Normally when everyone thinks about Qatar, especially in the tech. And startup ecosystem. Uh, you, you have an access to a lot, lot of VCs and, and, and investments. But hats off to the, to the parent, uh, company, uh, f who has made an investment inside Qatar, inside in this project. Mm-hmm. So this is one of the very unique element for even Qatar FinTech ecosystem as well.
Okay. And a Singapore based entity has come and they have identified the potential in the market. And we will be utilizing. Doha qar as a launchpad towards the entire GCC. Excellent. Uh, what are the initial priorities and first steps, uh, when you launched Shaik Neo? Or what was the [00:12:00] objectives? So we have have exactly two main, main, uh, milestones for this year to achieve.
One is definitely to get. Uh, regulatory approval from the Qta Central Bank. Okay. To independently launch and, and get a regulatory, which is not yet there. Uh, it is in the process. It's in the process. It is in the process. And this is the first milestone which we need to achieve within this year. Okay. And we are targeting to complete that by quarter three of this year.
The second is that we have partnered up with Doha Bank, Allan Bank, and. Couple of more partnerships, which I'm, I'm cannot disclose right now. Alright. Due to the nature. So once we have that, we have a partner embedded network as well. Mm-hmm. Where we will embed our regulatory approved product inside the partner network.
Okay. And utilizing the data, which they have, we, we need to launch at least two to three partner embedded products inside Qatar. Amazing. So from one side, it's the regulator. Which we need, uh, approval. And the other is the market validation. So these two will combine to expand outside Qatar as well in the next year.
Are your products or, uh, business model designed to [00:13:00] scale beyond Qatar into other Gulf uh, countries? So there are certain strategic partners who are inside Qatar, but operational outside Qatar as well. So if we are able to validate the product and the business model to them in, in Doha, definitely the next markets is GCC.
And then beyond GCC, we look at the MENA region as well. May I ask you to conclude with a, a statement to everyone who will be watching this episode, the Date with Tech, and how do you describe this briefly and tell, tell them about the advantages and long-term strategy. I. We have a, have a single vision and that is to empower people with access to credit and especially to a certain class of socioeconomic class of the society, which is underbanked, not just unbanked, but primarily underbanked as well.
And in this particular mission, I, I'm sure your listeners do have the, have the numbers and access to information that how we cannot just create a value for the entire. Society, but for the shareholders and for the prospective investors as well in this. So whoever who, who [00:14:00] believes in, in changing lives, creating an impact through FinTech, should keep an eye on us.
And then keep, keep seeing, watching that, that how we are gonna transform this industry. Mr. Shaik, Neo, CEO, um, thank you very much for being with us on this. Amazing episode, uh, of Date with Tech, and we wish you all the best and we look forward to have you as our guest in future. Thank you very much. This is Shady Dawi, your host for today, for Date with Tech episode, and stay tuned for the following, and next episode, very shortly.