424: Financing the Unbanked: How Sahaj Mobile is Bringing Credit to 58,000+ Customers in Bangladesh with Guest Speaker Rafsun F

**EPISODE DESCRIPTION**  I sat down with Rafsun, founder of Sahaj Mobile, at Money2020 to unpack one of the most exciting fintech stories I've come across in a long time. Rafsun went from managing billions in asset-backed securities at Guggenheim to building a phone financing company in Bangladesh , a market that has been starved for credit for decades. With over 58,000 customers and millions deployed entirely from their own capital, Sahaj Mobile is proving that emerging markets can outperform the West on default rates. We dig into how they used merchants, OEMs like Samsung and Xiaomi, and TikTok influencers to scale fast, how AI powers everything from fraud detection to Bengali-language customer service, and where they are headed next , including a fascinating cross-border financing model for South Asian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. If you are a founder or investor looking at where the real opportunities are, this conversation is one you cannot afford to miss. **DISCLAIMER** Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. It would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend. **Be a guest on the podcast or contact us -** https://www.web3pod.xyz/  **CONNECT**  Sahaj Mobile Website: https://www.sahajmobile.org/ Sahaj Mobile LinedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sahajmobile/home/ Sahaj Mobile Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SahajMobileBD Web3 with Sam Kamani: https://www.web3pod.xyz/  **KEY POINTS WITH TIMESTAMPS**  • \[00:00] Rafsun introduces Sahaj Mobile's core model , financing phones in Bangladesh with no credit score required • \[01:00] Sam introduces the episode and explains why Sahaj Mobile stands out among fintech startups • \[03:03] Rafsun's background: UC Berkeley, Kiavi (acquired by Figure), and managing $10B in ABS at Guggenheim • \[05:24] How Sahaj Mobile works: down payment, device locking, and repayment via bKash and Nagad wallets • \[06:16] Growth story: from a 100-phone pilot to 58,000+ customers since launching in 2024 • \[07:09] How they got initial traction: partnering with merchants, then OEMs like Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi • \[08:57] TikTok influencers and social media as a key growth channel in Bangladesh • \[12:07] How AI runs 24/7 , from loss reserve calculations to NDA reviews , augmenting Rafsun's workflow • \[13:30] AI in underwriting: ID fraud detection, face matching, and machine learning on alternative data • \[14:55] AI-powered customer service responding in Bengali using voice models and Hugging Face • \[16:49] HeyGen for AI-generated marketing videos , cutting production time to under 30 minutes • \[20:18] The SaaS and legal disruption debate , and why AI tools are actually creating more lawyer work, not less • \[27:44] Fundraising update: Series A equity round with a lead investor and a separate debt round from an emerging market credit fund • \[29:06] Expansion into MENA: financing phones in Bangladesh for migrant workers paying from Saudi Arabia, Dubai, and Malaysia • \[30:06] Next product: the Sahaj wallet with EMI discount incentives for customers who pay through it