Episode 26

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Published on:

28th Nov 2023

The Truth Behind Empowering The 44 Million Immigrants In The US contributing to 22% of US GDP | Dr David Wachira, CEO & Co-Founder at Waya

Being an immigrant in the US comes with financial challenges, starting with struggles to open a bank account. This is a 44 Million problem with 13% of US population classified as immigrants, and contributing to 22% of US GDP - that’s USD 3.9Trillion per year.

In today’s episode, Dr David Wachira, CEO & Co-Founder at Waya, talks to us about this customer problem statement and how Waya is being part of the solution.

We explore how to create purpose driven FinTechs to create more impact, the biggest challenges immigrants have accessing financial services in the US. Waya’s customer segments ranging from students, workers, minorities and professionals, solving for financial inclusion, requirements for illegal immigrants to open a bank account, and how marketing efforts to reach out to immigrants is different from your traditional FinTech.

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Let’s dive into it!

👉 You can find Dr David here

👉 And you can find Monica here:

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We cover:

(01:05) The Role of Fintechs in Society

(05:43) The Challenges of Immigrants in the U.S.

(07:11) The Importance of Financial Access

(08:19) The Journey of Immigrants in the U.S.

(09:00) The Role of Waya in assisting immigrants

(14:42) The Size and Impact of the Immigrant Population in the U.S.

(18:17) The Challenges Immigrants Face in Accessing Financial Services

(20:41) The Possibility for Illegal Immigrants to Open Bank Accounts

(24:18) The Importance of Financial Education and Literacy

(27:19) Overcoming Fear as an Immigrant

(28:23) The Reality of Deportation and Living in Fear

(30:10) Understanding the Struggles of Immigrants

(31:00) Defining Financial Inclusion

(32:09) The Impact of Financial Exclusion

(36:56) The Role of Fintech in Financial Inclusion

(43:27) The Power of Word of Mouth in Community Outreach

(44:30) The Importance of Trust in Building a Fintech Brand

(49:07) The Potential Change in the Fintech Industry


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Production and marketing by Monica Millares. For inquiries about coaching, collabs, sponsoring the podcast or creating or editing your podcast email fintechwithmoni@gmail.com


Disclaimer: This episode does not constitute professional nor financial advice and does not represent the opinion nor views of my current, past or future employers. The guest has agreed to record and release our conversation for the use of this podcast and promotion in social media.

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About the Podcast

Purpose Driven FinTech
Building products with impact
Welcome to Purpose Driven FinTech!

I'm your host, Monica Millares - Product Leader and fellow FinTecher.

These days, with the rising cost of living, financial stress among customers, loss of trust in banks, speculation of crypto, and uncertainty, we're facing unprecedented challenges. But there is hope. We as FinTechers have the power to make a positive impact.

Our products, the how we do product, and our people can make a difference on customers’ financial lives - and as a result, in the quality of their lives.

However, more than ever Founders, CEOs, Leadership teams and all FinTechers have a ton of pressure to build solutions that actually solve customer problems, that people want, that are differentiated And profitable

Yes that's you and me too!

That's why I've created this podcast!

I speak with Founders, Product Leaders, VCs, and industry experts to uncover their stories, challenges, and lessons learnt in building products with impact.

You'll get to hear real-life conversations, and you’ll walk away with practical questions, frameworks and insights that you can apply to your own FinTech products. So, are you ready to make a bigger difference in FinTech?

Let's come together and discover how Purpose, Product, and People can help us create a future of better financial wellbeing while building sustainable and profitable FinTechs.

Follow me on LinkedIn, TikTok, and  YouTube to stay connected and be part of the conversation.

Cheers to making better FinTech and making FinTech better!

Love, Moni 

About your host

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Monica Millares

Monica advocates for financial safety for all. She is the Product Principal at BigPay, where she leads Product and Design. As part of the founding team, Monica led building BigPay’s product from zero to one, to multi product line, and international expansion. Her leadership shaped the culture and ways of working to grow from startup to scaleup. BigPay has over 1.4 million customers, and has presence in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Monica has almost 20 years’ experience in Financial Services. Prior to BigPay, she was one of the first joiners in UK’s challenger Tandem Bank, where she focused on building credit cards from scratch. Previously she worked in leading Financial Services brands like Visa, Barclays, and a Mexican Development Bank.

She sits on the Board of PayEd, and is recognised as Singapore’s #Fintech65 Product Leaders and Women in FinTech. She’s been multiple times speaker at the prestigious conference Money2020 and shared stage with JP Morgan, Standard Chartered Bank, Konsentus, and Money2020’s Rise Up. Her commitment to innovation and financial inclusion resonates in her podcast “Purpose Driven FinTech” where she explores how FinTech’s can have 10x more impact.

Monica has a background in Engineering and a Master’s Degree on Analysis, Design, and Management of Information Systems from the London School of Economics.