Bay Area-based Arshan Ahmad, a fintech expert and co-founder PureFi has come up with an interest-free, transparent banking platform designed to serve underserved communities. From cross-border transfers to meaningful savings yields, Ahmad’s approach is aimed to flip conventional banking on its head.
The modern financial system has turned into a cyclic maze. The all-consuming banking system around the world, while intended to ease and streamline our finances, seems to be increasingly creating a system of financial stress where credit dependency, overdraft fees and complex terms ensure that one remains in a debt trap.
One needs sound financial understanding to ensure that hidden fees, high interest rates, or complex loan structures do not push consumers into cycles where debt grows faster than their ability to pay. Keeping these financial struggles in mind, Arshan Ahmad, CEO and co-founder of PureFi came up with an idea — an interest-free, transparent, and ethical banking platform built for immigrants, global families, and anyone who has been underserved by traditional finance.
The son of Indian immigrants, a former prison chaplain, a fintech veteran, who studied business administration at University of Michigan, Ahmad has seen firsthand how the system penalizes the very people it claims to serve. “If you’re sending money from Michigan to Louisiana, it’s basically free. But send it to India, Pakistan, Egypt, or Yemen, and suddenly you’re being gouged,” he says. That double standard, he realized, wasn’t inevitability—it was design.
So, he set-out to correct the system — not through flashy apps, robo-advisors, exotic crypto currency enabled accounts but through an equitable banking system that promises instant transfers, highest savings yields, and a structure that puts people not fees first. No wonder, he already has more than 100,000 already on the PureFi waitlist.
In a conversation with The America Bazaar, Arshan Ahmad talks about offering consumers a better choice of finance and how he built a system based on fairness, clarity, and trust can be as revolutionary as technology itself.
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The American Bazaar: Explain PureFi to us — how it works and changes the way your money works for you?
Arshan Ahmad: PureFi is a modern money account built for people who want two things — their money to grow ethically and to move globally, without typical banking friction.
When you deposit money into PureFi, it sits in a secure, segregated account and is converted into USDC. It then earns yield allocated into conservative, liquid sources designed to generate a competitive return. That is how we target six percent, while keeping the product simple for the user. We are transparent about where yield comes from, and we do not rely on hidden fees to make the economics work. The yield sources are — real estate, stablecoin staking, gold staking and leasing and alternative income ETF.
The money can also be sent internationally at low cost. When you send money, we route it over the same stablecoin rails, which reduces fees and settlement time dramatically. The recipient gets funds faster, and you avoid the common stack of FX markups and intermediary charges that make remittances so painful. Now where does your money go, exactly? A portion stays liquid and available so customers can withdraw or send money anytime. The rest is allocated into low risk, short duration yield sources to generate the return. We design it so customers can understand it in plain English, and we build trust through clarity: custody structure, segregation of funds, and real time reporting of how the system works.
What’s “radically different” about it is this: in a traditional bank, your money mostly sits still, and the bank uses it to make money while paying you near zero. In PureFi, your money is designed to be active, it can earn and move at internet speed, while you stay in control and can access it when you need it.
What led you to think of an ethical banking concept like PureFi? Did you see a need that felt too urgent to ignore?
I started my career in finance and fintech, and I saw the system from the inside and as a customer. As a child of immigrants, I saw that the system wasn’t built for us, and there weren’t serious options that felt ethical, transparent, and competitive.
The moment stable coin regulation started becoming real, especially with the Genius Act momentum in July, it felt like the window opened. People were finally building modern banking rails that could support something better, so we realized we could build a bank that actually serves our community – not just Muslims but immigrants and global families who move money across borders. An interest-free, ethical yield, transparent, not tied to the same fractional reserve dynamics, it finally felt possible, and it felt urgent.
Was there a personal moment where you realized savings and remittance products were failing everyday users?
I send money overseas every month, my family does, my parents do. And it’s always the same story, you get hit with multiple layers of fees. Sometimes it’s a transaction fee, sometimes a percentage, sometimes a flat fee, and a lot of the time it’s hidden in FX spreads or “foreign” charges you don’t see until it’s too late. What never made sense to me is the double standard.
In simple terms, what’s broken in consumer fintech that PureFi is trying to fix?
The core banking system is built on the fractional reserve model, your money gets loaned out, everything gets tied to interest rates, and when stress hits you see the fragility. At the same time, most major banks still don’t give normal people meaningful savings yield. It’s backwards. Your money should work for you, and you should actually share in the value it creates, in a way that aligns with ethics and transparency.
Second, cross-border transfers are still broken. They’re expensive, slow, and full of surprise fees and delays.
Third, finance is opaque. Most people have no idea what’s happening behind the scenes, how institutions use their money, how the take-rate works, who profits, and where the risk sits. PureFi is about flipping that with straightforward banking, clear terms, and real user control.
Trust is central in financial services, how is PureFi building credibility and transparency right now?
We’re building PureFi with a trust-first mindset. That means being radically clear about what we do and where money goes, with no vague promises nor hidden mechanics. We’ll be upfront about partners, controls, and the compliance posture, KYC/AML, security, risk management, all of it. We’re building this like a real financial institution from day one, including dedicated compliance and risk focus.
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But credibility is also earned in how you treat people. When I was at Dave, one of the most effective trust builders was simple, they helped people in a time of need with an interest-free advance. That kind of product says, “we’re on your side.” We want PureFi to feel like a community bank in that same spirit. World class customer support, transparent roadmap, and consistently delivering the best experience: strong returns, low fees, and the protections people expect.
How did being a prison chaplain shape how you think about financial access, dignity, and fairness?
Being a chaplain in maximum security federal and state prisons, and also working around juvenile hall environments, changes the way you see “systems.” You see how quickly someone can become underbanked and locked out, sometimes from one mistake, sometimes from circumstances that compound, and then the financial system stacks more penalties on top.
A lot of what we call “fees” are really just taxes on the poor. Overdraft is the cleanest example, the wealthy don’t pay it, the poor do. I want to build something that protects people from being quietly punished for trying to live, and instead helps them build stability, a nest egg, and a real chance to move forward.
I also saw hope up close. I saw people rebuilding, coming back to faith, reconnecting with purpose, wanting to do good, and craving a second chance. That stays with you. PureFi is built around the idea that access should be ethical, fair, and human, and that people deserve tools that uplift them rather than prey on them.