Overview

This introductory course is designed for students interested in financial technologies (“fintech”) and the transformation of banking and financial services. The course will enable students to understand how the banking and financial services industry is being disrupted and transformed by fintech.

Fintech covers a range of technologies that enable consumers to access financial services over their mobile phone or the internet. Through the many innovations introduced over the past number of years, retail and corporate customers can obtain loans, make payments, transfer money, or invest their savings electronically. Customers enjoy a better experience at a lower cost by transacting via a simple interface that is easier to navigate than traditional brick-and-mortar businesses. And for many of these services, customers bypass traditional financial intermediaries who have profited from this activity, such as banks, mutual funds, brokers, and money transfer companies, to name a few.

It is important to note that the course will focus less on the technologies underlying fintech (e.g. AI, Blockchain, etc.) but more on how the new fintech is using these technologies to disrupt, displace or complement the incumbents of the financial services.