FinTech Foundations and Overview

In this module (week one), students will gain a multi-dimensional perspective on what FinTech means from the perspective of large firms (and older participants in the industry - e.g. dinosaurs), entrepreneurs, investors, and consumers. Examining what FinTech is, or is not, provides a foundations upon which students can build for better understanding of opportunities and changes.

The Business Applications of FinTech are essentially the Fin part of the FinTech world, and in this module, we will examine applications across six categories of FinTech, including lending and personal finance, crowd-finding and business financing, payments and retail transactions, equity, trading and investment applications, various types of cryptocurrencies, and banking infrastructure and tools.

The Technology enabling and supporting FinTech is important to understand, and this module provides a brief introduction to each of the areas of technology that enable FinTech business changes, including identity and privacy technologies, blockchain and encryption, big data analytics, AI and automation, and consumer tech innovations. This introduction is designed to be at a level appropriate for business managers or students of business, and is not intended to excite or engage tech geeks.

Building on our understanding of FinTech market applications and FinTech technologies, we move in this module to examine the implications of FinTech changes and challenges for existing financial services companies, and we look at current and future trends in FinTech world-wide. This module concludes, after the final quiz, with a final course project in which students will present their recommendations for senior managers of a large, established Asia-Pacific bank to take advantage of and respond to FinTech challenges and opportunities.