EBA 3600 Financial Technology
EBA 3600 Financial Technology
Financial technology (Fintech) refers to the digitalization and technological innovations in the financial industry, which has transformed and continues to disrupt financial markets, institutions and services, as well as offers alternative payment systems using digital currencies. The aim of this course is threefold: (i) to cover the origins and the current trends of Fintech in all aspects of the financial industry, (ii) to envision the potentials of technology in improving financial services and the efficiency of financial markets, and (iii) to understand the potential threats and risks posed by digitalization. Several new financial technology companies aim to decentralize current financial systems and markets, while others pose threats to the traditional financial institutions whose services rely more on the human factors and less on the information technology. Facing these threats, the incumbent financial institutions respond by modernizing their services through embracing Fintech and digitalizing their services.
The student will
- Understand the history, current state and trends of Fintech
- Be able to map the Fintech ecosystem
- Understand the role of banks and Fintech companies
- Understand the regulatory challenges posed by Fintech
The student will be able to
- Qualitatively/quantitatively evaluate the impact of Fintech on the strategies and performance of both banks and Fintech companies
- Qualitatively/quantitatively analyze Fintech companies and ideas
- Qualitatively/quantitatively implement Fintech ideas
The students should learn Fintech industry in Norway and other countries. The students should be able to apply quantitative techniques, acquired in other courses, to critically analyze Fintech companies. Moreover, the students should be able to analyze, qualitatively and quantitatively, how banks embrace the emergence of Fintech companies.
The course will cover the following topics and more:
- Digitalization and the Financial System
- Fintech and how banks embrace it
- Payment: how it used to work, how it works in Fintech domain, key players in Fintech domain, regulations such as psd2, financial inclusion, cashless society
- Financing: how it used to work, how it works in Fintech domain, p2p lending, crowdfunding, key players in Fintech domain, related regulations, trading
- Blockchain: how it works, digital currency, Libra, initial coin offering, smart contracts
- Everything else: digital banking, wealth management, insurtech, regtech
- Possibly, build a Fintech application. This exercise requires prior knowledge in programming and statistical tools.
There will be a series of lectures (possibly some guest lectures), interactive class activities and case discussions, for which active class participation is essential.
Higher Education Entrance Qualification
Covid-19
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.
Teaching
Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.
EBA 3530 Causality, Machine learning and Forecasting; EBA 3400 Programming, data extraction and visualisation or equivalent courses; EBA 3420 Databases; EBA 2904 Statistics, EBA 2910 Mathematics for Business Analytics.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 30 Grouping: Group/Individual (1 - 5) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Quantitative exercise such as credit analysis Exam code: EBA 36001 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination every semester |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Structured test Invigilation Weight: 70 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Comment: Quantitative exercise such as credit analysis Exam code: EBA 36002 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination every semester |
All exams must be passed to get a grade in this course.
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 36 Hour(s) | |
Seminar groups | 12 Hour(s) | Teaching sessions by TA |
Student's own work with learning resources | 94 Hour(s) | |
Group work / Assignments | 25 Hour(s) | |
Examination | 33 Hour(s) | Group assignment and final exam. |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 7,5 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of at least 200 hours.