GRA 6559 Fintech
GRA 6559 Fintech
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 course will give students the necessary insight into the Fintech revolution, opportunities, and threats and prepare them for
- Developing and presenting their own Fintech ideas
- Working for Fintech companies that aim to offer new financial services
- Working for traditional financial institutions that aim to embrace digitalization
- Working with regulators that aim to design rules which minimize the potential threats of decentralization without hindering the benefits of digitalization
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
- Understand the role of fintech in addressing social issues such as wealth inequality and unbanked population
The student will be able to
- Evaluate the impact of Fintech on the strategies and performance of both banks and Fintech companies
- Analyze Fintech companies and ideas
The students will be able to
- Identify opportunities and develop and present their own Fintech ideas
The course will cover the following topics and more:
- 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
- Blockchain: how it works, digital currency, Libra, initial coin offering, smart contracts,
- Everything else: digital banking, wealth management, insurtech, regtech
There will be a series of lectures, seminars, guest speakers, interactive class activities and case discussions, for which active class participation is essential.
Class size is limited to 50 students max.
Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on itslearning or text book.
This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.
At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
| Assessments |
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Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Weight: 10 Grouping: Group (3 - 5) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Write-up of a case analyzing an existing Fintech company and its idea. Exam code: GRA65591 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 2 Hour(s) Comment: Final written exam under supervision Exam code: GRA65591 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation Weight: 15 Grouping: Group (3 - 5) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Presentation: Fintech business idea: proposal Exam code: GRA65591 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Activity Form of assessment: Presentation and discussion Weight: 35 Grouping: Group (3 - 5) Duration: 1 Semester(s) Comment: Presentation: Fintech business idea: final Exam code: GRA65591 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
Exam category: Submission Form of assessment: Written submission Invigilation Weight: 20 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 2 Hour(s) Comment: Mid-term written exam under supervision Exam code: GRA65591 Grading scale: Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade Resit: All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.