The rapid growth of FinTech and job prospects in the sector are making Business Schools come with specialised MBA programs to meet increasing demand.
According to McKinsey, the number of FinTech start-ups has gone up from around 800 in April 2015 to more than 2000 in February 2016. Venture Capitalists have embraced the sector and global investment has reached almost $23 billion in the past five years.
New York University Stern School of Business has become the latest in offering a FinTech MBA with David Yermack, Professor of Finance co-chairing the course.
According to McKinsey, the number of FinTech start-ups has gone up from around 800 in April 2015 to more than 2000 in February 2016. Venture Capitalists have embraced the sector and global investment has reached almost $23 billion in the past five years.
The program involves in-depth study of trading strategies, transaction security, trade clearing and settlement data management and risk management. It would cover financial data analytics, regulation and the impact of digital currencies on the financial services industry, mobile payments and entrepreneurial crowdfunding.
Yermack forecasts opening up of several opportunities in the sector where apart from start-ups, traditional banks would also need enough trained specialists to help catch up with technology changes.
His co-chair in the program, Alexander Tuzhilin, Professor of Information Systems Alexander Tuzhilin says FinTech is about modern information technologies disrupting the financial services industry.
Stern has drawn upon its considerable strengths in both finance and technology to create courses that discuss how these two areas blend together to enable new business models, innovations and opportunities.
Meanwhile, MIT is offering a FinTech certificate course: Future Commerce, a 12-weeks on line and part-time course that starts on September 5, 2016. The fees for the course is $2300.
Dave Shrier, Managing Director of MIT Connection Science and Lead Instructor says the participants will be exposed to the future of money, with disruptive technologies, like blockchain, leading to the rise of new currencies. They will be able to explore innovation in financial markets and other areas of financial infrastructure and also listen to the views of some of the world’s leading minds on developing new policies around these areas.
Similarly UC-Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and Colombia Business School are also considering launching courses on FinTech.
Two UK business schools, Imperial College Business School and Cambridge Judge School of Business propose to start FinTech courses.
The newly-set up Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College is developing FinTech content and research facilities besides identifying academics to serve as faculty for the new courses and modules.
Raghu Rau, Professor of Finance and director at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, said the Judge Business school proposes to launch three to four new courses over the next few years in view of demand both from mainstream financial institutions and students aiming for a career in FinTech companies. (Image Courtesy : en.wikipedia.org)
