Course Description

FinTech (Financial Technology) has revolutionized how traditional financial services can be provided to the general public and prompted financial service providers to re-consider how they should do business across an expansive, and expanding, range of commercial enterprises. This course will trigger students to think about how FinTech can tackle important global issues, both social and financial, and open up new and emerging markets. The course, which will be interactive and make use of different forms of multi-media, will focus on the following themes. How best:

1. to let unbanked/underbanked entities (e.g. those in poor countries) to enjoy financial services and provide equal opportunities to women and men in terms of financial inclusion;
2. to enable SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and the microfinance sector to benefit from the rise of digital technologies for various financial services and AI technologies; and
3. to explore emerging business opportunities and markets (e.g. virtual banking and decentralized finance) based on FinTech technologies while understanding the security, privacy and regulatory issues behind.

Students, who need no prior experience with Fintech technologies, will learn the basics of Fintech operations, including blockchain technologies, and work collaboratively on projects that link Fintech technologies to social values in underserved populations. They will leave the course with a deeper understanding of finance, technology, and social responsibility and be better prepared to contribute to working teams both in and beyond the university.

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

1. Describe the technologies that drive FinTech applications.
2. Understand the issues of traditional financial services, in particular, the unbanked, underbanked, and the gender issues (e.g. in developing countries).
3. Describe how FinTech can help to solve the problems of traditional financial services.
4. Understand new issues such as cyber security and regulations, introduced by new FinTech applications.
5. Propose new FinTech applications to help improving the financial services of the society.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

Second semester (Wed)