Mapúa, Cambridge Center ready to promote local fintech industry

MAPÚA University has led the charge to elevate the country’s fintech segment with its new “Fintech and Regulatory Innovation (FTRI)” program, with content powered by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance (CCAF) at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, and in partnership with Fintech Alliance.Ph (FTAP).

Mapúa’s FTRI program is the first of its kind off-campus course in the Asean region with localized content tailored to the Philippine setting. The nine-week, online tutor-led programme, will allow senior decision-makers, central bank regulators, security agencies and finance officers to formulate evidence-based regulatory, supervisory and policy responses that can guide fintech’s growth and exploitation.

“Given the breadth and widespread acceptance of fintech systems in the local and international market, we believe that the program … can help senior decision-makers, administrative officials and key executives to more effectively lead and monitor the fintech sector,” said Dr. Reynaldo B. Vea, President and CEO of Mapúa.

“We hope that through Mapúa’s FTRI program, run by CCAF at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, and in collaboration with FTAP, we can contribute to the administration and business leaders creating standardized measures and appropriate safety nets that will safeguard the economy, businesses and consumers as fintech continues to evolve and grow,” he added.

Compared to other programs that only teach fintech basics, the university’s FTRI certificate course tackles hard-hitting regulatory issues such as regulatory responses, innovation offices, regulatory and supervisory technologies, regulatory reforms and international cooperation.

It will also cover essential topics such as fintech innovation, digital assets, digital lending and capital raising, regulatory technologies or ‘regtech’, insurance technologies or ‘insurtech’ and a main project.

“The idea for this course is the result of conversations we’ve had with regulators over the past few years about a dilemma we felt they were increasingly struggling to resolve. They recognize that technological innovations can introduce new risks into the financial system. A fundamental challenge in solving this dilemma is a growing knowledge gap between technological innovators and regulators about the technologies and business models introduced by fintech,” explained Prof. Robert Wardrop, Director and Co-Founder of CCAF.

“This program is unique because we bring together industry practitioners, regulators, decision-makers and academics in the field. We will explore and gather perspectives from different countries in relation to fintech market development, so that participants can find answers to challenges they face in their jurisdiction,” Wardrop added.

The fully online program will have one hour of synchronous teaching once a week, and asynchronous lessons the rest of the week. It will start in April 2023 and end with cornerstone project presentations by June 2023.

At the end of the program, successful candidates will receive a certificate from Mapúa University, which bears the names CCAF and FTAP. Apart from the application form, interested participants should submit a letter of endorsement from their employers. For enquiries, e-mail [email protected].