Alliance Manchester Business School opens fintech degree course
Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) is launching a new specialist center to accelerate fintech research and develop real-world solutions to emerging challenges in the sector.
The Center for Financial Technology Studies (CFTS) will become a knowledge and research hub for digital advances in finance, including open banking, cryptocurrency, blockchain and artificial intelligence in financial services. It will work with industry partners to provide theoretical insights and practical solutions to help businesses respond to the latest challenges they face and accelerate technology adoption and impact.
As the sector continues to diversify, CFTS plans to offer a wide range of specialist courses and research areas for students and academics, spanning topics such as FinTech Disruption, Decentralized Finance (including NFTs and Web3), and Open Finance: Economics & Strategy of open APIs .
The CFTS will also act as a knowledge sharing platform, bringing together Fintech firms and financial institutions in Manchester and across the UK. It will host conferences, seminars and hackathons, and set problem-solving challenges for some of the industry’s brightest minds, throughout the year.
The center builds on the extensive fintech expertise of the current AMBS team, led by Professor Markos Zachariadis, Chair of Financial Technology (Fintech) and Information Systems at AMBS, who has played a pioneering role in Fintech research over the past 15 years. It has developed strong industry links and is already a strategic partner of the independent trade body Innovate Finance.
Professor Markos Zachariadis, Chair of Financial Technology (Fintech) and Information Systems at AMBS, said: “The speed at which digital innovation is shaping the financial sector has accelerated dramatically, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic. The Center for Financial Technology (Fintech) Studies will ensure that we can continue to lead cutting-edge research that helps companies keep pace with these ongoing developments.
“At AMBS, we have always been proud to be at the forefront of Fintech studies. The center will bring our experts closer together and enable us to combine our knowledge to accelerate research in new areas. By working closely with industry partners, we will ensure that our studies are related to current issues and will have maximum impact in the real world.
“The financial industry needs new talent to drive the sector forward and we hope we can play a key role in supporting future Fintech leaders.”
The new center will officially open at a launch event on 23 November. The event will include panel talks from AMBS academics and industry leaders, as well as representatives from the FCA and Innovate Finance.
