The best courses for fintech jobs
Are you thinking of taking the plunge into fintech? Whether you come from traditional finance or FAANG, no one adapts seamlessly. To bridge this gap and broaden your horizons, you might want to consider one of these fintech courses you’re starting to see popping up around the world.
But which of these are the best? Who has taken them and gone on to great things? Is it worth taking one at all? Below is a look at all the major players and what they have to offer.
Oxford Fintech Program – Oxford University
Duration: 6 weeks
Price: £2,200 ($2,636)
One of the earliest major universities to adopt a fintech program was Oxford. Co-founded by former Citi MD Huy Nguyen Trieu, the course provides potential fintech employees with country in the financial technology space and an introduction to entrepreneurship.
One of the programme’s main strengths is its extensive range of visitors and contributors. “it’s important to bring in people who can share their experiences: case studies, testimonials, entrepreneurs who used to be bankers.” Nguyen Trieu says, “It’s much easier when someone has gone through the journey and shares their experiences.”
Among their top contributors are Jeremy Allaire, CEO of blockchain unicorn Circle, Rita Martins, HSBC’s head of fintech partnerships and Ricky Knox, founder of digibank Tandem Bank.
Who has taken the course?
Louise Smith, a graduate of the fintech course, was appointed chairman of the British board of payments giant Stripe in December. However, not all graduates leave traditional finance; Dil Nawaz Rafiq, a former senior associate at JPMorgan, graduated from the course and became managing director of technology at Goldman Sachs in London.
Fintech Certificate Program – Harvard University
Duration: 6 weeks
Price: $2,800
Another of the best universities offering fintech courses is Harvard. While Oxford seems more focused on the experiences of those in fintech, this course takes a broader look at the industry, the technologies used and how innovations are changing the financial system.
Among the course instructors is Christopher Malloy, research partner at investment management firm Arrowstreet Capital. The course takes a “Case Method Approach” and will provide students with “real-world challenges that reflect the complex, dynamic nature of the FinTech environment.”
Who has taken the course?
Within the traditional banking world, one alumnus is Fariba Akrami, an SVP of digital payments and AML compliance at Citi. Another high-profile candidate is Das Dasgupta, a former McKinsey associate principal and Amazon’s former director and head of North America for customer experience. In fintech, a notable alumni is Vincent Borgne, formerly transactional fintech SWIFT’s head of data and analytics, now founder of crypto research firm Blockchain Economics.
Fintech: Shaping The Financial World – MIT Open Learning
Duration: NA
Price: Free
Looking for a taste of fintech without having to spend a lot of money? MIT’s open course materials give you an opportunity to learn the many different forms a fintech can take from a high-profile source.
The course is led by Gary Gensler, current head of the Securities and Exchange Commission and former Goldman Sachs co-head of finance.
Within the module are classes on AI in finance, blockchain and crypto, challenger banking and payments. The purpose of the course is to teach students “the key technologies, market structure, participants, regulation and dynamics of change brought about by FinTech.”
Who has taken the course?
One of the main names who have taken this course is Arman Kamran, CIO of AI and machine learning solutions provider Prima Recon. One alumnus currently working in fintech is Malta-based Marco Toppano, head of design for Maltese challenger bank MeDirect.
FinTech and the Transformation in Financial Services – Copenhagen Business School (via Coursera)
Duration: Flexible (19 hours of content)
Price: Free
Another free course established in mainland Europe comes from Copenhagen Business School. It aims to educate students about the competitive dynamics transformed by digitization while learning from top companies and “inspiring examples from the digital champions.”
The course is rated 4.3 stars out of 5 with over 1000 ratings. A notable point of concern from a reviewer in September is that “all reading material was published in 2017.” They say, “this is not sufficiently up-to-date for a fast-moving area like Fiintech.”
Who has taken the course?
This course has a number of graduates who are still working in financial services. One of the most notable is Liting Tan, director of mass market proposition for Barclays in London. Rohan Gupta, senior group product manager at payments unicorn Paytm, is another graduate.
Master of Finance in Financial Technology – HKU Business School
Duration: 1-2 years
Price: HK$462k ($58.8k)
For those not yet in full-time employment or looking to take a break from it, a more intensive course may be more up to your speed. For Asia-based students or those willing to find, Hong Kong University Business School offers one of the more comprehensive financial technology courses.
The degree consists of 12 subjects: 9 cores, 2 electives and a foundation. The core aspects contain modules such as blockchain and cryptocurrency, machine learning and AI, mathematical techniques and quantitative trading. Electives include natural language processing and entrepreneurship.
Among the course’s faculties are Ph.D. graduates from MIT and LSE as well as Henri Arslanian, managing partner of crypto asset management firm Nine Blocks.
Who has taken the course?
As a more intensive and dedicated course, fewer senior professionals have taken this course. As part of the course, however, you are given opportunities for placement. In such a position right now is William Ngai, who currently works with data and analytics at Citi. Daric Li, who is currently studying the course, is product manager for CDIO investment banking at UBS, having worked at Deloitte and DBS bank.
Miscellaneous – CFTE
The Center for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship offers a range of courses on AI, payments, entrepreneurship and open banking. Courses are as short as 40 minutes or as long as 10 weeks. As with the Oxford course, there is an emphasis on learning from the experience of guests brought in from across the financial spectrum such as Starling Bank chief executive Anne Boden and Citi chief innovation officer Philip Watson.
They also offer extrapreneurship where students get the opportunity to work on interesting projects for startups.
Who has taken the course?
Nguyen Trieu says so “50-60% of participants are in traditional finance and intend to stay there” while “tthe rest of the 40 have a lot of people coming from fintech startups and technology companies.”
Many traditional finance alumni are at Citi, including Singapore-based CEO Joseph Lee who studied AI in finance and London-based director Albert Martinez Vila, who studied the same course as Lee alongside a fintech foundation course.
Should you take these courses?
With so many options, which one is the right one to choose? Is it even a right? It depends on your situation and your experience. If you see that as an immediate foot in the fintech door, I’m afraid that’s bad news.
“People aren’t going to get a job by saying they’ve taken these courses,” says Shawn Rutter, CEO of fintech recruiting firm Excelsior Search, “but they’re good at giving people an insight into and demonstrating that they’re serious about to develop their career in the area.”
In that regard, the extrapreneurships at CFTE may have the edge, as Rutter says “You still can’t beat work experience. If I want to hire someone for a particular area, I’ll still look into that.”
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