Course 2018-2019 a.y.

The curriculum is organized by product areas, focusing on those that are most active and most prone to innovation through start-ups: payments, lending, saving and investment. For each area, we start by analyzing the marketplace, the incumbents, and the business case and strategies of the incoming technology-driven players with emphasis on the underlying economics, its technology, and the competition. Students develop theoretical and practical understanding of the forces transforming the banking and financial service industry globally. To reach this goal, the course is going to be both interactive and interdisciplinary in order to deepen students understanding of the economics of Fintech and encourage their critical thinking and creative entrepreneurial spirit. In the course, we begin exploring Fintech and move to know how they are transforming the industry and the market competition.

After completion of the course, students are able to:

• Summarize the domains of Fintech and their main drivers.
• Describe the FinTech market and make arguments for what the sector is emerging.
• Understand the kind of innovation which is undertaking the banking and financial landscape.
• Outline the financial technologies, and how they are transforming the market.

The course is structured in four modules aimed at:

• Understanding the banking business and the status of the Fintech landscape (industry drivers, different product areas - such as money and payments, lending, and investment -, and future trends).
• Developing a deep knowledge on the market structure and its digital transformation (supply-demand value chain, incumbents and new competitors, business models in banks and Fintech companies).
• Getting to know real examples of financial technology that are solving current problems of customers and companies.
• Developing a forward looking perspective to understand the new banking reality.

The whole course is supported by examples, case studies and discussions on the main topics. And guest speakers augment the discussion by offering their perspective on future trends in each of the knowledge areas of the course.

The digital transformation is radically rewriting the rules of competition in the financial service industries. In this course, we are exploring the forces shaping the new competitive dynamics: product and service digitization, and changing customer demands. Together, these forces give rise to completely new market structures that force organizations to compete in new ways.

• By the time you finish this course, you will learn how to approach all aspects of Fintech innovation with special focus on the transformation of the industry essence.
• You also will have mastered important concepts needed to understand the transformation, learned from best practice in digital industries, and seen how firms in financial services are embracing the new rules of competition.
• Students will gain knowledge and a critical thinking perspective on the following areas:
  • Identify the main forces of financial transformation.
  • Explain the origins and drivers of the Fintech phenomenon and its hype.
  • Explains the main features of the banking industry and its transformation.
  • Discuss the impact of Fintech in the financial market.
  • Understand the unique features of banks and Fintech development.
  • Explain the consistency of the Fintech companies’ business models.
  • Reflect upon the role of digital platforms in the Fintech revolution.
  • Compare different perspectives on the idea of Fintech leading the banking industry versus incumbents.

• Describe the changes that influence the financial sector.
• Evaluate the impact of the main environment forces of change on the strategies and performance of Fintech companies.
• Appraise the role of Fintech companies in a modern society.
• Compare different business models on the same business area by recognizing the differentiator factors.
• Conduct an independent search and review of specialized academic and non-academic literature on banking, identify and evaluate relevant information.

By the time students finish this course, they will have mastered the transformational forces of digitalization and the new competitive dynamics it gives rise to, and learned from leading financial companies the many and different managerial and entrepreneurial challenges.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

The learning experience of this course includes, in addition to face-to-face lectures, case discussions, group works, real examples and interactions with guest speakers from companies that are coping with these issues.

• Face-to face interactive lessons (cases, readings, and assignments). The class time is overall used to explain syllabus topics, discuss them and outline practical examples. Because we have designed this course to be interactive, you are expected and encouraged to take part in class discussions. We want to deepen your understanding of the economics of Fintech, and also encourage your creative and entrepreneurial spirit. Therefore, students are expected to read, whenever required, the materials before class. The active participation in class also is considered for the overall students’ assessment. The use of cases and external speakers aims at better connecting the knowledge covered in the course with the real life examples. The interaction between the instructor and students during the case discussions and the presentations helps students understand how to handle managerial decisions both in banks and in the new fintech companies.
• Guest speakers: we have a number of sessions with outside experts including consultants, founders of early-stage start-ups, and executives in financial services, and venture capitalists
• Group project: the final group project is an opportunity to apply the knowledge and tools covered in the course. Each team analyzes an existing early-stage venture. A first draft is due before the midterm assessment period, and the final draft it is due few days before the end of the teaching semester, as it is detailed at the beginning of the semester. Then each team present its project to the class.

In order to evaluate the acquisition of the aforementioned learning outcomes, the assessment of attending students is based on four main components:

• Active class participation (20% of the final grade) aimed at testing the student ability to interact in a multicultural environment, and think critically trough contribution given to the class discussion. The attendance is measured by the specific app available to all students. To take the exam as an attending student, an attendance rate equal to or higher than 75% must be reported (36 out 48 hours).
• One group assignment (30% of the final grade), which is designed for the purpose of verifying the student ability to:
  • Identify and analyze the main issues related to a given business model.
  • Apply the appropriate tools and methodologies learnt in class.
  • Work on a team and organize and present effectively the relevant outcomes.
• Final written exam (50% of the final grade), based on a mix of open questions related to the reference book, which aims to assess the student’s learning level, and a set of questioning comments required on a set of articles/papers/reports selected, and to use a clear communication style.

General final written exam (100% of the final grade) based on a mix of open-ended questions and a set of requested comments on selected readings from the program. They are both to test basic knowledge of the course material, the understanding of key concepts presented in the course readings, and the ability to summarize narrative interpretations from the course readings, and to use a clear communication style.

Relevant materials (articles, cases, class notes, news articles, slides) are posted on the Bboard and/or handed out in class. At the beginning of the semester, students receive a detailed information about the teaching materials.

Relevant materials (articles, cases, class notes, news articles, slides) are posted on the Bboard. At the beginning of the semester, students receive a detailed information about the teaching materials.