|
The course introduces FinTech. Students learn how start-ups (and existing firms) use new technologies (e.g. Blockchain) to venture in financial sectors and how new products disrupt the financial sector (e.g., new payment systems/platforms, investments, wealth and risk management, insurance and crypto currencies).
The purpose of the course is further to identify promises and pitfalls of new technologies for society. The course also introduces students to a number of tools and frameworks to help them analyze the ongoing transformation of the financial industry. We will thereby link new innovations to existing economic theories (e.g., agency theory) and apply standard economic methods (e.g., econometric analysis and experimental design).
For their group projects, students are supposed to design a particular FinTech product (of their choice), analyze the relevant market segment, identify benefits in contrast to existing practices/products. Students should also address challenges and come up with solutions and improvements in own their own FinTech projects. Students will present their results in class as part of the examination. Importantly, students should make clear connections to existing (or new) economic principles underlying their own/existing products. In addition, to the group projects, students will present solutions to tutorial questions and/or briefly summarize existing scientific papers and present key results in class. Students write a short term paper presenting their product. Additionally, students solve problem sets in their group and present their solutions in class.
Students will receive insights from FinTech professionals (guest lectures from practitioners in the field). Guest lectures come from e.g., neo banks, crowdlending institutions, robo investor/advisor platforms and several more. Some guest lectures are live guests and some are pre-recorded presentations/podcast-like interviews.
As FinTech is a dynamic environment changes to the syllabus are always possible.
|
 |
|
|
| Basic knowledge about economics and finance. |
|
|
Students make in depth analysis of existing FinTech products and come up with interesting extensions (i.e., new own products). Students work in groups and present their work in the final week(s) of the lectures. The presentation accounts for 25% of the final grade; The final (written) exam accounts for 75% of the grade and covers the content of the lectures, the presentation(s) by practitioners (tbd) and potentially the content of (all) group projects. Written exam (75%) & group project presentation (25%). Exam needs to be passed in order for group work to count.
|
|
| Lectures, working groups, discussion groups presentations by practitioners (tbd) and student presentations. Weblectures won't be available for this course. |
|