Understanding Financial Technologies (BG024)

Introduction
FinTech, like many concepts that involve new technologies is a term that is used a
lot but not necessarily understood by everyone because it encompasses a breadth
of players, products and issues as well as straddling the financial and several sectors
including telecommunications, retail and device manufacturing. What unites these
sectors is the “tech” in FinTech.
It has been said many times that the combination of macro-economic events leading up to the global financial
crisis of 2007 precipitated a “perfect storm” in financial services. The conditions post crisis have led to a
changing of the guard and shake up amongst the traditional financial services players and the rapid rise of
new ones that seek to use technology to create new financial products, systems and business models that
together create the exciting phenomenon of Fintech. If unravelling the antecedents of the crisis provides the
backdrop, then understanding something of the combination of economics, finance, technology, government
policy, regulation, strategy and importantly social and customer trends helps us to understand who innovation is
accelerating change. While no previous knowledge of these subjects is required, you will touch on a breadth of
topics throughout the course starting with understanding what is at the basis of all financial services – money, in
all its forms!
In this e-learning course, you will learn how the financial services sector has historically relied upon
technological innovation and how its key systems are being shaped and transformed by digital technologies
which are themselves evolving. You will understand what is driving the emergence of a new breed of
businesses, the technologies that these are based on and what solutions have emerged to a range of customer
and business challenges. Finally, to understand the future of Fintech you also need to understand the overall
context in which it operates which means knowing something of the regulatory framework, policies and
guidelines that surround it. Any course that seeks to combine the financial services industry and technology very
quickly gets immersed in the acronyms and jargon associated with product, systems and the entities involved.
To assist you in your studies, a glossary is used to some explain key terms.
In this course you will be encouraged to relate the
content to your own working life. Throughout, you
will be challenged to think from the perspective
of a customer, an employee and as a business
operating in the Fintech space. In taking these
three views of Fintech, you will be in a better
position to recognise the need to balance
innovation with the aims and objectives of each
one. Finally, by understanding from your own
perspective where the challenges are, you will be
in a better position to pinpoint where innovation is
needed and plan for how to make it happen.
Learning Outcomes:
As a result of studying this course you will have:
Knowledge and understanding
• a broad understanding of how financial
services has evolved and how it currently
operates
• an introduction to how technology and
regulation is impacting on financial services
and the drivers behind this
Cognitive Skills
• familiarity with key financial, economic and
technological terms and concepts and the
ability to communicate effectively about them
• ability to analyse and recognise the
significance of trends and role of stakeholders
in the FinTech environment and their impact
on the future of Financial Services
Practical and professional skills
• contribute knowledge and skills to innovation
and change programmes in your organisation
What is the key content?
This course has been written in five parts, or
units. Each Unit has been written in sections to
cover a topic. While the Units are “standalone”
they relate and sometimes refer to others. It has
been deliberately written to allow you to dip in
and out of a Unit when you need to. In each unit
there are activities and suggestions of time that
they take to complete. We have included some
quizzes and activities to encourage you to check
that you understand before moving on. Some
other activities are designed to encourage you to
find out more or capture your ideas and thoughts
for the final part of the course which is your own
action plan or agenda for change.
Participants in the course will have all the
information they need to complete the course
from within each unit and will be signposted to
links and other resources, to explore topics further
as they want to. A number of case studies and
examples from subject matter experts working
in FinTech have been included to explore where
innovation is happening now.
Unit Outlines
Unit 1 Understanding Financial Services
Unit 1 starts with understanding money; what it is,
how it is created and the underpinning economics
of the money supply. The sector is made up of
a number of key players and in this unit we will
explain who they are, their role and the products
and systems they operate to, literally, make money!
We will understand how commercial banks and
other financial organisations have evolved and the
role technology has played in this.
Unit 2 Understanding FinTech
In this unit you will learn how FinTech has evolved,
what the mission and vision for FinTech is in the
UK and what is driving its growth. You will be
introduced to the key players and organisations
that make up the sector and what they are trying to
achieve.
Unit 3 Understanding Technologies
FinTech has been described as the marriage
of financial services with technology. Having
understood from Unit 2 what the sector does,
this unit provides an overview of some of the
technology that underpins recent innovations in
FinTech.
Unit 4 How FinTech Companies are Changing the
FS Landscape
In this unit we will feature a number of case studies
from individuals and businesses currently working
in FinTech. We will explore how these organisations
have responded to challenges that their customers
face and the technologies they are developing to
create new channels, business models, products
and services for new and existing markets.
Unit 5 Regulation and security
The final unit of this course explores the shifting
regulation and policy environment that financial
services operate within. There are a number of
regulatory bodies in FS that shape regulation and
introduce guidelines from outside and within the
sector. Their remit is variously to promote fairness
and good practice and to protect the interests of
consumers.
Relating your study to your work
The overall aim of the course is to help you to be
more effective. To get the best out of the course,
you should frequently relate what you are studying
here to your practice at work. Your work context
and all aspects of your organisation and the people
there form a rich learning environment. You can
learn by comparing the ideas from the course with
what is happening in practice. While the actions of
others are useful for learning, the most important
area for reflection and learning is your own
practice! Please complete the activities – they are a
further means of development for you.
Sometimes the most important things you learn
are the conclusions you come to for yourself. It
is valuable to record these in one place so that
you can return to them. At several points in your
studies, you’ll be asked to make some notes. You
can do this however you like, but it is important
that you find a way that works for you and that you
keep track of your studies, ideas and reflections in
this way.
Where do I start?
To get the most from this course we recommend
you follow the signposted route through the course.
The individual units are listed on the homepage.
Each unit begins with the learning outcomes and is
further divided into subsections that you can study
as self-contained pieces of learning.
When you finish a period of study and want to close
down your computer, you might like to bookmark
the page you finish on so that you can return to it
easily next time. Simply add the URL for that page
to your favourites.
You will be asked to complete a series of activities
as you work through the course. These activities will
help you to prepare your work-based activity, which
you need to complete by the end of the course.
The work-based activity offers the opportunity to
practise using the tools in your own management
situation and also enables you to identify and plan
how you might meet any further development
areas you identify for yourself.
A learning adviser will support you with any of
these tasks and will also give you constructive
formative feedback on your work based activity at
the end of the course.
The successful completion of the work-based
activity will entitle you to The Open University
Certificate of Course Completion.
How much time do I need?
We recommend 25 hours to study this course, but it
has been carefully designed so you can choose your
own pace of learning. You have the flexibility to
study at the times that suit you: you could complete
the course in an intensive time frame or in short
sessions over a couple of months. You will get more
out of this course if you undertake all the activities
relating the concepts into your own context, but we
also recognise the time constraints you are under.
A key feature of the online course resource is that
you can print pages out – either to study offline
or to annotate the materials as you study. This
can help you plan your study around your work
and home life, enabling you to make the most of
opportunities like train journeys.
Learning Support
Expert advice is available to help you with any
problems you may experience in understanding the
course material, accessing the available resources
or completing the work-based activity. This is
delivered by our learning advisers.
Contact a learning adviser
You can contact a learning adviser at any time by
sending a message to My Adviser and you can
expect a reply within 24 hours. Any contact you
make is seen only by a learning adviser, whose reply
is confidential to you.
Send an initial message to the learning adviser now
to let them know you have started the course, using
the following title for your message: “Introducing
(your name)” with just a short paragraph explaining
a little about the sort of job you do, type of industry,
role, experience in management, etc. This pen
picture will help the learning adviser to set your
work-based activity in context when you send it in.
Sharing your experiences with other people
studying the course
My Forum enables you and other learners to
exchange ideas about the course and to set up
self-help networks if you wish. Professionals from
different contexts can share their experience
and expertise, and compare skills, learning and
development.
Learners on this course can choose to start and
finish at any time. Therefore the number of
learners engaged with the course will vary at any
one time so please bear this in mind when you send
a message to the forum.
The OpenLibrary
The OpenLibrary website provides online access to
a wide a range of information sources to support
your studies, including full text journal articles,
electronic books, reference resources, images,
course-related websites and much more.
Help with computing
The OU Computing Helpdesk can help you with any
technical queries you may have. It cannot assist you
with course-related study or queries relating to your
internet connection.
The OU Computing Guide contains useful
information on using a computer for study, some of
which you may find useful.
It may be helpful to make a note of the contact
information – just in case you cannot access this
page to find the link!
StudentHome
Your StudentHome page provides access to several
features and links to help you in your study of this
course. It provides access to this course website,
your study record and the electronic submission
system used for your work-based activity (eTMA).
There are many other study resources available –
go explore!