Course overview
FinTech is at the heart of the new digital ecosystem emerging across financial services. With the development of fast-growing financial technologies and the fact that businesses are becoming more consumer-oriented, there is a pressing need for experts who possess a wide range of FinTech skills.
- Obtain the skills required in the intersection of financial services and technology in an ever-changing technology-driven and technology-enabled financial ecosystem.
- Develop technical computing/software engineering skills by building end-to-end projects, alongside elements of entrepreneurship, innovation, regulation, critical thinking and decision making.
- Choose to study our FinTech MSc with Extended Professional Practice route ( subject to availability), an 18-month option aimed at individuals who are looking to attain a deeper understanding of business in a very practical way (additional fees apply).
Why you should study this course
Industry-standard technology
Technical competence is an intrinsic requirement of a career in FinTech, which is why we've embedded technological elements into every module. You'll receive exposure to widely used financial analysis software4, including Bloomberg Terminals, S&P Capital IQ, STATA and Python, and will have access to economic and financial database services like Kaggle, Quantopian and Yahoo Finance.
London location
Study in the Square Mile, the heart of London’s financial district where you’ll be in close proximity to the Silicon Roundabout and some of the biggest FinTech companies in the UK. You’ll study on the doorstep of the industry, with potential opportunities for placements/employment2, and the chance to continue your development with FinTech employers.
Industry insight
This is a professionally focused course which has been devised to provide a hands-on approach where students have the opportunity to develop end-to-end industry-like projects. You’ll be taught by experienced academics with sound FinTech knowledge, who are qualified academically and professionally (please note staff may be subject to change).
Real-world experience
To help you prepare for the fast-paced but exhilarating world of FinTech, the course includes real-life scenarios that will put your creative and problem solving abilities to the test. You may decide to apply for our FinTech MSc course with Extended Professional Practice. This is an 18-month option and is aimed at individuals who are looking to attain a deeper understanding of business in a very practical way. You are expected to spend twenty-two weeks at one (or more) host employer or campus-based setting(s) and will have the opportunity to apply theory to practice. Find out more about our Extended Professional Practice study option.
Prepare for your future
Potential opportunity for talks by experts which in the past have been from academia, the FinTech sector and the real world of entrepreneurship and have covered areas such as finance, technology, big data and leadership which have inspired and offered students networking opportunities within the comminuity2.
Immerse yourself in Coventry University London's global community and emerge as a talented, career-ready graduate with an international outlook.
What you'll study
Your main study themes are:
- Research inspired teaching
Opportunities to become involved in research (for example, a group projects linked to a current research question; research-led seminars; applied case studies). Research skills and understanding is a developmental activity that will both support you throughout the course and transform your approach to problem-solving. You are encouraged to access current research and move towards greater independent learning.
- Embedded employability
You will extend your knowledge, skills, experience and attitudes through professional practice. The course is designed to improve your individual, collaborative, and professional skills and attributes. You will seek to improve your flexibility and adeptness to succeed across a range of employment futures. You will aim to enhance your employability skills by applying conceptual knowledge to real organisations and contemporary issues, carrying out independent study and synthesising conceptual understanding within a range of complex situations. You will look to develop a sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments, and engage in networking and collaborating with industry and commercial sectors2.
- Creativity and enterprise
Creative learning activities will foster your creativity, critical enquiry, reflective practice and understanding of the tools to independently manage your own continuous learning. You will be expected to demonstrate originality and self-direction in your application of relevant knowledge to new and complex situations.
- Intercultural and international engagement
You will find an emphasis on intercultural engagement and group working that will foster intercultural competency, strong sense of local, national and global community, and awareness and respect of intercultural values, languages and belief systems.
- Community contribution and responsibility
You will exhibit an awareness of sustainability and well-being issues, and the need to adopt responsible and ethical practices.
- Innovation and digital fluency
You will engage with new technologies, teaching aids and software innovations, increasing your innovative practices and exposure to the latest learning technologies available. You will rely on technologies to support innovation in learning, and to critically evaluate sources of information and apply these in complex and unpredictable situations. You will look to attain a significant level of digital fluency that you can apply in your professional practice.
- Originality, independent learning and critical thinking
You will be expected to show originality in the application of knowledge. Critical thinking is a meta-skill – that is, a skill that subsumes and enhances many other skills that competent professionals possess. You will seek to develop positive and critical attitudes towards leadership, recognising when to challenge the status quo, developing a new form of ‘learning how to learn’, enabling you to take greater control of your own learning. You will be at the centre of your own learning, you should become confident in sourcing and filtering information, prioritising activities and demonstrating creative problem solving skills, developing a questioning approach to ideas and independence of thought. .
The course follows a sequential learning progression while providing a hands-on approach where you will have the opportunity to develop end-to-end industry-like projects. The first semester mandatory modules provide you with a systematic understanding of financial, technological, analytical and regulatory concepts. This is designed to give you an in-depth knowledge of financial services and problem-solving analytical methods used in the industry within the broader context of data science application in FinTech.
The second semester extends these core skills: you will continue progressing through “learning by doing” in a number of practice-enhanced modules that focus on FinTech strategy and entrepreneurship, current AI technologies and data science, and research.
Final semester project modules provide scope for a deeper level of knowledge and application of FinTech principles through the Dissertation, Internship2 or FinTech Simulation Project modules.
Careers and opportunities
On successful completion of the course, you will be able to:
- Compare the main pillars of FinTech relating to the structure, transformation, disruption, risk and regulations to better operationalise their current and possible future impacts on the global financial services.
- Evaluate current technological problems, developments and/or new insights within the financial industry.
- Argue about the economic, political, regulatory and social environments in which FinTech operates and the ethical considerations embedded in these global and societal operations.
- Evaluate various finance theories and techniques and practical skills of interpreting models to apply them to different asset classes in the context of FinTech.
- Select sources and content of financial data and evidence and independently use appropriate programming, statistical and econometrics skills for sound decision-making.
- Evaluate financial innovative ideas by blending the business knowledge and technical skills required in a range of areas in FinTech.
- Select effective, rigorous and reflective skills of self-management and independence in terms of planning, behaviour, motivation, individual initiative and enterprise in order to meet the demands of the field of study in FinTech, while taking responsibility for personal learning and continuous professional development against clearly identified personal career-related goals.
- Evaluate a range of complex and pervasive issues with the use of quantitative and qualitative research and techniques in a systematic, creative and innovative manner to generate sound judgements and recommendations that are communicated effectively to both a specialist and non-specialist audience in the financial services sector.
Graduates will emerge from Coventry University London’s MSc Financial Technology (FinTech) with a set of highly employable behaviours, attitudes and competencies which are in high demand among employers and are indispensable qualities within the FinTech industry:
- Quantitative, analytical and programming skills,
- Regulatory and soft skills, for example, critical thinking and understanding, problem-solving, creativity, communication, team working, and agile practices.
Typical career routes for graduates from this course will include:
- Banking and regulatory bodies professionals,
- Innovation experts (joining a FinTech start-up, developing a new technology or idea),
- Entrepreneurs (creating own or returning to a family business),
- Consultants for challenger banks,
- Financial analysts,
- Data scientists,
- Corporate analysts,
- Working for international financial and government institutions, and
- Academia, including further PhD study.
Where our graduates work
Previous graduates of our MSc Financial Technology course have gone on to work at Barclays, Ribbon and CFTE to name a few.
Further study
As part of the journey of professional and role development, students are encouraged to continue on their academic journey through access to a range of higher degrees, including PhD and other taught doctorates.
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