Finance and Technology

Catalog description

FIN 401 examines topics at the intersection of finance and technology. Technology had a significant impact on the theory and practice of finance since ancient Babylonians started carving loan contracts into stone. Today, we use the term FinTech to describe products and companies at the finance-technology nexus. This course introduces students to the modern FinTech ecosystem, develops tools needed to analyze and value FinTech applications, and introduces more general concepts for financing innovative but uncertain new technologies. The course consists of three integrated modules: the first provides a detailed overview of the modern FinTech ecosystem and the latest FinTech related technology trends; the second introduces tools to value and analyze FinTech ideas; and the third combines core concepts from finance and economics to build a unified framework for evaluating and financing innovative activities. While applied in nature, this course is conceptually rigorous and builds heavily on the material covered in FIN 305W . The capstone of the course is a project where groups of students will develop and pitch a business plan around a new potential FinTech application. Concepts, readings, and assignments will be regularly refreshed to keep pace with academic literature and recent technological innovations related to finance. Upon completing the course, students will possess both the knowledge and mindset to become thought leaders in the FinTech space.