This course introduces students to the different financial services product lines and services. It also provides an overview of the financial services industry both domestically and internationally, and identifies the different players in the financial services and Fintech ecosystems. It reviews the impact of technology on the financial services industry and explains how technologists/scientists and financial services companies can benefit from the growth of Fintech. With a focus on user experience, during the course students will learn about the technical aspects of Fintech and what constitutes a Fintech application.

Privacy, confidentiality, and security are of utmost concern to the public in their use of financial services. The public wants assurance that their privacy and personal information is protected when stored digitally by financial service providers. There is also concern about the ever-present potential for identity theft and the misappropriation of personal wealth and damage to credit reputation. In this course, students will learn about the core issues of privacy management in the financial services environment. Students will also become familiar with practices and techniques to safeguard financial services organizations from identity theft.

The focus of this course is on distributed ledger systems (DLT) and their applications. Blockchain technology is one of several distributed, decentralized ledger database systems. Students will also learn about cryptocurrencies and the impact they have had on financial services as well as how to analyze the various technology frameworks that support them and how they can impact financial institutions' operations. In addition, the course discusses other non-financial applications of DLT and cryptocurrencies.

Being a successful Fintech firm requires more than just great technology; it also requires an understanding of the laws and regulations applicable to each business. The financial services (FS) industry is regulated by a number of interrelated government agencies at the federal and provincial levels. In addition, the marketing of FS products is subject to a variety of licensing requirements by regulatory and self-regulatory organizations (SROs). Students will be introduced to the domestic and international regulatory sandbox specifically designed to deal with the rapidly changing face of Fintech due to its fast-paced growth. Students will learn about the current legal, regulatory, and policy issues that have emerged within the past few years in Canada. Students will also learn how regulatory agencies are continually adjusting to the emergence of new financial technologies.

This course guides the students through the different phases of the complete life cycle of Fintech projects from the perspective of a business analyst who is acting as a liaison between the financial services users and the technical teams. Students start by reviewing the different methods of eliciting user requirements and documenting them using the various requirements definition techniques. The students then learn how to convert user requirements to technical specifications that would be better suited for the usage of the technical team to drive the development of financial systems. The students will learn how to communicate with the project stakeholders and verifying through various Quality Assurance techniques that the delivered product fulfills the needs defined in the user requirements. The students will also receive an introduction to project plan creation, management, monitoring, budgeting and evaluation from the perspective of business analysts.

FinTech Security is a critical underlying component of all aspects of financial technology. This course identifies key components, organizes layers of protection and connects the dots between data security and compliance.

With the growing reliance on and popularity of the internet, online criminal behaviour such as fraud and identity theft continues to grow. This course reviews the key concepts of data and information security. It covers the technical skills and knowledge necessary to protect financial institutions, and thus individuals (consumers and employees), from cybercrimes. Students will also gain an understanding of the cybersecurity industry's best practices and standards and be able to assist financial institutions in implementing cybersecurity policies and procedures using FinTech applications.

This course emphasizes the principles of standardization, the classification of safeguards, and the identification of opportunities for privacy abuse and security exploitation, using actual scenarios and examples that will provide essential knowledge for the workplace.

User experience is increasingly important. Users expect software to be as easy to use as well-designed appliances.bIn Fintech, web and mobile applications have become the main channels used by customers. Professionals in the field often confuse user experience with a simplistic wow factor, innovation with imitation, and structured design with opinion.

This course offers the basic skills every Fintech professional needs to make sound decisions when it comes to designing web and mobile applications. It covers the design principles and proper methodologies. At the end of the course, you will be able to express your ideas through a design, and you will know what it takes to create products customers like to use.

This course deals with the practical issues that have to be addressed on a daily basis by entrepreneurs creating new Fintech companies. These include identifying opportunities, selecting and negotiating with potential partners and "making the pitch" to potential investors. Students will develop a business plan that an entrepreneur would present to potential investors.

In this course, students will develop an application using skills learned in the web application, mobile development and entrepreneurship courses. Students will follow project management methodology and practices to develop a technology solution for a business client.

Data plays a key role in enabling financial services organizations to make sound business decisions. In this course, students will be introduced to the types of data used in financial services product offerings and learn how to organize, analyze and present results through both written and visualization techniques.

Students will gain an understanding of how to tell stories about data, which can assist in the business decision-making process. The goal of the course is to prepare students to engage and be competitive by understanding a business and the data it generates, combining both to convert information into knowledge and that knowledge into action.