Fintech, Crypto & DeFi

Introduction

The advent of e-money licences has been seized upon by a number of fast-growing fintechs, who aim to disrupt existing retail and commercial financial services providers, and in particular banks. The course explores how fintech companies are leveraging technology to challenge traditional financial institutions, examining both opportunities and regulatory challenges, particularly regarding data protection and anti-money laundering compliance.

Agenda

• Introduction: what is a fintech, platforms, etc.
• The key components of the standard banking business model and the payments system
• "Challenger" banks — internet-only, e.g. N26 v Metro Bank
• The different clouds — security, efficiency and cost
• The focus on customer experience — aggregators, budgeting apps, pay later, etc.
• PSD2 and Open Banking
• Big data, AI, machine learning, robo-advisors and chatbots
• Peer-to-peer platforms and the challenges the model faces, e.g. Zopa
• E-money licences and payments services, e.g. Venmo
• FX payments — e.g. Wise, Revolut
• How incumbents are fighting back — Open APIs, etc.
• Cryptocurrencies, blockchain and its drawbacks, permissioned distributed ledger technology (DLT)
• Central bank digital currencies and their pros and cons
• Permissioned DLT, smart contracts and a trade finance application

Course Duration

6 hours