IE University's Fintech Master's: AI, Blockchain and Regulation

IE University's fintech master's: AI, blockchain and regulation

Overview

How do you train for a career in financial innovation? In this MERGE Madrid talk, IE University presents its new Master in Financial Technology, a one-year program in its school of science and technology built on three pillars: technology (AI and blockchain), financial markets and regulation.

What you'll learn

• The two dimensions of fintech: AI and machine learning, and blockchain
• AI in banking: credit risk, trading, ESG and text data (NLP)
• Blockchain: stablecoins, tokenization, DeFi and smart contracts
• Policy and regulation: the third pillar for innovating safely
• From the ground up: coding in Python, statistics and fundamentals
• The program: one year, interdisciplinary, with specialization

Session summary

The approach: the speakers explain that fintech has two big technological dimensions —AI/machine learning and blockchain— and that the master's aims to teach them from the ground up (statistics, econometrics, programming), not in quick courses, within IE University's school of science and technology.

AI in banking: real use cases are reviewed (credit scoring and risk, high-frequency trading and factor investing, customer service with chatbots) along with the importance of text data (more than 80% of new data, according to the talk), NLP, large language models and the responsible and explainable use of AI, with sustainability/ESG as an example of quantitative analysis.

Blockchain: it explains how blockchain not only brings efficiency but changes the business models of finance, with cases such as stablecoins (a bridge between the traditional and crypto systems), real-world asset tokenization, DeFi and smart contracts (atomic settlement, no intermediaries), and the different chain types (public/private, permissioned or not).

Policy and regulation: a third pillar of policy and regulation is championed (compliance, supervision and the framework that defines what is allowed), recalling how rules such as PSD2 boosted the European fintech ecosystem.

The program: a one-year full-time, interdisciplinary master's aimed at data science/computer science profiles curious about finance and finance profiles who want to learn to code, with later specialization and an entrepreneurial mindset (even to build a fintech from scratch).

Watch the full talk

Watch the full recording on MERGE's YouTube channel, with IE University on its Master in Financial Technology.

FAQs

What is IE University's Master in Financial Technology?
According to the talk, a one-year program in the school of science and technology that teaches fintech from the ground up, on three pillars: technology, financial markets and regulation.

Who is it for?
According to the talk, data science/computer science profiles interested in finance and finance profiles who want to learn to code (for example, in Python or blockchain).

Which technologies does it cover?
According to the talk, AI and machine learning (NLP, generative AI) and blockchain (stablecoins, tokenization, DeFi and smart contracts), along with regulation.

How long is it?
According to the talk, it is a one-year full-time program.