FTA 4003 - Commercial Banking and FinTech

Description

This course examines commercial banking transformation through dual lenses: traditional banking fundamentals and emerging financial technology disruption. Students develop analytical frameworks to evaluate how banks store value, move money, and allocate credit, while assessing how artificial intelligence, real-time data infrastructure, and digital platforms are reshaping these core functions. The curriculum employs a parallel reading structure, beginning with foundational banking concepts (money creation, financial intermediation, regulatory frameworks) before pairing traditional operations with technological innovations. Topics include bank financial statement analysis, risk management (credit, interest rate, liquidity, capital), Federal Reserve functions, blockchain and distributed ledger technology, embedded finance, algorithmic regulation, and bank-fintech partnerships. Students apply first principles thinking to distinguish fundamental economic constraints from historical practices amenable to disruption, preparing them to navigate an industry where traditional banking knowledge and technological fluency are equally essential.

Learning Objectives

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• LO1: Analyze bank financial statements to evaluate performance, risk exposure, and strategic positioning.
• LO2: Distinguish fundamental banking constraints from historical practices amenable to technological disruption.
• LO3: Evaluate emerging financial technologies using first principles thinking to assess their impact on banking's core utilities.
• LO4: Explain how banks manage credit, interest rate, liquidity, and capital risks under current regulatory frameworks
• LO5: Analyze bank-fintech partnerships and competitive dynamics to recommend strategies for different institutional contexts.
• LO6: Predict which aspects of contemporary banking will persist or be disrupted based on synthesis of traditional and emerging paradigms.