Run by Bangor Business School

10.000 Credits or 5.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 2

Organiser: Prof John Ashton

The term financial innovation (FinTech) has been coined to bring together a loose and broad number of innovations and technological start up companies which aim to redefine retail finance.

This module aims to go beyond the hype and other common misconceptions (such as the importance of first movers, "presentism" or "disruptive" technologies) to provide participants with firm conceptual underpinnings from which to consider financial innovation in a long-term perspective. The module also aims to provide a broad overview of current developments and issues around financial technology in wholesale and retail finance. Topics will include the people and institutions which create and disseminate this knowledge.

The module will be quite demanding in terms of weekly reading as preparation for lectures, course work and exam.

This module will look at the long-term perspective to the technological change in retail banking. It will start by introducing alternative theories to innovation (e.g. Schumpeter, Diffusion of Innovation, Disruptive Innovation) and their critique. This will be followed by a discussion on the economics of technological innovation (e.g. industrial networks, path dependence, two sided markets) and alternative approaches (e.g. ethnographic and sociological approaches to financial innovation; Critical studies and the labour problem). The module will also look at current trends in financial technologies such as financialization, Cashless Society, Mobile Payments, Blockchain & ledger technology, Computer trading, Omnichanel, Crowdsourcing.

threshold

D- to D+ (40-49%): No major omissions or inaccuracies in the deployment of information/skills. Some grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Integration of theory/practice/information present intermittently in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

good

B- to B+ (60-69%): Very good performance Most of the relevant information accurately deployed. Good grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

excellent

A- to A+ (70%+): Outstanding Performance. The relevant information accurately deployed. Excellent grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practice elements. Good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Strong evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

C- to C+

C- to C+ (50-59%): Much of the relevant information and skills mostly accurately deployed. Adequate grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Fair integration of theory/practice/information in the pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Some evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

1. Identify the main spaces where these theories, views and framework emerged;

2. Recognize the main elements and features of alternative conceptual elements to understand innovation in banking;

3. Identify the various dimensions of technical change and automation;

4. Demonstrate an awareness of the contexts which have given rise to different views on managing technological change in financial services;

5. Recognize the large number of cultural, political, economic and environmental factors that gave rise to different forms and practices across countries and cultures;

Type	Name	Description	Weight
	Group Essay		30.00
	Exam S2		70.00

		Hours
Lecture	Offer a combination of traditional lectures and multi media resource.	20
Private study	Participants will be expected to prepare before the lecture from a list of readings and journal articles.	80

• Literacy - Proficiency in reading and writing through a variety of media
• Numeracy - Proficiency in using numbers at appropriate levels of accuracy
• Computer Literacy - Proficiency in using a varied range of computer software
• Self-Management - Able to work unsupervised in an efficient, punctual and structured manner. To examine the outcomes of tasks and events, and judge levels of quality and importance
• Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
• Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
• Inter-personal - Able to question, actively listen, examine given answers and interact sentistevely with others
• Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.
• Presentation - Able to clearly present information and explanations to an audience. Through the written or oral mode of communication accurately and concisely.
• Teamwork - Able to constructively cooperate with others on a common task, and/or be part of a day-to-day working team
• Management - Able to utilise, coordinate and control resources (human, physical and/or financial)
• Argument - Able to put forward, debate and justify an opinion or a course of action, with an individual or in a wider group setting
• Self-awareness & Reflectivity - Having an awareness of your own strengths, weaknesses, aims and objectives. Able to regularly review, evaluate and reflect upon the performance of yourself and others
• Leadership - Able to lead and manage, develop action plans and objectives, offer guidance and direction to others, and cope with the related pressures such authority can result in

• knowledge of some of the contexts in which accounting can be seen as operating (examples of contexts include the legal, ethical, social and natural environment; the accountancy profession; the business entity; the capital markets; the public sector)
• Numeracy: the use of quantitative skills to manipulate data, evaluate, estimate and model business problems, functions and phenomena.
• Ability to work collaboratively both internally and with external customers and an awareness of mutual interdependence.
• Ability to work with people from a range of cultures.
• Articulating and effectively explaining information.
• Communication and listening including the ability to produce clear, structured business communications in a variety of media.
• Self-management: a readiness to accept responsibility and flexibility, to be resilient, self-starting and appropriately assertive, to plan, organise and manage time.
• Self reflection: self-analysis and an awareness/sensitivity to diversity in terms of people and cultures. This includes a continuing appetite for development.

Resource implications for students

None

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/etb-3008.html

Reading list

(Talis reading list is available - below some sample readinngs)

Bátiz-Lazo, Bernardo, Joan Carles Maixé-Altés, and Paul Thomes. Technological Innovation in Retail Finance: International Historical Perspectives. Routledge International Studies in Business History. Edited by Matthias Kipping and Ray Stokes London and New York: Routledge, 2011.

Bátiz-Lazo, Bernardo, and Leonidas Efthymiou. The Book of Payments: Historical and Contemporary Views on the Cashless Economy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Evans, David S., and Richard Schmalensee. Matchmakers: The New Economics of Multisided Platforms. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2016.

Liebowitz, Stan J., and Stephen E. Margolis. "The Fable of the Keys." Journal of Law and Economics 33, no. 1 (1990): 1-25.

Compulsory in courses:

• N325: BSc Finance, Investment & Risk year 3 (BSC/FIR)
• N34M: BSc Banking and Finance (Franchised) year 3 (BSC/PBF)