Rotman FinTech: Future of Payments
Online program
Learn how digital transformation and PayTech innovations in finance are transforming the global exchange of money.
6 weeks, excluding 1 week orientation.
6–8 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: rotman.utoronto@getsmarter.com
Call: +1 647-496-0623
About this program
Innovations in payment infrastructures have transformed the financial space in recent years. Finance institutions and governments alike are attempting to take advantage of digital transformation by developing platforms and digital currencies that disrupt traditional banking systems.
Discover prominent advancements in the financial sector in the Rotman FinTech: Future of Payments online program from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Over six weeks, you’ll gain a better understanding of the past, present, and future of payments, and learn how this evolution informs the current status quo. Throughout the program, you’ll examine customer-centric payment solutions to overcome banking and access challenges, and ensure financial inclusion in society. Navigate the risks, opportunities, business applications, legal challenges, and potential innovations the future of finance holds to ensure your organization thrives in this ever-changing landscape. Guided by esteemed guest experts, you’ll explore the psychology of payments and learn how your brain responds to making payments, and the effect this has on your financial health.
This Rotman program is eligible for financial support
The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding initiative is designed to help learners access sought-after skills and development opportunities through government-funded loans and grants. Financial assistance is available to Canadian citizens and applies to this Rotman Executive program. To find out if you qualify, visit the financial assistance homepage.
“The battle of the smart bank accounts is just starting. In 2019, mobile wallets and mobile money overtook plastic cards and cash for payments. To compete, you need contextual, smart, responsive banking utility. The bankers of tomorrow are technologists who enable banking experiences your customers will use across the digital landscape.”
Brett King, Co-Founder and CEO, Moven
Erlang Solutions (2021).
What this program covers
This program will equip you with an in-depth understanding of the developments and innovations in the PayTech and payments landscape. Over six weeks, you’ll investigate the fundamentals and laws surrounding international payments, and broaden your understanding of the challenges facing the flow of money within a global society. From there, you’ll assess customer needs left unsatisfied by traditional payment solutions, and learn how PayTech innovations are addressing these needs to overcome existing frictions and financial exclusion. You’ll explore different payment innovations in relation to open banking initiatives. Finally, you’ll explore the future possibilities FinTech holds, and examine the development of enterprise blockchains and central bank digital currencies.
A powerful collaboration
The Rotman School of Management is collaborating with online education provider GetSmarter to create a new class of learning experience – one that is high-touch, intimate, and personalized for the working professional.
About Rotman
Embedded within the highest-rated university in Canada, the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management strives to create value for business and society through invention and innovation. Rotman is committed to fostering new ways of thinking to address today’s business challenges and opportunities through superior-quality learning experiences. With a focus on diversity, excellence, integrity, and respect, Rotman is determined to become a catalyst for positive change.
About GetSmarter
GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, partners with the world's leading universities and institutions to select, design, and deliver premium online short courses with a data-driven focus on learning gain.
Technology meets academic rigour in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
As a program participant, you will also gain unlimited access to 2U’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. This platform will provide you with valuable career resources and events to support your professional journey. You can look forward to benefits including rich content, career templates, webinars, workshops, career fairs, networking events, panel discussions, and exclusive recruitment opportunities to connect you with potential employers.*
*Some of these events may be virtual due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
What you’ll learn
You’ll be welcomed to the program and begin connecting with fellow participants, while exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus. Be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review how your results will be calculated and distributed.
You’ll be required to complete your participant profile and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during program development.
Explore the evolution of payments over time and its impact on the world economy.
- Recognize the functions of money
- Recall the key developmental stages of money through time
- Recognize past failures of money and the consequences thereof
- Identify the key elements of different types of payment transactions
- Demonstrate an understanding of the differences between real-time gross payment systems and net payment systems
- Discuss the key differences between push and pull banking systems
Discover the role of, and legalities around, payments in the international context.
- Highlight the practicalities of international money transfers within contexts
- Explain international money transfers and remittance payments
- Determine the specifics of Know-Your-Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) rules
- Investigate actions that financial institutions must undertake to comply with international payment laws, and what that implies for businesses’ cross-border payments
Determine the importance of customer needs and how PayTech innovation addresses these needs and overcomes frictions.
- Recognize the psychological effects of payments
- Identify the significance of payment speed and the frictions it can create
- Examine current PayTech applications and the role they play in ensuring financial inclusion in society
- Investigate the influence of payments on organizations to recommend appropriate solutions
- Recommend a solution to the current problems faced with payments
Investigate the most prominent international advances in open payments and open banking, and the impact this has on business opportunities and commercial value creation.
- Describe international payment innovations and the customer needs they fulfill
- Illustrate the interplay between innovation in payment applications and innovation in payment infrastructure
- Investigate the viability of payment innovations within your context
- Evaluate open banking initiatives and their applications
- Propose ways open banking could be used to create business opportunities
Learn about the technicalities associated with blockchain technology and the implications of decentralized finance.
- Recognize the specifics and functionality of permissioned and permissionless decentralized blockchains
- Demonstrate an understanding of the principles and possible applications of smart contracts
- Determine the difference between cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, utility tokens and non-fungible tokens in decentralized finance
- Extrapolate the shortfalls of decentralized finance to highlight new opportunities
Explore the future of FinTech and possible payment innovations to identify a business opportunity.
- Identify the need for permissioned blockchains in the payment space
- Explain the key differences between a permissioned and permissionless blockchain
- Illustrate the role of the participants and programmable money in blockchains
- Distinguish retail central bank digital currencies from wholesale central bank digital currencies
- Reflect on the practical implications of central bank digital currencies in the payment space
- Present a use-case for programmable money using a permissioned blockchain or central bank digital currency network in your context
Who should take this program
This program is designed to help finance professionals, decision makers, and senior management better understand, interpret, and respond to disruptions and opportunities within the finance, banking, and related sectors. Those in a financial role such as bankers, analysts, and investors will benefit from this program, regardless of industry or position. Those in management and leadership roles will gain the decision-making skills necessary to implement FinTech and PayTech systems within their context.
This program is for you if you want to:
Grow your knowledge
Examine the past, present, and future of payments, and learn how to keep up with changes in the financial world.
Upgrade your skills
Recommend strategies for creating and managing customer-centric payment solutions to overcome banking and access challenges faced by individuals and organizations.
Innovate your practices
Gain the knowledge and tools to formulate a business model that leverages the opportunities in open banking.
Prepare for the future
Analyze the functionality, risks, and benefits of blockchain technology and decentralized finance.
About the certificate
Validate your FinTech knowledge with an official digital certificate of professional achievement from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the leading university in Canada.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a digital certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the program handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the program.
Your digital certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you digitally upon successful completion of the program, as per the stipulated requirements.
Who you’ll learn from
This subject matter expert from Rotman guides the program design and appears in a number of program videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
Your Program Director
Andreas Park
Professor of Finance, Department of Management, University of Toronto
Since joining the University of Toronto in 2003, Park has served as co-director of the Master of Financial Economics program and has taught courses on market microstructure, trading, investments, asset pricing, and corporate finance. His research interests lie in empirical topics, such as the market impact of maker-taker pricing, dark orders, and high-frequency trading, as well as theoretical topics such as herd behaviour in financial markets and the impact of trading mechanisms. Currently, his focus is on examining the impact of high-frequency trading and recent market structure changes in Canada.
Guest Lecturers
Senator Colin Deacon
Senator, Independent Senators Group, Nova Scotia
Dante Disparte
Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Global Policy, Circle
How you’ll learn
Every program is broken down into manageable, weekly modules designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse activities:
- Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
- Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through weekly class-wide forums and reviewed small group discussions
- Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
- Investigate rich, real-world case studies
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in the ability to identify a business idea built on industry innovations
Your success team
GetSmarter, with whom Rotman is collaborating to deliver this online program, provides a personalized approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
Head Learning Facilitator
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
Success Adviser
Your one-on-one support available during University hours (8am–5pm ET) to resolve technical and administrative challenges.
Global Success Team
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
Technical Requirements
Basic Requirements
In order to complete this program, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
Browser Requirements
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when accessing the Online Campus. Although this is not a requirement, we have found that this browser performs best for ease of access to program material. This browser can be downloaded here.
Additional Requirements
Certain programs may require additional software and resources. These additional software and resource requirements will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the beginning of the program. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our program delivery, and if these services are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have difficulty in accessing program content. Please check with an Enrolment Adviser before registering for this program if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
