Hong Kong’s fintech courses tackle game-changing technologies such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and Big Data

At HKUST, the Master of Science in Financial Technology brings together the School of Business and Management, School of Engineering and School of Science

Students can apply for a half-term at ESSEC Business School, a French grandes école, while at CU, Bank of China, Citibank, DBS and HSBC sponsor industrial projects

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The next generation of employees in the financial sector will as a matter of course need to be familiar with the key technological shifts happening to their industry. Photo: Getty/iStock

Published: 10:00am, 7 Feb 2022Updated: 11:33am, 14 Feb 2022

Like all areas of the economy, the financial sector is undergoing a seismic technological transformations. The changes that technology is bringing about are particularly significant for Hong Kong given the importance of finance to the economy of the city.

Financial technology, or fintech, simply refers to the use of technology to improve activities and processes in the finance industry. There is no single one technology associated with fintech. Blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing or big data, to name a few, all fall under the fintech umbrella. Specific and significant know-how is required to develop fintech solutions using any of these technologies.

The technological evolution visible within the financial sector is creating a talent nexus, with finance experts interested in learning about technology, and technology talent focusing on finance. With this in mind, universities are offering a variety of postgraduate fintech programmes developed by different departments, each with their own nuance.

Signage in Pacific Place shopping centre in Admiralty, Hong Kong highlighting the various payment platforms that were part of the government’s HK$5,000 consumption voucher scheme launched in 2021 to help the population during pandemic restrictions. Photo: May Tse

At Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), the Master of Science in Financial Technology (MSc in Fintech) brings together the School of Business and Management, School of Engineering and School of Science.

The programme is available in full-time (one-year) and part-time (two-year) modes. An intake of 60 students is expected next year and beyond.

“We align the education resources and combine the efforts of three schools. The programme draws expertise from timely areas such as information technology, blockchain, data science, machine learning and decision analytics,” says Professor Hui Kai-lung, the programme’s academic director. “It is designed for talents and working professionals who want to combine technical and financial knowledge to generate innovative solutions that meet the challenges of this emerging field.”

Students come from a variety of backgrounds. More than 70 per cent are engineering, mathematics and statistics, accounting, business or marketing management graduates, and come from universities in mainland China, the US, Australia, the UK and elsewhere.