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Tag: fintech training

Bahrain Invites Indian Fintech Firms To Set Up Base

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

 

There are few fields which have seen as much a meteoric rise as fintech in recent years. There have been a lot of startups coming up around the world which work in the integration of technology to payments, and many of these are based out of India. In fact, India has more than 2,000 startups currently work in India, which represents a huge growth in the last five years alone. In 2014, this sum stood at around 700 – it has grown almost three-fold in the past 5 years.

Bahrain is looking to make a mark on the fintech sector as well and is constantly striving to establish itself as the fintech hub of the Middle East. In a bid to diversify from the traditional oil-based economy of Middle Eastern countries, Bahrain has been promoting and enticing many companies in the fintech sector to set up base in the nation. The Bahrain government is currently providing a lot of opportunities for the Indian firms to start their entry into various financial sector techs, like crypto assets, robot advisory, and blockchain.

The financial sector is actually extremely important to the government of Bahrain. The financial sector is actually the second biggest contributor to the Bahrain government, after the traditional oil and gas sector. The government has actually built up a capable support system in order to help the fintech startups thrive, and supports great innovation and growth in the sector.

There are many advantages that a fintech company gets when they shift to Bahrain. Apart from the strong support that the government provides companies, there are plenty of other perks – this includes a low cost of doing business, a large number of accelerators and many incubators too. This means that many companies have tried to get into this amazing ecosystem, including a large number of tech startups in India.

A sandbox actually offers a great opportunity for startups to push the limits of innovation in a safe space. Startups in Bahrain have actually started rolling out new products to the customers, in the testing phase – many of them have been gaining some great positive recognition too.

The investment promotion arm of the Bahrain government called the EDB has even signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Maharashtra Government, in order to integrate the startups from the state into the markets in Bahrain. The formation of the Bahrain Fintech Bay, which is a private-public partnership platform, has played a huge role in attracting fintech startups too. It has worked to provide a physical space for fintech startups, and Bahrain is slowly shifting towards its bid for diversification. Around 42% of the fintech startups in the nation currently are based out of two cities – Bangalore and Mumbai. These two cities are actively targeted by the Bahrain government, and many fintech startups in the nation today are either entering the Bahrain markets with

What Are The Blockchain Technology Courses To Meet Demand in The Workforce?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Blockchain technology is simply decentralization of data that is achieved by collecting the data on multiple systems. Due to the lack of centralized data, hackers find it very hard to penetrate the security walls of the application that are safeguarded by the blockchain advancements. Due to its robust and reliable nature, many industries including health, real estate, finance, and other industries are adapting to it. As a result, there is a huge career scope in this domain.

Why Blockchain Technology is The Catch Today

Financial companies and top banks in the world are leveraging blockchain technology to implement a higher level of cybersecurity in their transactions. This technology can not only be shared by different users, but every bit of data needs to be authenticated completely before entering the network.
Logistic companies’use blockchain technology to track their containers across the world and it is also being implemented in the food and agro-based industries on a large scale.
Even HR recruiters are using this technology to verify the authenticity of the documents and to check their backgrounds. With a myriad of software services, blockchain is being used in different sectors such as medical, telecom and much more.

Popular Blockchain Technology Courses

The growth of Fintech in India has been substantial over the last decade, and therefore, today many financial institutions provide blockchain course training. Some of them also include blockchain certification in their curriculum. Students who have a background in networking or languages like Java and Python can learn about blockchain to meet the rising demand for blockchain developers, engineers, and designers in the market. These blockchain course are online-courses and popular in the career markets of today.
1. The Basic training: This fundamentals training in blockchains takes you through the evolution of blockchains and how they work. You may even find free courses that give you tutorials on blockchains through the online medium.
2. Certification courses: A Certified blockchain course is an option for aspirants making a career in fintech and wishing to learn applications and skills in blockchain technology aimed at developing solutions for real-time and industry-related problems. A computer science backing and graduation can help careers of investment bankers, DevOps people, software developers, investment bankers etc. make a career in the Fintech segment.
3. Certifications: Students and professionals who are interested in a blockchain course and certification can take up Blockchain council certification at Imarticus Learning, which is an online certification course for blockchain experts.
Fintech is a term coined from morphing words of Finance and Technology. The financial transactions sector is heavily impacted with blockchain technology making the transactions secure, rapid, immutable with excellent record keeping in distributed ledgers and cryptographically encoded blocks interlinked to each other in hash-tag codes. Almost all technologies like AI, VR, AR, IoT use the advantageous blessings of blockchain advantages to spur their growth and productivity. This, in turn, fuels the demand-supply gap for trained professionals and drives the payouts to unbelievable levels for the experts and well-trained professionals.

How Blockchain Technology Helps the Careers of Professionals:

A basic understanding of blockchain will prove insufficient for the professionals as they also have to apply their knowledge in real-world scenarios and issues. However, due to a serious dearth of blockchain professionals, companies are willing to hire people who have a technical or software background. Moreover, IT companies are also looking to hire freelancers on the basis of hourly pay to satiate the demand in the workforce.
Where opportunities exist:
The Fintech sector and industry need professionals and personnel in
• Emerging Technologies like cloud services, blockchains etc.
• Payments and digital financial transactions.
• Working in analytics of Big Data.
• Cryptos and virtual wealth management.
• Solutions and service providers.
Suitable job roles in high-demand:
• Managers of projects and product owners.
• Experts in data management.
• Business Development and Sales.
• Recruitment and HR sector.
• Experts in financial markets, debt capital markets, equity funding etc.
You can find openings in diverse verticals ranging from internship positions to Blockchain developers, Project Managers, Quality engineers, Web designers, Blockchain attorneys, engineers and more. This is precisely why a blockchain course can feed off the growing market demands for blockchain experts and provide a futuristic well-paying growth-oriented career.

Advantages of Doing a Fintech Certification

Certification in Fintech is a measure of your technical skills and aptitude for a career in the fintech industry which is evolving and has high personnel demands. Doing a good blockchain course like the Imarticus’ Fintech Prodegree will equip you with the fundamentals, concepts, theoretical and practical skills with coveted certifications that enhance your resume, job prospects, and career.
The advantage of mentoring by industry aces gives you the edge of experience learnt through techniques, tricks, best practices, skills, and lots of practice on cutting-edge trending applications and technologies. You will also need technical skills taught in these courses like skills in IoT, DevOps, Python, Big Data analytics, ML, and Hadoop.
Non-transferable skills are extremely important and properly aligned with your career and enterprise’s needs. You must have the following traits.
1. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
2. Creative and innovative problem-solving skills.
3. Team skills in contribution, and collaboration.
4. The dedication and ability for long work-hours under pressure, ambiguity, and lack of SOPs in a startup environment.
5. Integrity and financial discipline.
6. A team-player and quick learner of techniques and best practices.
Payouts: Definite standards in payouts are not present as of now. According to reports on Glassdoor, the payments are very appreciative and second to very few. However, with this evolving and rapidly expanding sector the demand for personnel is much higher than the supply positions thereby driving the demand for better salaries and promoting quick growth in Fintech careers.
Conclusion:
Careers are always the result of research and career choices. The present-day professionals are lucky to have sustained demand in the Fintech industries which encompass a gamut of verticals from insurance, digitized payments, real-estate, technological services, cloud storage and many more where there is undying job demand for analytics, software, and expertise in ML. Banks, financial stock markets and services supporting the Fintech industry are bound to see exponential growth in the next decade. Be prepared by doing a blockchain course with the Imarticus Academy.

Indian Fintech 5.4$ bn in 3 Years

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

It has been only around three years since the inception of the first Fintech startup in India. Since that very first day, this sector has been growing steadily. We know that in November 2016, our high-value currency notes were demonetized. Unlike many other businesses, the Fintech startups made huge benefits from this government decision. In the next three years after demonetization, a huge percentage of Indian people have adopted digital transaction. The investors have identified this opportunity and raised about $5.4 billion in equity funding. From the $593 million in 2016, there was an increase of a whopping 300% to $2.34 billion in 2018. The year witnessed 144 equity deals in the Finitech sector.
So, What are the Factors Attracting the Investors?
The Fintech service firms are literally redesigning the way the financial transactions conducted on a daily basis. When it comes to India, such a large country with over a billion people, there is a huge untapped market for Fintech startups, to begin with. The rate of mobile penetration has reached 65-75 percentage in India which is expected to hit the 90% mark by 2020. The market opportunity presented by this alone is huge enough for all the investments to make sense.
Also, it is estimated that as much as 90% of India’s small businesses are yet to link with formal financial institutes. Similarly, there are plenty of gaps between institutions and services in India which offer great scope for the Fintech solutions.
The Upcoming Years
So many reasons are pointed out by the experts for the investors to stay excited in the upcoming years.

  • The maturity of Fintech sector: The series D round of 2018 witnessed six deal in total. In 2016, there was not even a single startup to make it to the series D stage. This comparison indicates the maturity of the Indian Fintech sector.
  • The growing number of “Unicorns”: Until 2017, the Paytm was the only so-called “unicorn” company from Fintech sector. By 2019, the list of coveted companies from Fintech got longer with BillDesk, PolicyBazaar and PineLabs. Now, Fintech has the most number of “unicorn” companies beating the e-commerce sector.
  • The increased Quantum of investments: There has been a massive jump in the quantum of investments. Between 2016 and 2018, the number of series A deals grew 12.5%. But the deal size grew from $64 million to $146.8 million, a growth of 129 percentage. The growth of Series C deal size for the same period was a whopping 270%.
  • Opportunities in the Lending sector: Lending has remained to be the biggest attraction for investors in Fintech. Almost half of the equity funds were invested in startups focused on lending. With huge numbers of untouched markets lying beyond the Tier I and Tier II, lending startups have a great future in India.

With the internet connection being more accessible and government supporting the digitization of the economy, there is no doubt about the opportunities lying ahead in India for the Fintech. Hence, the large investments made in this sector are clearly no wonder and it will probably continue for the next few years.

Demystifying Regtech in Fintech

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

 

Often asked questions today are “What is RegTech and why is it so important”? Let’s explore. 


Coined from two separate words Regulatory and Technology, RegTech has evolved to be the latest buzzword in the Fintech sector. With financial transactions being subjected to fraud and cyber crimes, transparency in financial transactions, KYC norms, full-disclosure and such regulations have become mandatory. The huge plus has been solutions that are integrate-able, cost-effective, secure, reduce risks, meet RegTech standards and work efficiently on cloud-based peer-to-peer networks.

Fintech companies have and can produce such solutions, which is why they are being openly encouraged and incentivised. The blockchain-technology adoption added business value to most financial sector fintech startups and solutions while giving cryptocurrencies huge success by making financial transactions completely recorded, secure and transparent. Cryptocurrencies though steady have no takers among the investors at the moment. The technology though was quickly adapted and adopted to build various applications for the fintech, banking, insurance, health, construction and other industrial sectors.

With blockchain technology-based apps other payment platforms using mobile transactions, digital payments, online banking and such are thriving investment opportunities. Most angel investors are looking at partnering opportunities with those going into disrupt. The SME sector and back-end operational efficiency solutions are also a thrust area that is set to grow and is incentivised as it creates employment, industrial and economic growth. These contribute to the popularity and growth of the Fintech RegTech startups. Most importantly, regulation and compliance measures saw the emergence of regulatory and technology-based blockchain solutions which rapidly evolved as market-leader in a mere 3 years. And for good reasons too!

Investments in RegTech in 2018  

RegTech allows proactive-management which leads to better compliance and savings in penalties and fees. Automation also allows long-term returns in terms of cost-savings, increased efficiency and productivity and compliance control management. Thus financial institutions can concentrate on core businesses and service customers better.

Financial institutions have to and continue investing in RegTech solutions with governing policies and watchdogs making compliance and regulations stricter by the day. To keep costs of risk mitigation and follow protocols of compliance at the least possible costs, banks look to the RegTech sector for updated and effective solutions.

Northwest Journal of International Law and Business claims 200 billion USD in penal fees was levied for non-compliance. Misinterpretation and human-errors are another source of concern and attract hefty penalties for ever-evolving and changing compliance norms.

Financial solutions and firms are placing hands-to-the-deck to keep abreast of changes in compliance and regulatory measures. Citi Bank recently added 30,000 dedicated staff for compliance management. Obviously, the RegTech sector has immense potential at the moment and is set to be around 120 billion USD as per a report from Reuters.

Global trends in RegTech – France and Switzerland

According to a Reuters report, the current value is about 2,321.5 million USD and expected to reach 7,207.6 million USD in 2023. The segment solutions include reporting, compliance management, risk and identity-management.

The RegTech boom in France and Switzerland which are both from the European bloc results from mandates and directives in GDPR regulations, risk compliance, data-protection and transparency in financial transactions. Many financial institutions in a bid to defer infrastructure and hardware costs use cloud-deployment for SaaS with a fixed subscription and per-usage basis. Most vendors of RegTech solutions have also tied-up with GRC vendors for enhanced client and market-reach. This is a global trend across developing countries too.

To conclude, there appears to be no stopping the RegTech sector.

What is Job Description to Work in Fintech and What Are The Skills Required?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

One of the latest and fast-growing sectors is the fintech industry. Fintech means a combination of finance and technology. Ideally, this combination has set high standards in the field of employment as the need for upscale finance, and technological intelligence is undeniably high.

There is a place for people with different expertise in the field of finance and technology together, and the job description is as under: 

The core positions in fintech require people who have expertise in technology. Someone who is well-versed with Artificial Programming Interface has a better future in fintech. Developers of operating systems like Android and IOS have the opportunity to be app developers for fintech companies.

People who have enhanced their skills with User Interface also have jobs in fintech where they may need to develop a user-friendly and intuitive online banking experience for users. Such tasks are highly challenging and competitive in the fintech sector.

Customer support is also a need for the fintech sector, which requires people with good language proficiency and patience to handle thousands of customers per day. Online customer service can be made more compromisingly by joining as customer support to manage the chatbots online.

Product managers who can efficiently understand the need of the customers are essential skills for Fintech firms to stay disruptive.

Certain skills required in the Fintech sector
Fintech firms recruit people with skills such as Java. Without the knowledge of Java developers in investment banking will have no meaning. Java is the most preferred skill, J2EE is also needed for various tasks in a bank.

If you are interested in working in banking technology then learning Java is mandatory. Joining various Fintech Certification Courses will also help you enhance your skills and knowledge of the latest technology and financial disciplines.

One of the topmost desired skills is to be a business analyst. Banks are looking to implement new projects with new dimensions and strategies to reach out to more customers. Business analysts in the fintech sector can earn well if they have the future vision and understanding of tech projects. Business analysts should have different soft skills like the ability to see the disruption behind the potential investment of the firm and so on.

Being equipped with the knowledge of C sharp is quintessential for partnering with the developers in banking technology. Python is the latest skill that has made its mark in fintech. Python has become the mainstream for various projects in the financial sector of fintech.

Good communication is vital to stay in the fintech firms as you may have to show your communication skills both internally and externally. Having the skills of problem-solving during crises and the ability to build team spirits are characterized as the essential skills for every fintech job.

Conclusion

The Fintech sector has different career options and opportunities to explore. The flourishing fintech sector does not end opportunities for people in the banking sector. The members of fintech firms are usually agile and work as a cross-functional team instead of a traditional hierarchy of the business.

What Do Start-Up Investors Like or Dislike About Start-Ups?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Blockchain is the buzz word which has been on everyone’s lips of late. So, what is blockchain and how has it reshaped different industries today.

A range of investments and funding given at the right time helps start-ups push their business forward. Since digital is becoming the core of every business, start-ups especially in fintech have great products or services and are looking for investors. Business plans, goals, and an ability to take risks will influence an investment through VC or angel funding. With the rise of blockchain, AI, data analytics the startups will also see growth.

Here are a few things about startups that investors look for when they are looking at investments.

Strong Team and Good Product
With technology comes an abundance of ideas. However, all ideas are not feasible. When investors are looking for the right start-up to invest in, they look for an experienced team and a demand for the product. If there is a growing demand for a good product to hit the market and it looks stable for the next coming years, investors are likely to put their money behind it provided all other criteria are met.

They will evaluate how big a market share your business will get in the next decade or so.  The credibility of the team that has worked on the product or service also becomes an important evaluation criterion.

Credible Business Plan
Investors need to know everything that there is when it comes to a start-ups workings. Whether it is the marketing budget, working capital, production of services and products. In other words, investors need to understand where their money is going or how is it going to be spent.

Many start-ups are now deploying a small amount of investment towards fintech training so that the workforce is ready for scalability and deployment. It is not just good enough to have a product or a service, but there must be enough people who can know and sell it. Thus, fintech training comes a long way in such a scenario.

Passion and Hard Work
Needless to say, passion and commitment towards the business go a long way to get investors to put their money behind the business. A clear vision and a drive to accomplish that vision go a long way in getting the investors confidence in the business.

A team that is passionate and driven to accomplish the goals of the company tirelessly will impress any investor. Apart from this a knowledgeable team who have the required skill-set also add value. Undertaking training and programs especially certifications such as fintech prodegree will also help.

Conclusion
Data management, Artificial Intelligence and cloud, have seen massive adoptions in major industries across the world, leading to growth in start-ups. Innovative start-ups who receive funding at the right time are able to scale the business to successful heights.  Due to this, there will be the creation of new jobs and roles within organizations thereby leading to economic growth.

Top 5 trends that are influencing Fintech Sector

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

 

Blockchain is the buzz word which has been on everyone’s lips of late. So, what is blockchain and how has it reshaped different industries today? Is blockchain worth to implement?

Before fintech adoption took place in the banking industry, it was tedious and time-consuming to go to the bank for any work. Customers would fret at the thought of waiting in long queues at the bank and banks had to figure out a way to efficiently deliver superior customer experience.

Now since simple processes are automated and transactions occur daily online with no worry, a technological revolution is here, and it continues to evolve. Opportunities in fintech have grown drastically in the past decade due to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and blockchain, the trinity of emerging tech.

Here are the top growing trends in the fintech sector.

Blockchain

Blockchain is the foundation on which most fintech companies are built. Data management is a gigantic task for most organizations, and with blockchain, banks are able to manage large amounts of customer data and transactions in a secure manner. This also means the loan sanctions, application, and disbursement of the amount can happen instantly over the internet. Blockchain maintains a simple, centralized ledger which can be accessed by banks real-time.

Automation

Since machines now have the ability to quickly track, manage and manipulate data well, large organizations have automated most of their administrative processes. This means a significant cost reduction and optimum efficiency at all times. Once simple processes get automated due to AI and machine learning it becomes easier for banks to shift their focus on value services for higher customer experience.

Regulation and Laws in Fintech

Since all transactions are carried out remotely and online, there are hard rules and regulations that are in place to reduce financial crime. Due to the blockchain, financial institutions are able to manage their customer records well thereby reducing frauds and theft.

Digital First Bank

Back in the day, people used to visit banks for all activities and transactions. Today, you can conduct most of your transactions online in the comfort of your home. Anytime and anywhere banking is the norm. Fintech has enabled individuals’ payments anywhere, thereby the need for the physical location of banks have drastically diminished. Banks and financial institutions are also training their employees in Fintech training to ensure that they keep up with the changing dynamics of the industry

Data Lending and Data Management

Due to the advent of cloud, it is very easy to manage large amounts of structured and unstructured data on the cloud and collaborate for data management. Financial institutions are considering lending data to each other to reduce crime and evaluate credit score.

Blockchain, AI, machine learning, automation, and cloud computing have significantly impacted the Fintech industry both in terms of creation of jobs and opportunities to grow businesses. The banking institutions are relying heavily on fintech companies to reshape the way processes are carried out and drive optimization and create exponential value to customers.

How Would You Define Fintech and Blockchain to the Lay Business Person?

Posted on by Imarticus Learning

Two of the most common buzzwords that seemed to have taken over the banking industry were Blockchain and fintech. These are terms which have revolutionised banking over the last decade or so and are seen as the future of banking, especially in the hands of the millennials, who have technology at their fingertips.
If you’re working at a financial institution, then there may be situations where you’ve to explain what “Fintech” and “Blockchain” are to a lot of people. Here’s a small guide to help you do so:

Fintech

FinTech is simply a combination of “Finance + Technology.” But obviously, there’s more to that. It is a massive field that covers a wide array of startups, and these can be divided into five categories, with each solving a different unique problem:

  1. Payments
  2. Lending
  3. Cryptocurrency
  4. Banking
  5. Personal finance and wealth management

For each category, FinTech solves a multitude of problems by improving it in either one of two ways:

  • Making it more available for more people
  • Making the product or service easier and cheaper to use.

Fintech basically takes a common problem plaguing a lot of individuals and simplifies the same. By doing so, it allows innovations in the industry to prosper and make finance a much easier sector to work in. Companies are able to transfer their paperwork electronically, saving precious time and money as well.
There are special fintech training and fintech courses available which make it easier for those looking to specialise in this field.

Blockchain

Blockchain, in the simplest of terms, is just about security and fairness. It is a large database which is available to the public and cannot be tampered with. Blockchain stores all important financial data and since it cannot be erased, it just adds another “block” of information.
This block is part of a series of blocks which create a chain or network of digital information. Anytime new information is added, it creates a successive block, which means that all transactions are public and can be viewed.
It also helps banks save money by having one centralised system for all transactions. If anybody tries to tamper with the information, the common code which all parties involved are given,
Thus, Blockchain and fintech are going to play a major role in shaping the financial future of the world. Learning and applying their basic principles to modern banking will serve you in good stead over the long term.