ITP-499 “FinTech Fundamentals”

Units: 4
Term Fall 2020
M/W 2:00 to 3:50PM

Location: TBD

Instructor: Timothy Li
Office: TBD
Office Hours:
TBD
Contact Info:
ttli@usc.edu

Teaching Assistant: TBD

Office: TBD
Office Hours:
TBD
Contact Info:
TBD

IT Help: Viterbi IT
Hours of Service:
Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Contact Info:
DRB 205
(213) 740-0517
engrhelp@usc.edu

Last updated: 5/6/20

Course Description
FinTech Fundamentals explores the impacts of Financial Technology in our day to day lives from the
invention of the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of the 1970s to leveraging biometrics and artificial
intelligence to what makes instantaneous payments possible. Students will learn the technology behind
payments, loans, trading and asset management as well as applications of machine learning and
blockchain technology for finance and transactions.

Learning Objectives
Students will obtain theoretical knowledge and gain hands-on experience in the following topics:

1. Variety of FinTech applications:

a. Credit and Lending
b. Investment and Savings
c. Insurance and Shared Risk
d. Trading and Securities
2. Traditional banking technologies:
a. Banking Accounts
b. Automated Teller Machines
c. Payment Rails (Cash, Plastic, Wallets)
3. FinTech Analytics
a. Credit Scoring and A.I. Implementations
b. Fraud Detection
c. Risk Based Pricing Algorithms
4. FinTech Infrastructure
a. Data and Credit Bureaus
b. FinTech Ecosystem Tools
c. Open Banking Technologies
d. Blockchain Technologies / Smart Contracts
e. Cryptocurrency
5. FinTech Around The World
a. Asia
b. Middle East
c. South America
d. Europe
e. Southeast Asia / Australia
f. Africa

Prerequisite(s): none
Co-Requisite(s): none
Concurrent Enrollment: none
Recommended Preparation: none

Course Notes
This course will be graded based on a letter grade basis. Copies of lecture slides and other class
information will be posted on Blackboard.

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 2

Technological Proficiency and Hardware/Software Required
Students should have a working knowledge on presentation software as well as basic website
development experience. Coding experience (web or app development) is a plus, but not necessary.
Software required for the course will be provided to students through free of charge download or
through a virtual desktop environment.

Required Readings and Supplementary Materials

Instructor will assign regular outside reading material on latest developments in FinTech ecosystem and
we will either leverage in class discussion or presentation to digest these topics.

Description and Assessment of Assignments

Students are expected to present on a weekly basis on each topic of discussion.. There will also be
homework assignment based on specific research topics within FinTech topics in the forms or essays or
presentations which will be presented in front of their peers in class.

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 3

Grading Breakdown
% of grade
Homework 25
Participation 10
Weekly Presentations 25
Final Presentation 15
Final Exam 25

TOTAL 100

Presentations
On a weekly basis, students are required to produce individual or group presentation on topics
discussed in the prior week. Presentations are 5-7 minutes each with peer review and Q and A following
each presentation.

Final Presentation
Final Presentation will be delivered by individual or as group (4-6 students) on a specific FinTech topic.
The presentation will consist of:
§ History of the specific FinTech topic (e.g. ATM Machines, Blockchain Technology)
§ Usage, adoption and evolution of the technology
§ Social and economic impact of the technology
§ Regulatory and/or legal concerns of the technology
§ Profile a company that utilizes this technology and its commercial applications
§ A proposal on how to improve upon this technology

Final Presentation Grading

The following point-structure will be used in determining the grade for the final presentation. Final
presentation will be based upon the total points received, the highest total in the class, and the average
of the class. Students will work on each of these deliverables in a team based or individual setting.

Deliverables Points
Historical research and invention of the technology - 20
Current Usage, adoption and key usage models of the technology - 20
Social and economic impact of the technology - 20
Regulations and legal concerns around the technology and its implementation - 20
An in depth profile of a company that invented or popularized the technology – 10
You or your team’s proposal on how to evolve this technology for social or business impact - 10
Total - 100

Assignment Submission Policy

It is the responsibility of the student to make sure case studies and assignment are turned in on time.
Make sure you follow the procedures outlined in each assignment or case study (Blackboard

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 4

submissions). Late assignment submissions will be subject to a late penalty of 25% per day. No
assignments will be accepted later than four days from the due date.

Grading Timeline
Grades will be submitted and posted a week following homework assignment submission.

Additional Policies
N/A

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 5

 Course Schedule: A Weekly Breakdown
Provide a detailed course calendar that provides a thorough list of deliverables—readings, assignments,
examinations, etc., broken down on at least a weekly basis. The format may vary, but the content must
include:

• This course will provide a comprehensive overview of financial technology “FinTech” and its
implications in our day to day lives. Students will be learning by doing with hands on
assignments to interface with various payment, lending, blockchain technologies.
• This course will introduce our students on the inner workings of traditional banking
technology as well as newer implementations of blockchain, smart contracts and
cryptocurrency. Students will work in teams to complete assignments, projects and
presentations. Each team is required to present their findings, demonstrate their projects in
class
• Interested students should have an interest in banking, finance, technology and solving
some of difficult issues on expanding credit, investment and payments globally. Students are
recommended to have some code experience to complete certain aspects of the class
assignment.
• Assignments or deliverables include weekly presentations, research assignments, “demo
days” as well as in class group projects and discussions

Week Main Topics/Daily In-Class Presentation, Exercise Homework /Due Dates

Activities and Discussion
1 Introductions to FinTech Discuss personal experiences and Download a FinTech
Aug 24th & interactions with Financial related app and make a
26th 2020 Technology. transaction. (due in
week 2)
2 History of FinTech and Review the inner works of various Explore a traditional
Aug 31st Traditional Banking FinTech applications such as banking website and
& Sept 2nd Technologies from Bank “Venmo”, “Paypal”, “Robinhood” layout every type of
2020 Branches to ATM machines and various banking apps on your product and services
to mobile technology. phone. delivered through their
website (due in week 3)
3 Brave New World: We will review the history, Conduct a transaction
Sept 9th Cryptocurrency, mystery and invention of on any blockchain
2020 Blockchain, Smart blockchain technology and various sandbox. (due in week
Labor day Contract. implementations such as 4)
Holiday cryptocurrency.
One
lecture
only this
week
4 FinTech Intro: Credit, FinTech Topic: Instructor lead Discover any FinTech
Sept 14th Payments, Investment, presentation on board topics related sandboxes as
& 16th Insurance, Trading relating to different types of well as API (application
2020 programming interface)

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 6

 FinTech and issues they try to to start a integration
solve. project.(due in week 5)

5 Credit – Credit based FinTech Topic: In class Pick a Credit base

Sept 21st FinTech companies (Credit presentation relating specific FinTech company and
& 23rd cards to mortgages) FinTech solutions relating to complete a presentation
2020 issuing credit, loans, mortgages on their core,
and auto financing. differentiated offering
(Due in week 6)
6 Payments – Payments FinTech Topic: In class Download your favorite
Sept 28th based FinTech companies presentation relating specific app and complete a
30th (Cash to Cryptocurrency) FinTech solutions relating to peer to peer payments
2020 payments, including history of transaction. Prepare a
payments, cash, atm, credit cards, presentation on all
automatic clearing house, digital aspects of user
wallets and cryptocurrency). experience (Due in
week 7)
7 Investment – Investment FinTech Topic: In class Download your favorite
Oct 5th based FinTech companies presentation on various savings or investment
& 7th (Savings to Crowdfunding) investment related Fintech app and explore all
2020 products and services including features and
(Savings apps, robo advisors, functionalities offered
social trading, crowdfunding) by the app. Prepare a
presentation on user
experience (Due in
week 8)
8 Insurance – Insurance FinTech Topic: In class Explore various
Oct 12th based FinTech companies presentation on various insurance insurance models such
& 14th (Personal insurance to related FinTech products from as “Lemonade” and
2020 shared risk) traditional personal injury to prepare a presentation
shared risk platforms. on their unique
offerings. (Due in Week
9)
9 Trading – FinTech Topic: In class Download your favorite
Oct 19th Trading/Securities based presentation on various trading trading app and prepare
& 21st FinTech companies related topics, from voice/data a presentation on your
2020 (Highspeed to stock transmission, dedicated user experience. (Due in
market) transmission networks to week 10)
highspeed trading algorithms and
dark pools
10 Intro to Banking BankTech Topic: Introduction to Visit a local bank branch
Oct 26th Technology Introduction various banking technologies and explore various
& 28th (From ATMs to Mobile including customer facing and banking technology
2020 Apps) bank’s internal technologies, that’s available to
processes, innovation cycles and consumers. Prepare a
product creation. presentation on your

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 7

 experience. Or use your
favorite banking app
and make a
transaction.(Due in
week 11)
11 Financing and banking Regulations Topic: Introduction to Prepare a presentation
Nov 2nd regulations, laws and various governing and regulatory on a specific FinTech or
& 4th compliance bodies that have legal and banking regulation and
2020 overseeing authorities to Banks discuss in detail on the
and FinTechs. Review major history and relevance of
regulators in class and current the law especially
rulings. securities related
regulations that were
born out of the great
depression. (Due in
week 12)
12 FinTech Analytics (Credit Analytical Topics: Various Construct reports or
Nov 9th scores and Artificial analytical techniques applied to predictive models from
& 11th Intelligence) the banking and financial services publicly or supplied
2020 industry, including FinTechs dataset. (Due in week
13)
13 FinTech Infrastructure FinTech Topics: Building from Integrate with Plaid or
Nov 16th (Tools and Data) scratch or leveraging existing any open banking
& 18 technology? We will discuss platform’s sandbox and
2020 various rails, technology, prepare a demo in class.
foundational building blocks on (Due in week 14)
how to build a fintech company.
14 FinTech Around the Globe FinTech Topics: Looking at FinTech Prepare a presentation
Nov 23rd, developments in Latin America, of FinTech around the
2020 Asia and Africa as well as Middle world. Pick a country or
Thanksgivi East. Exploring various creative region and present your
ng Holiday ways to get people access to findings. (Due in week
One credit, payments and banking. 15)
lecture
only this
week
15 Final FinTech Presentations Each student or group (consist of
Nov 30th 4 to 6 students) will make a
2020 financial presentation of the
specific topic selected.
Presentation should be from 7 to
10 minutes. Peer review and Q
and A will follow each
presentation for another 5
minutes.

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 8

 FINAL Final Exam Final Exam Final Exam consists of
topics thought
Refer to throughout the
the final semester. It will contain
exam multiple choice
schedule in questions, short
the USC answers as well as a
Schedule of short essay.
Classes at
classes.usc.
edu

Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 9

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Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 10

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Syllabus for ITP-499, Page 11