Fintech programme to roll out at all polytechnics

In some classes at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), students write on walls, sit on cushions while their lecturer speaks and download notes from the electronic canvases their lecturers write on.

Since last month, one of these smart classrooms has been home to 38 students participating in the poly's pilot run of a programme focused on fintech, or financial technology.

As part of the trial, final-year financial informatics students took a retail banking processes module in which they learnt how to develop applications for the banking and finance industry.

The class is 40 per cent theory-based, with the other 60 per cent comprising practical sessions.

ROLL OUT

The fintech programme will eventually be rolled out to students in banking or information technology-related courses across all five polys here.

It was launched last month in partnership with German digital banking group Fidor, which invested $800,000 in the programme.

It is supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore to boost Singapore's growth as a regional fintech hub.

It is Fidor's first such investment in Asia Pacific.

Mr Matthias Kroner, its chief executive officer and founder, said: "Singapore was a strategic choice for it has emerged as the regional hub for fintech in Asia Pacific, and it is amazing to see the amount of new fintechlaunched within the last two years (more than 200)."

The students develop apps using an application programming interface (API) - a set of functions and procedures for creating software apps - provided by Fidor.

Mr Ng Poh Oon, director of the School of InfoComm Technology in NP, said:

"IT increasingly introduces disruptions in many businesses so we want to train and prepare students to be software developers for the IT industry.

"They learn to develop innovative apps to solve real-life issues faced by businesses in the banking and finance industry."

APPS

Some of the prototypes that have been developed from the trial include an app for people to use multiple bank accounts at a glance, and another that aims to speed up the process of remittance services.

Miss Lee Jia Qi, 19, whose team developed the former, said the programme provided a look at a range of fintech.

She said: "I am now better equipped with the knowledge that can help me secure more IT-related jobs."

Fidor hopes to expand the programme with internships across its global offices.