What is FinTech?
FinTech, short for financial technology, refers to a family of technology that is designed to improve, automate, or replace traditional financial services. FinTech is a broad term that encompasses everything from banking apps and accounting software to “digital wallets” like Venmo, PayPal, and Cash App. Cryptocurrency and blockchain development also fall under the FinTech umbrella.
The FinTech industry is a growing one, with new startups springing up constantly. These companies work with cutting-edge technological developments in artificial intelligence, big data, and automation to create improved financial services for both businesses and individuals. Because FinTech professionals are in-demand, there has been a parallel boom in FinTech bootcamps and certificate programs that teach financial concepts alongside coding, database management, and other material of a more technical nature.
Why Learn FinTech?
Learning FinTech skills is one way to get a leg up in today’s economy. As technological innovations like cryptocurrency and stock trading automation reshape the financial sector, opportunities for FinTech professionals to work in high-paying roles continue to grow. If you’re looking to shift to a coding-based career in tech from an unrelated field, FinTech is an attractive entry point. On the other hand, if you work in finance and want to expand your career opportunities, learning FinTech skills can provide you a way forward. The prevalence of FinTech companies of all shapes and sizes mean that you’ll have choices when it comes time to navigate the job market.
What Careers Use FinTech?
If you’re searching for a career in which you can apply a background in FinTech, you’ll have a wide array of options. Large financial institutions like banks need FinTech experts to design and improve their web and banking apps while smaller up-and-coming FinTech companies need professionals who can create or improve their products.
Working in FinTech includes careers such as financial analyst, data scientist, software engineer, and Python developer. Financial analysts use data to predict outcomes from business decisions, identify market trends, recommend investments, and attract investors or customers. Data scientists build algorithms and other tools for processing large amounts of raw data. Software engineers develop applications for FinTech companies through coding and computer science acumen. Python developers are developers who specifically focus on Python. They mostly work with back end processes and are common within the FinTech industry.
Certificate Programs for FinTech
Ready to dive into the world of FinTech? One of the most efficient and comprehensive ways to learn FinTech skills is to attend a certificate program. These immersive courses may focus on a specific topic like Ethereum or app development, or they may cover a wide expanse of skills that can be applied to many types of FinTech careers. Most FinTech certificate programs include training in data science, Python, SQL, financial analysis, machine learning, and automation.
Noble Desktop, our coding and design school, has several certificate programs that can get you started on the path to a FinTech career. Students who attend Noble Desktop’s FinTech Bootcamp learn fundamental skills in Python, SQL, machine learning, and automation. This 102-hour program kicks off with classes on Python programming fundamentals. Students also learn the major Python data science libraries: NumPy for data analysis, Matplotlib for data visualizations, and Pandas for machine learning models. Along with classroom instruction, the course includes one-on-one mentoring sessions in which students can receive career advice, resume review, and interview preparation from a FinTech expert.
Another great option is the Data Science Certificate. Data science forms the foundation of most careers in FinTech. In this course, you’ll start by learning Python for a broad range of data science processes, including linear regressions, tabular analysis, and graph creation. From there, you’ll learn how to build machine learning models and master SQL. You’ll also practice using Python to scrape data from the web. Like the FinTech Bootcamp, this 84-hour course comes with one-on-one mentoring sessions.
What Other FinTech Classes Are Available?
Besides these certificate courses, Noble Desktop offers other FinTech courses that you can attend in-person at Noble’s Midtown Manhattan campus or live online. These include the Python for Finance Bootcamp and the Python for Data Science Bootcamp. Each of these courses provides a thorough introduction to Python and the tools used by FinTech experts while offering a less intense curriculum than the FinTech Bootcamp or Data Science Certificate.
In addition, NYIM offers a SQL Bootcamp. If you’re just getting started with learning FinTech, this is a great option. It’s a beginner-friendly class where you can learn all about querying, filtering, and aggregating data using the SQL programming language. SQL has broad applicability to many data careers, so it’s a safe choice if you’re interested in FinTech but not sure whether it’s the career path for you.
FinTech v. Finance
If you’re interested in analyzing financial data or working in a finance-centered field related to currency, banking, investments, and monetary transactions, you may be wondering whether FinTech or finance is a better career path. Although these fields do overlap in notable ways, each requires a distinct set of skills.
For a traditional finance career, you’ll need a strong foundational knowledge of financial concepts. This includes subjects like financial accounting, corporate valuation, cash flow modeling, investment strategy, risk management, and stock trading. In addition, you’ll need to be an advanced Excel user. Financial analysts, investment analysts, and research analysts all use Excel to create projections and visualizations using financial data. In addition, most professionals in finance should have a college degree. While some people who work in private equity firms, banks, accounting departments, and other traditional financial institutions know how to code with Python and SQL, it isn’t a hard job requirement for many careers.
A FinTech career also calls for a strong knowledge of financial concepts. However, you’ll also need to know how to code with Python and manage databases with SQL. You should also be familiar with automation and machine learning. Depending on the job, you may also need specialized skills in cybersecurity, cryptocurrency, blockchain, artificial intelligence, or app development. Some FinTech professionals may have a college degree, but others find success in the field after graduating from a FinTech or data science bootcamp.