Global financial systems are undergoing major transformations with the advent of financial technology or “fintech” – new technologies that link information systems and finance. Missouri S&T is one of the schools spearheading the movement by offering undergraduate and graduate fintech programs this fall.

Fintech is revolutionizing a system that’s grown from about 10 key technology players to more than 10,000 companies in the last decade, reshaping commerce, digital banking, lending, payments, investment management, insurance, securities clearance and settlement, and even money itself with virtual, encrypted currencies.

“We see fintech applications all the time – PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Wallet and robotic traders on Wall Street, to name a familiar few,” says Dr. Keng Siau, chair and professor of business and information technology. “And new uses of blockchain technologies, like Bitcoin, are on the rise. The fintech of today is laying the groundwork for even more disruptions in our financial ecosystem.”

Siau says that Missouri S&T’s undergraduate fintech minor, which requires 15 hours of coursework, and the graduate fintech certificate, requiring 12 hours, will help students keep pace with these disruptive innovations and stay competitive. The fintech graduate certificate also has the distance learning or online option.

“When our business and information technology graduates become employed, their S&T education will have prepared them to move up the technical ranks or take a managerial track with a clear understanding of the technology behind it,” Siau says.

Miles Huber, a senior in information science and technology at S&T, is pursuing a minor in fintech. He’s worked as a summer intern at Boeing in St. Louis on a team that runs the financial system of the company’s supply chain.

“Fintech is the way of the future,” says Huber. “Today everything is automated, and newer technologies dealing with money are just the next step.” Huber says that fintech and data analytics knowledge go hand-in-hand in the ways they can be used to shape business decisions, as well as to manage personal finances.

Missouri S&T’s business and information technology program, accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), continues to grow to meet the needs of its students and equip them with the mindset employers seek. The program has received notable rankings in the last few years:

— No. 1 ranking for lowest MBA average debt at graduation (U.S. News & World Report, 2016)
— No. 1 ranking for highest proportion of women among ranked full-time MBA programs (U.S. News & World Report, 2017)
— No. 2 ranking for best MBA salary-to-debt ratio (U.S. News & World Report, 2017)
— No. 2 ranking for online big data programs (collegechoice.com, 2018)
— No. 4 ranking for best online master’s in internet marketing (TheBestSchools.org, 2018)
— No. 10 ranking for best online MBA program in project management (bestcolleges.com, 2018)
— No. 10 ranking for top online programs in supply chain (Online MBA Today, 2017)
— No. 13 ranking for best online graduate business programs at public institutions (U.S. News & World Report, 2018)

For more information about Missouri S&T’s business and information technology programs, visit business.mst.edu.