Insegnamento a.a. 2026-2027

The course aims to provide students with both professional knowledge and practical tools through a dual analytical perspective:

• professionals working within banks (particularly retail and private banks) and FinTech companies, as well as students interested in launching their own FinTech ventures;
• professionals collaborating with financial institutions as external stakeholders, including consultants, venture capitalists, technology providers, and other industry partners.

The curriculum is structured to first provide students with a comprehensive understanding of the banking and financial services industry, and then explore the profound transformation currently reshaping the sector. Particular attention is devoted to the challenges and opportunities faced by both incumbent banks and emerging FinTech firms.

The course is organised around key vertical product areas that drive innovation in the core functions of financial intermediation: payments and money services, lending, savings, and investments. For each area, students will analyse market structures, incumbent business models, emerging use cases, and the strategies adopted by technology-driven entrants. The course also examines the underlying economic dynamics, enabling technologies, and the evolving competitive landscape of the industry.

By the end of the course, students will have developed both a solid theoretical foundation and a practical understanding of the forces transforming banking and financial services at an international level.

To achieve these objectives, the course adopts an interactive and interdisciplinary approach designed to strengthen students’ understanding of the economics of banks and FinTech companies, while fostering critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and an entrepreneurial mindset.

The learning experience is enriched through real-world examples, business case studies, guest speakers, and live class discussions. Active participation is therefore considered an essential component of the course.

The course is structured around five parallel strands.

- The first strand examines how banks and FinTech companies are evolving by analysing their main transformation drivers, including technology, regulation, customer behaviour, and competitive dynamics, together with their business models and future industry trends.

- The second strand focuses on the transformation of financial markets from both the supply and demand side, with particular attention to value chains, platform-based models, financial ecosystems, and the evolution of customer expectations, behaviours, and digital experiences.

- The third strand explores the evolving relationship between banks and FinTech firms, analysing the balance between competition and collaboration and how incumbent institutions are adapting to continuous technological and market change.

- The fourth strand adopts a forward-looking perspective on the future of banking, including new banking architectures, emerging types of financial institutions, innovative business models, and the increasing differentiation among market players.

- The fifth strand is dedicated to understanding the evolving regulatory and market frameworks of open banking and open finance, and how these paradigms are reshaping the financial services industry.

By the end of the course, students will have developed a solid knowledge base and will be able to 

• Understand the origins and drivers of the FinTech phenomenon and its hype.
• Assess the impact of FinTech on the financial markets.
• Evaluate the key drivers of transformation in financial services and their effects at both the micro and macro levels.
• Analyse the transformative shift from transaction-based models to service-oriented approaches in the financial services industry, and assess the associated managerial and entrepreneurial challenges.
• Understand and assess where and how the banking industry is undergoing a deep transformation.
• Interpret the unique features of banks and FinTech development.
• Explain the economic logic underlying the business models of banks and FinTech companies, and critically evaluate their sustainability, effectiveness, and strategic positioning within the evolving financial services industry.
• Critically assess the role of digital platforms in shaping the FinTech revolution and the evolution of financial ecosystems.
• Compare different perspectives on the idea of FinTech leading the banking industry versus incumbents.

• Critically evaluate the empirical evidence concerning the evolving structure of the banking industry and the strategies adopted by different market participants.
• Assess the role of banks and FinTech companies within the modern financial services industry, with particular attention to value propositions, customer relationships, and risk assessment models.
• Evaluate the impact of the main environmental and technological drivers of change on the strategies and performance of banks and FinTech companies.
• Analyse the regulatory challenges arising from digital transformation and the growth of FinTech companies.
• Conduct independent research and critically review specialised academic and industry literature on banking and financial innovation, identifying and evaluating relevant information sources.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Collaborative Works / Assignments
• Interaction/Gamification

The course is designed to foster a strong connection between theory and practice by combining fundamental conceptual frameworks with real-world examples, business cases, and interactive discussions. Guest speakers from banks, FinTech companies, consulting firms, supervisory authorities, and technology firms contribute practical insights and diverse industry perspectives.

The course adopts an interactive teaching approach aimed at fostering active participation, critical discussion, and applied learning. Students are therefore expected and encouraged to actively engage in class discussions, which are designed to deepen students’ understanding of the economics of banks and FinTech companies, while encouraging critical thinking and the development of an entrepreneurial mindset.

Therefore, students are expected to read, whenever required, the materials before class.

The course will employ several teaching methods:

• Face-to-face lectures.
• Active readings. These sessions require students to read papers/articles/reports and similar, and analyse them while making comments according to a set of guidelines.
• Guest speakers' talks. We have several sessions with outside experts, including consultants, founders of early-stage start-ups, executives in financial services, and venture capitalists.
• Group projects designed :
  • to help students upgrade their thinking
  • to evaluate the impact of FinTechs on the strategies and performance of banks
  • to assess the resiliency of banks' and FinTech companies' business models
  • to develop group work and collaboration, and be able to present projects to the class.

Students may choose between attending and non-attending status.

The two options involve different learning experiences and assessment methods.

For attending students, the final evaluation is based on the following components:

• Two group assignments (differently weighted but overall counting for 60% of the final grade). They are two different projects and are graded differently, as will be detailed in class. They are both designed to verify the student's ability to:
  • Apply the appropriate tools and methodologies learnt in class.
  • Work on a team and organise and present the relevant outcomes effectively.
• Final written exam (40% of the final grade), based on a combination of open-ended essay questions designed to assess students’ critical understanding of the selected course readings, including textbook chapters and academic articles. Additional details will be provided in the syllabus and made available on Blackboard.

• Attending status and related scores will be considered for the exam sessions of December 2026 and January 2027.

Students may choose between attending and non-attending status.

The two options involve different learning experiences and assessment methods.

For non-attending students, the final evaluation is based exclusively on the written exam, which accounts for 100% of the final grade.

The contents refer to the textbook and the material made available on the Course website (technical notes, readings, and slides) as detailed in the syllabus.

The final evaluation is based exclusively on a written examination. Group work assessments cannot contribute to the final grade, as such activities are available only to attending students.

The written exam is based on a combination of open-ended essay questions.

The course materials consist of:

• Book:

Omarini A., 2019, Banks and Banking: Digital Transformation and the Hype of Fintech. Business impacts, new frameworks, and managerial implications, McGraw-Hill

The book is also available as an eBook at

- https://www.bookrepublic.it/book/9788838695797-banks-and-banking-digital-transformation-and-the-hype-of-fintech/

- https://www.ibs.it/search/?ts=as&query=omarini+bank%20fintech&query_seo=omarini+bank%20fintech&qs=true

- And, also available through the Bocconi Library.

• Other additional course materials (articles, cases, class notes, news articles, slides) will be posted on the Bboard and/or handed out in class.

Additional details regarding the selected course materials for attending students will be provided at the beginning of the course.

The course materials consist of:

• Book:

Omarini A., 2019, Banks and Banking: Digital Transformation and the Hype of Fintech. Business impacts, new frameworks, and managerial implications, McGrawHill

The book is also available as an eBook at

- https://www.bookrepublic.it/book/9788838695797-banks-and-banking-digital-transformation-and-the-hype-of-fintech/

- https://www.ibs.it/search/?ts=as&query=omarini+bank%20fintech&query_seo=omarini+bank%20fintech&qs=true

- Also available at Bocconi Library.

• Other additional course materials (articles, cases, class notes, news articles, slides) will be posted on the Bboard and/or handed out in class.