Fintech, blockchain and A.I. are revolutionising the banking industry and have the potential to replace a significant percentage of the human capital, eliminating a chunk of their cost bases. Last month, former Citi CEO, Vikram Pandit, was particularly pessimistic, claiming that 30% of jobs could be lost in the next five years.
As CNBC reports, finance professionals, especially “more experienced” ones, are acutely aware of the risk and are rushing to educate themselves via online learning.
Financial professionals are taking online financial technology (fintech) courses to fend off competition and stay ahead of disruption. The boost in uptake is due in part to a feeling among those in the industry that financial technology has reached a turning point in its evolution. A report from Citigroup in 2016 caused widespread debate when it estimated that between 2 million and 6 million jobs would be lost in banking across the U.S. and Europe over the next 10 years. That was attributed to both automation and artificial intelligence (AI), innovation and the rise of more efficient and less cost-intensive challenger banks. Santander’s fintech-focused venture capital fund, Santander InnoVentures, estimates cost savings for banks that implement blockchain technology as high as $20 billion per year by 2022.
Blue chip educational establishments launching new courses and corporate M&A are features of this growth market.
Highly-regarded educational institutions are also being forced to innovate and provide the resources to the financial industry to up-skill and stay ahead of an ever-steepening curve. The likes of Oxford University, Princeton and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) now all offer online courses aimed at busy and high-level banking executives. According to a report from e-learning software provider Docebo, online education in general is set to grow by 5 percent over the next decade and generate over $240 billion by 2023. LinkedIn also joined the sector as early as 2015, buying online education firm Lynda for $1.5 billion. Lynda has finance and technology courses, including ones that aim to help business executives implement tech into their firm…
GetSmarter was acquired by American education technology giant 2U for over $100 million in July as it looks to join the non-degree focused line of online course offerings. The Nasdaq-listed 2U has had a good 2017 itself after posting a year-on-year increase of 32 percent on its top line in the second quarter. The company’s stock is up over 110 percent year-to-date and it is scheduled to report third-quarter figures on November 7.
Source/More: Fintech Revolution – Finance Professionals Rushing To Take Courses As Career Hedge | Zero Hedge
