| Qualifications and Employment Prospects

On a global scale, the sector of Financial Technology is at the beginning of its development. The majority of relevant firms are focusing on payment services. More specifically, within the Greek digital financial environment a substantial number of firm are already offering such services, such as Access Payment Services, ΑRGO Exchange, Everypay, Intelli Express, KMT, NBL Money Transfer, Smart Pay Services, Paylink, International Express Remittance, as well as some institutions focusing on electronic money, such as Viva and Tora Wallet.

At the same time, there is rising interest by many relevant businesses in overseas to start offering similar services within the Greek environment, For instance, more than 375 payment services firms and over 170 electronic money firms are planning to start business in the near future. For instance, Revolut has invested significant resources in the Greek environment, with this investment project being the 4^th biggest market in Europe, only following those in the UK, France, and Lithuania, while the substantial goal of the firm is to attract 150,000 users in the very near future.

The Graduate Program in “Financial Technology” is the first step in the race for renewal and adaptation of knowledge in this new field of finance. It deepens critical thinking, teaches innovation, and equips students with the necessary theoretical and practical knowledge to be able in the future not only successfully integrate into today’s workplace, but also can update and adapt their knowledge to future developments in this sector.

The program places particular emphasis on the mechanisms of specific markets, such as cryptocurrency markets, blockchain, as well as the tools and algorithms that can handle big data/data analytics.  

Apart from the scientific knowledge it provides, with a modern curriculum, comparable to the best universities in the world, the graduate degree encourages, promotes, and rewards competition, excellence, and a professional mindset, seeking to educate leaders and responsible citizens.

Moreover, an important path of student’s career upon graduation is that of doctoral studies in internationally renowned universities, possibly leading to an academic career.

Some of the jobs of the Program’s graduates are listed below. These are positions of responsibility, which require from the financial executives to:

• have critical thinking and the creativity to respond successfully to the challenges of the rapidly changing economic and social environment,
• combine high-level theoretical training with a practical mindset to provide solutions to real-world problems, by taking strategic decisions, as is appropriate for graduates of a Finance Department,
• undertake the training and management of a team.

In particular, the graduates of the Program can get important positions in the banking sector, as independent advisors of financial services focusing on innovative technologies in computer sciences and communication, as advisors in investment sectors focusing on electronic payment services, i.e., electronic payments and mobile wallets, in sectors associated with investment management, in sectors focusing on lending activities, mainly through alternative means of fundings, such as P2P lending, as well as in sectors specialized in automated checks of financial services, such as robo-advisors. Finally, the graduates can get jobs in the insurance sector.