Singapore's five local polytechnics have partnered with Fidor, the digital banking group, to launch a fintech education curriculum.
This is the first time Fidor has introduced such a programme in the Asian region, with the aim to help underpin Singapore’s position as a leading global fintech Hub.
Supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Fidor Student Academy Singapore programme will be incorporated into the curricula of banking or IT-related diploma courses offered by the five polytechnics, starting with Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP).
The German online bank has invested about $800,000 Singapore dollars (SGD) to develop the curriculum and will be spending an additional yearly sum of about SGD$160,000 to run.
Sandbox Testing
At NP, a pilot run of this programme has commenced with 38 final-year students from the Diploma in Financial Informatics. They are learning to develop innovative applications for the financial industry using Fidor API (application programming interface).
Students will acquire the knowledge that may help them develop digital banking services such as banking through messaging apps and e-wallets and eventually pursue a financial technology career or develop their own entrepreneurial path.
With access to the Fidor sandbox, students will also be able to test out their own applications using the fidorOS digital banking platform. In its full rollout, the programme stands to benefit some 500 students across the five polytechnics.
To further supplement the students’ real-life experience, Fidor will also offer selected students the opportunity to take part in an internship at one of their global locations, such as Munich.
