Full-Time MBA students at the University of Georgia now have the option to bolster their résumés with an academic area of emphasis in the rapidly growing field of financial technology, or fintech.

The fintech sector focuses on the use of technology to facilitate everyday financial transactions. The state of Georgia has flourished as a fintech hub, said Benjamin C. Ayers, dean of UGA’s Terry College of Business. Companies based in Atlanta process 70 percent of all credit, debit and prepaid card transactions in the United States.
 
“The fintech emphasis is a prime example of how the Terry College prepares students for fast-growing industries across the economy,” Ayers said. “We are the first to add this MBA emphasis in the state of Georgia and one of the first in the country. It will give our graduates a clear advantage in the track to fintech careers.”
 
The area of emphasis includes 12 hours of relevant coursework culminating in a fintech project with a corporate partner. The curriculum is designed to teach students the latest trends and topics in business process management, cyber threat intelligence and legal issues in the financial services industry, said Santanu Chatterjee, director of the college’s Full-Time MBA Program.
 
“Fintech is the perfect meeting of two areas where the Terry College excels—management information systems and finance,” he said. “Our students will not only benefit from our excellent faculty, but also gain real-world experience through a capstone project with a corporate client in their final semester.”
 
More than 30,000 employees in metro Atlanta are working in the fintech sector, and investments in the industry exceeded $15 billion last year, according to Business Insider.