Frequently Asked Questions

The Programme equips professionals with both the academic and research insights coupled with practical knowledge and enables them for the brave new financial world order. Participants will get in-depth exposure to core FinTech domains.

Participants will learn from the leading Faculty of IIM Calcutta and work on interesting Capstone Case Studies. As a participant, you will also be able to network and associate with current and future FinTech leaders.

On the successful completion of this programme, participants will receive

• Executive Programme Certificate by IIM Calcutta
• Be part of the Alumni Network of IIM Calcutta Executive Education

The Advanced Programme in FinTech and Financial Blockchain is a first of its kind by an IIM. With FinTech evolving as the new E-commerce and the industry’s exploding demand for expertise, this programme has been launched by IIM Calcutta in association with TalentSprint.

IIM Calcutta is ranked #3 in Asia by FT. It houses a globally acclaimed Finance Lab, a state-of-the-art facility, that focuses on the integration of theory and research with practice.

With IIM Calcutta’s expertise in Finance, Business, Technology, Markets and Analytics, it is well placed to launch this programme for middle and senior management professionals.

TalentSprint with its deep understanding of the FinTech industry, access to industry experts, and a state of art technology platform has been chosen by IIM Calcutta as the right partner for this programme.

This programme is best suited for management professionals at mid and senior levels from Banking, Financial Services, FinTech, Regulators, Industry bodies, Start-ups and Technology organizations. Participants aspiring to be future FinTech leaders and keen to create a FinTech blueprint for their organizations from across the country and abroad will be your peers in this programme.

Global Programmes are not customized as per the Indian Market. They are also quite expensive compared to this programme.

Digital disruption is shrinking the role and relevance of today’s banks and simultaneously helping them create better, faster, and cheaper services.

Investment in FinTech is breaking records, $ 39.6 Billion in 2018, clearly signifying that the digital revolution has arrived in the financial services sector. Thus, embracing the change and empowering yourself with the most-desired skillset and knowledge is highly important.

TalentSprint is the technology partner for this programme. All the programme content and online sessions will be delivered through TalentSprint interactive direct-to-device platform. TalentSprint will also be responsible for Capstone Projects of this programme.

IIM Calcutta with its expertise in quantitative courses, analytics programmes, and financial markets is well placed to equip the professionals with both the academic framework and the practical skill sets to help set a firm footing in this brave new financial world order.

All the members of faculty belong to IIM Calcutta. The selection will be done by IIM Calcutta and even the certificates will be issued by them.

Selection for the programme will be done by IIM Calcutta and is based on the details of education, work experience and motivation submitted by you along with your application.

Candidates must complete the graduation with 50% marks

Candidates must have experience at least 2 years

Scanned copies of documents required along with the application are as follows:

1. Education Certificate (should indicate the marks obtained confirming at least 50% of marks)

Valid Documents

• Degree Certificate (indicating the percentage of marks obtained) and/or
• Marks Sheet

2. Experience Certificate (should specify the date of joining confirming at least 2 years of work experience)

Valid Documents

• Latest Pay Slip (indicating the Date of Joining) and/or
• Experience Letter and/or
• Offer Letter/Joining Letter

The programme is designed for those engaged at middle and senior management levels in organizations and who are interested in creating a blueprint of a FinTech strategy for their company. The programme will cover managerial as well as technical content assuming that participants will play the role of leaders driving FinTech projects in their firms.

You can apply for this programme online by submitting your duly filled application. Applicants will have to pay an application fee of Rs 2000 and also submit documents (soft copies) confirming their Graduation Percentage and Work Experience as described in the eligibility criteria.

Education Certificate should indicate the marks obtained confirming at least 50% of marks.

Latest Pay Slip should clearly specify your date of joining confirming at least 2 years of work experience. If not, you will have to submit your experience letter(s) indicating the same.

Yes, the programme fee can be paid in instalments as indicated below

Please refer to the fee section on the programme page to know all the important dates.

Campus visit fee is ₹ 36,000 plus GST (For 2 campus visits of 3 days each @ ₹ 6000 per day)

The Programme Fee is ₹ 3,36,000 plus GST. The Campus visit fee has to be paid separately.

No, the application fee is non-refundable.

No, the programme fee is non-refundable and non-transferable, under any circumstances.

Advanced Programme in FinTech and Financial Blockchain

Foundation Modules:

1. Data Analysis and Interpretation (21 hours)

• Descriptive versus Inferential Statistics
• Examining relations among variables
• Building a statistical model and assessing its goodness of fit
• Assessing future outcomes
• Bayesian versus frequentist statistical approaches

2. Financial Markets and Products (15 hours)

• Financial ecosystem, role of fund-based and fee-based firms
• Understanding money and bond markets, product features, present analytics
• Understanding equity market, high frequency trading, product features
• Understanding forex market and forex products
• Understanding commodity market. commodity ETFs

3. Understanding Banks and Other Financial Institutions (15 hours)

• Traditional banking and its operations
• Shadow banks and its role in the credit market
• Technological disruptions in financial services
• Risk management in banks and other financial institutions

4. Foundations of FinTech (15 hours)

• Financial Innovation: Past and present
• Financial data management
• Machine learning in FinTech
• Evaluation of machine learning models
• FinTech company valuation

5. Digital Payments (12 hours)

• History of e-payment from B2B to C2C, Future of international remittances
• Payment processors and payment gateways
• eMoney and eWallets
• Mobile-based payments, UPI 1.0 and UPI 2.0, Contactless payments and wearable

Advanced Modules:

6. All About Blockchains (21 hours)

• Overview of blockchain
• Private and public keys, hashing, and digital signature
• Distributed ledger and cryptographic pointers
• Mining, proof of work and proof of stake
• Smart contracts and permissioned ledgers
• Hyperledger fabric overview
• Blockchain in financial software and systems

7. Digital Disruption in Financial Services (18 hours)

• The changing role of SMAC for financial services
• FinTech for actionable insights in digital banking and digital insurance
• Rethinking customer experience management in BFSI
• Digital transformation through Big Data
• Algorithm driven wealth management, crowdfunding and P2P lending
• Financial inclusion
• Gamification, chatbots and robotic process automation for digital disruption
• Managing FinTech startups

8. Crypto Assets and Tokens (15 hours)

• Introduction to cryptocurrency
• Crypto infrastructure and payment
• Crypto trading platforms, users look out in a exchange, crypto OTC market, tokenization
• Government regulations (global and India) and their impact, crypto favorable countries and policies
• Central bank digital currency and stable coin and their future prospects

9. Risk Management for FinTech (12 hours)

• Regulatory challenges
• Technological innovation
• Operational and business risk analysis
• Cybersecurity and privacy
• Fraud detection and prevention

10. Data-driven Financial Analytics (15 hours)

• Algorithmic trading
• News-based trading
• Default prediction using qualitative and quantitative information
• Wealth management services
• Early warning signals

• Participants are evaluated on the basis of an appropriate combination of examinations, assignments, projects, and class participation for each of the courses. For every course the participants are given any one of the following grades: “Excellent”; “Good”; “Fair”; or “Poor”.
• Those getting not more than two “Poor” grades will get a certificate of successful completion of the programme and the course-wise grades obtained will be mentioned in the certificate.
• Those getting more than two “Poor” grades will get only a certificate of participation in the programme. In such cases, the grade will not be mentioned in the certificate.

Online sessions will be held twice a week as given below:

Saturdays - 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Sundays - 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM

In case a participant fails to maintain the minimum attendance criterion or is unable to complete the programme with the current batch, he/she will be given the opportunity to re-join with one of the next two batches after paying the requisite fee, provided the programme is being offered at that time. If a participant fails to complete the programme even in next two batches, his/her registration will automatically get canceled.

No. This programme caters to working professionals who aspire to hone their skills to better adapt and grow in the constantly evolving FinTech sector. No placement assistance is provided to the participants.

A large part of the programme will be delivered through online sessions on TalentSprint’s direct to device platform. A part of the programme will be delivered through face to face sessions at IIM Calcutta campus. There will be 2 campus visits of 3 days each, one at the beginning and the other towards the end of the programme.

Books and Reading material are mostly distributed during campus visits. Reading material (pre/post session) is also shared regularly through the Online Learning Management System.

The first cohort of the programme has commenced on May 23, 2019.
Next cohort to start in Jan 2020.

The total duration of the programme is 6 months, excluding Capstone Case Studies.

After the successful completion of the programme, you will receive an IIMC – Executive Education Alumni status. You will also be provided login details for accessing the IIM Calcutta alumni portal.

A part of the programme will be conducted at IIM Calcutta campus. Rest of the programme will be conducted through online sessions.

A certificate of successful completion is provided upon completion of all requirements of the programme. All examinations and evaluations related to the certification are carried out by IIM Calcutta.

The batch size for the Advanced Programme in FinTech and Financial Blockchain will be 100.

All sessions are conducted by IIM Calcutta faculty. Industry experts may be invited for sharing their valuable experience.

During the campus modules, accommodation is provided to the participants in the Management Development Centre of IIM Calcutta, which has well-furnished air-conditioned rooms, all provided with seamless internet connectivity, intercom facility, private verandas, and en-suite bathrooms.

There are study areas and social spaces open to the entire community on the campus. The participants can also avail the library facilities while on campus.

The campus visit is a crucial part of this programme. It facilitates the in-class experience of face-to-face sessions. Participants not only get the opportunity to meet the faculty members and network amongst themselves, they also get a chance to immerse in the rich academic environment of the Institute.

Participants are welcome to visit the campus and meet the faculty members, with prior appointments.

Yes, Campus Visits are mandatory for the successful completion of the programme.

Yes, there will be 2 campus visits of 3 days each.

Do not worry. In case you miss a session, you will be given access to view the recorded version of the session within a specified timeframe.

Yes, attendance will be recorded regularly during this programme. Participants need to maintain a minimum attendance criterion in each course of the programme.

An internet connected device, Computer/Laptop/Tablet/Smartphone, is enough to access the platform.

Web-camera and Mic with necessary power backup will be needed for proctored online assessments.

The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC) was established as the first national institute for Post Graduate Studies and Research in Management by the Government of India in November 1961, in collaboration with Alfred P. Sloan School of Management (MIT), the Government of West Bengal, The Ford Foundation, and the Indian Industry. Over the years, IIM Calcutta has grown into a mature institution with a global reputation, imparting high-quality management education. It has been playing a pioneering role in professionalizing Indian management through its Post Graduate and Doctoral level Programmes, Executive Training Programmes, Research and Consulting Activities. It is ranked at #3 Management Business School in Asia and under Top 25, globally. For more information please visit www.iimcal.ac.in.

TalentSprint brings high-end and deep-tech education to aspiring and experienced professionals. It partners with world-class academic institutions and global corporations to develop and offer disruptive programs. TalentSprint's hybrid platform delivers unique online and onsite experiences that help build cutting-edge expertise, for today and tomorrow. Funded by Nexus Venture Partners and the NSDC, it is the recipient of several national and international awards including Dream Company To Work For 2017, Best Innovative Technology Organisation In Education Sector Award 2016, World HRD Congress HR Tech Leader Award 2014, CIO Review Company of the Year Award 2014, Silicon India Industry Performer of the Year Award 2014 and others. For more information please visit www.talentsprint.com.