A £3 million Fintech-focused Research Center has been established in order to support sector-wider transformation efforts.
The Fintech Center has been launched at the Nottingham Business School (NBS) in order to work closely with various organizations and carry out relevant academic research which will aim to inform policy and practice in the Fintech and banking industry.
The Center will focus on researching the transformative aspects of Fintech on the competitive environment in banking and the financial services sector, on service delivery and the supplier-client relationship.
Key themes will reportedly include the overall impact of Fintech on the dynamics of competition and on the overall efficiency of service delivery, the implications for the operations of banking platforms and other financial services, the general attitude of customers to new delivery modes, issues related to data security and the emergence of an updated regulatory framework.
The Center will aim to harness its academic capabilities and its network of industry professionals in exploring these questions and will share its research findings across academic, business and policymaking departments.
Its research will inform and be informed by existing practice, while ensuring the highest academic standards in terms of research rigor and integrity. The Center’s work will be underpinning innovations or breakthroughs in undergraduate, postgraduate and post-experience programs. An official launch event may be scheduled for later in 2021.
As mentioned in the announcement, the Center will be directed by Professor James Devlin who will reportedly be joining NBS, which is part of Nottingham Trent University, from the University of Leicester, where he is presently working as the Dean of the School of Business.
Professor Devlin has research interests that are focused on consumer decision-making and behavior in financial services, policy issues in financial services and company or business strategy in the industry.
His work has also focused on trust, fairness, professionalism and ethics in the financial services sector. He has an established track record of research publications as well as the generation of research funding. He also has extensive experience in senior-level engagement with the practitioner and policymaking sectors.
Professor Alistair Bruce, Associate Dean of Research at NBS, stated:
“NTU’s £3 million strategic investment will help establish NBS as a major player in fin tech, and we will harness the deep connections with our industrial partners to positively impact both policy and practice in this fast-developing sector.”
Professor Baback Yazdani, Executive Dean of NBS, remarked:
“NBS has a long tradition of combining academic rigor with the worlds of practice and policy and we aim to recruit top researchers to focus on answering some of the underlying questions that will shape the fin tech sector for many years to come.”