Electronic payments are the life blood of e-Commerce. They are expanding rapidly and changing because of the pervasive use of electronic devices, whose use is not confined to consumer transactions. The course covers a wide variety of electronic payment mechanisms used to make payments worldwide. The course is designed to stimulate creative thinking about the use of new technologies in the movement of money, from small peer-to-peer transactions through the largest interbank payments. Even though everyone is familiar with money on a day-to-day basis, very few people understand how money actually moves. Payments are complex because they usually involve at least five parties -- in addition to the buyer and seller there are also the buyer's bank, the seller's bank and the country's central bank, and this does not even include service providers who transmit payment data and aggregate transactions. The buyer and seller must communicate with each other concerning the transaction, then instructions must be transmitted to the buyer's bank, which then takes action at the central bank to cause money to appear in the seller's account in the seller's bank. When different currencies are involved, the central banks of two countries are involved. Every payment system must provide for secure communication of payment orders. The course covers banking systems, e-payment security, foreign exchange, Internet banking, wireless payments, stored-value cards, micropayments, peer-to-peer payments, large-scale B2B payments and the future of money.

Below are basic parameters for advisors to use when talking to potential FinTech students regarding appropriate prior knowledge, and to ensure that students can be successful. Students should have a strong foundation in very basic concepts from multiple areas listed below. Students should have an understanding of how all of these are impacted by technology and by the regulatory environment.

Good candidates for the FinTech courses should have a background in business, finance, information technology, cybersecurity, computer science, mathematics, data science, or another related field.

Students should be familiar with or exposed to the following competencies:

1. Create and explain the income statement, balance sheet, and statement of cash flows
2. Perform time value of money calculations
3. Value and describe stocks and bonds
4. Evaluate capital budgeting projects