Academic Focus - Fintech in Wales | Trade & Investment

With innovative programmes such as the National Software Academy, where students work on live industry projects from day one of their undergraduate degree, and partnerships with tech leaders such as Microsoft at our further education colleges, Wales is producing business-ready talent.

Underpinning this, Welsh Government provides strong backing to financial and professional services in Wales. For example the Welsh Government-created Cardiff Central Enterprise Zone, a 140 acre site in the heart of Cardiff city centre dedicated to financial and professional services firms that offers additional business support packages to investors. The Welsh Government is also investing wider afield with Wrexham in the north providing an opportunity for Fintech companies to access Chester Business Park and the wider Northern Powerhouse.

Wales enjoys a wealth of expertise within academia that can offer direct benefits to Fintech companies.

This can be supported using Wales’ SMART programme which funds academic and commercial interaction.

Centres of excellence include:

The Centre for Financial and Professional Services, University of South Wales

The Centre’s Trading Room provides students with a hands-on context for an active learning experience with access to both share trading simulation software and empirical data. The Trading Room has seen the introduction of Reuters Erikon and Datastream software enabling undergraduate and postgraduate students to analyse a comprehensive range of global corporate and market information.

The Information Security Research Group, University of South Wales

The group focuses on issues associated with the design and development of early warning systems capable of detecting and responding to cyber based attacks, and on issues associated with the field of computer forensics.

The National Software Academy

A Centre of excellence for software engineering in Wales, the National Software Academy aims to deliver industry-focused degrees in software engineering. This will provide students with academic experience of relevant and leading-edge technologies delivered within an industrial framework, utilising industry-proven tools and techniques to facilitate transition into the job market.

The Academy is a partnership between Cardiff University, Welsh Government and industry leaders to address the shortfall of qualified, industry-ready software engineers. It combines teaching and training in a bespoke commercial / IT environment, developed in close partnership with industry and local businesses.

The Data Science Academy

The Data Science Academy aims to produce highly-skilled and employable graduates in some of the fastest growing and in-demand areas, from data science and artificial intelligence to cyber security.

Run by Cardiff University’s School of Computer Science and Informatics in partnership with the School of Mathematics, their suite of postgraduate degrees is based on the extremely successful model of Cardiff University’s National Software Academy in which students are given "real world" experience by working on team-based, client-facing projects.

Their vision is to import and combine skills, knowledge and ideas across disciplines to deliver world-class education, cultivating a new generation of skilled professionals and the next generation of experts in the field.

The National Cyber Security Academy (NCSA)

The University of South Wales (USW) and Welsh Government have joined forces to launch an innovative project Financial Technology Management Glyndŵr University's BSc Financial Technology Management is the first financial technology undergraduate course in the UK. Students develop financial technology skills in areas including global markets, investment strategies, taxation, corporate risk and innovation. The degree is supported by a world-class steering group to ensure that the course meets market needs and international trends.' to help address a shortage of cyber security skills and develop the next generation of cyber security experts.

The first of its kind in Wales and a major UK initiative, The National Cyber Security Academy (NCSA) will involve major industry players and undergraduates will work on real-world projects set by NCSA partners. The USW's Newport City Campus took their first students in October 2016.