FinTech For Dummies

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting to Know FinTech
	Chapter 1 Navigating the FinTech Landscape
		What Is FinTech, Anyway?
		Analyzing FinTech’s Dimensions
		Understanding What Has Changed in FinTech
		Highlighting the Size of Global FinTech
		Discovering a Few Important FinTech Terms
	Chapter 2 Understanding What’s Disrupting the Financial Industry (and Why)
		Providing Trust and Value
			Trust
			Value
		Weighing Wall Street against Silicon Valley: Where Disruptors Live
		Examining the Role of BigTech
			BigTech and payment platforms
			BigTech partnership opportunities
			How BigTech can help utilize data
			Barriers to greater BigTech participation
		Understanding Where the Disruptions Are Happening
			Banks
			Asset managers
			Insurance
			Regulation and legal work
			Payments
		Looking for the Opportunities
			Partnership opportunities
			Exploiting digitalization with AI
			Enhancing data portability
	Chapter 3 The Role of Regulation in FinTech
		Supervising FinTech
			Understanding that location matters
			Recognizing that more regulations are coming
			Leveling the playing field
		Examining Vendor Risk Issues
		Introducing the Regulators
			The United States of America
			The United Kingdom and Europe
		Investigating Regulatory Changes
			Payment Services Directives
			The General Data Protection Regulation
		Highlighting RegTech Opportunities
Part 2 Learning the Technology
	Chapter 4 Defining the Tech Underpinning FinTech
		Finding a Fix in FinTech
			What’s the problem?
			Why FinTech now?
		Creating API Strategies
			Understanding the concept
			Looking at API benefits
			Developing an API strategy
			Including REST and RAML
			Trying tips for API success
			Reviewing APIs and security vulnerabilities
		Understanding Event-Driven Software
			Testing and implementation
			Language support
		Building on Agile: Microservices and More
			Waterfall development
			Agile design
			Microservices
		Bundling Efficiencies: Batch Processing
		Improving Data Management
			Distinguishing the types of data
			Validating, enhancing, and cleansing data
			Making enterprise data management more efficient
		Working with CPUs and GPUs
			Comparing CPUs and GPUs
			Planning for success
			Estimating the potential improvement
		Choosing a Programming Language
			Python
			Julia
			R
	Chapter 5 Confronting the Compute Conundrum
		Determining Compute Requirements
			In-memory computing
			Virtualization
		Making Sense of DApps
			Comparing DApps to traditional applications
			Understanding blockchain
			Knowing where to find DApps
			Connecting DApps, Artificial Intelligence, and FinTech
			Looking at permissioned blockchain
		Understanding Quantum Computing
			How quantum computing works
			The drawbacks of quantum computing
			How quantum computing fits into FinTech
	Chapter 6 Calling Up the Cloud
		Getting to Know the Cloud
			Looking at the cloud’s key traits
			Checking out the benefits of the cloud environment
			Introducing types of cloud services
			Choosing between private and public clouds
			Cloud bursting
		Developing an Optimal Cloud Strategy
			Reviewing data security and encryption
			Surveying data states
			Considering cloud scalability
			Understanding cloud-based virtualization
			Using self-service provisioning
			Monitoring performance
			Evaluating potential security risk on the cloud
		Understanding Privacy Compliance and Government Requirements
			Data protection laws
			Data localization laws
			Data sovereignty laws
			Access to information laws
		Seeing How FinTech Helps with Cloud Strategies
	Chapter 7 Understanding Blockchain beyond Bitcoin
		Understanding the Basics of Blockchain
			Mining and consensus
			Smart contracts and DApps
			Blockchain network types
		Discovering How Blockchain Technology Works
			Decentralization
			Security
			Transparency
		Looking at Blockchain’s Role in FinTech
	Chapter 8 Acclimating to the App Mentality
		Introducing Types of FinTech Apps
		Surveying the FinTech App Landscape
			Digital banking
			Wealth management
			Payments and peer-to-peer money transfer
			Lending
		Looking at the Nonretail Side of FinTech Apps
			RegTech
			Capital markets trading
		Building a GUI Framework
			Introducing the GUI
			Getting the GUI right
		Establishing the Requirements Needed in the Development of an App
	Chapter 9 Breaking Down BI Tools
		Taking a Strategic Approach to BI
		Exploring BI Tools
			Online analytical processing
			Querying and reporting
			Data mining
			Data visualization
			Business activity monitoring
			Data warehousing
			Digital dashboards
		Choosing the Right BI Tools for FinTech
			General BI applications
			Niche BI applications
	Chapter 10 Reviewing the Role of Open Source
		Defining Open Source
			The open source community
			Free versus open source
		Looking at Open Source Development Processes
			Beginning a project
			Discussing and documenting
		Perusing the Pros of Open Source
			Reduced cost
			Flexibility
			Freedom
			Development speed
		Considering the Cons of Open Source
			An untraditional support model
			Time and resources for maintenance
			The possibility of uneven documentation
			Security risks
			Sustainability issues
			Licensing issues
			Other concerns to consider
		Evaluating Open Source Solutions
			Developing your own solution
			Finding help for the right open source solution
			Introducing open innovation
	Chapter 11 Grasping Data Management Fundamentals
		Looking at FinTech’s Role in Helping Companies Manage Their Data
		Understanding ETL: Extract, Transform, and Load
			Going over the steps
			Reviewing ETL software requirements
		Managing Market Data
			Cleansing and normalizing market data
			Segmenting and storing market data
		Dealing with Databases
			Data warehouses
			Data lakes
		Maintaining Data Lineage
		Breaking Down Big Data
		Differentiating between Structured and Unstructured Data
		Comparing SQL and NoSQL
			SQL databases
			NoSQL Databases
	Chapter 12 Adapting for Future Technologies
		Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence
			Defining AI
			Breaking down artificial neural networks
			Exploring how AI fits into FinTech
		Leveraging Machine Learning
			Supervised learning
			Reinforcement learning
			Unsupervised learning
		Making the Most of Chat Bots
		Checking Out Alternative Data Sources
			Companies and devices involved in alternative data
			Alternative data in the financial industry
			Sourcing, compliance, and regulation
Part 3 Working with FinTech Companies
	Chapter 13 Deciding Whether to Build, Buy, or Partner
		Transforming Your Company Digitally
		Exploring Reasons to Build or Buy
			Looking at reasons to build
			Checking out reasons to buy
			Finding the balance between new and legacy software
		Finding a FinTech Partner
			Weighing the pros and cons of partnership
			Researching and scouting potential FinTech partners
			Working with partners on evolving solutions
		Describing the Licensing Models
			Subscription
			Perpetual
			Term
			Source code transactions
			An open source approach
	Chapter 14 Managing Integration with Legacy Systems
		Understanding and Tackling the Challenges of Legacy Infrastructures
			Comparing old and modern systems
			Determining whether a legacy system is too old
			Estimating the cost of doing nothing
			Discovering how FinTech can help
			Planning for success
		Walking through the Technical Steps of Updating a Legacy System
			Noting areas of concern
			Making your plan
			Assembling the team
			Implementing the plan
			Avoiding the pitfalls
		Simplifying Integration with Microservices Architecture
			The benefits of microservices
			Migration strategy options
	Chapter 15 Preparing Your Team for a Successful Project
		Assembling a Transformation Team
			Recruiting the right team members
			Counting on communication
			Shifting the leadership paradigm
			Assigning roles
		Setting Realistic Expectations and Timelines
		Supporting Change Agents
		Retaining Good Employees during Change
			Why employees leave
			Retention strategies that work
			Career paths and organizational change
		Understanding Data-Driven Decision-Making
		Breaking the Silos
	Chapter 16 Investing in FinTech Companies
		Understanding the Players
			Challenging financial institutions
			Offering collaborative solutions to financial institutions
		Navigating the Investor Landscape
			Crowdfunding
			Angel investors
			Venture capital
			Corporate venture capital
			Private equity
		Conducting Due Diligence
			Performing primary research
			Doing secondary research
			Analyzing data
		Evaluating a Company’s Growth Strategies
			Studying the competition
			Listening to customers
			Asking about technology
			Inspiring innovation
		Considering a Company’s Culture
	Chapter 17 Figuring Out the FinTech Endgame
		Bringing the Board Up to Speed on FinTech
			Noting the challenges that financial boards face
			Embracing digital transformation
			Developing digital skills
			Figuring out how to participate
		Looking into the Future of FinTech
			Authentication methods
			Voice technology
			Artificial intelligence
		Identifying Industry-Driven Networks, Accelerators, and Incubators
			The FinTech Innovation Lab
			Startupbootcamp FinTech
			Techstars
			FINTECH Circle
			Level39
		Mulling Over Mergers and Acquisitions
			Consolidation
			Corporate venturing strategies
Part 4 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 18 Ten Symptoms of Ailing Legacy Technology
		A Band-Aid Overload
		A Lack of Backward Compatibility
		Incompatibility with Other Systems
		Disparate Data
		Spreadsheet Risk
		Latency
		Increasing Demand for Support and Maintenance
		Short-Term Gains and Long-Term Pains
		A Shrinking Talent Pool
		Lost Market Opportunities
	Chapter 19 Ten Questions for Determining Whether to Build or Buy
		Is This Functionality Core to Our Business?
		Is the Application Unique?
		Which Approach Is More Cost-Effective?
		Should This Application Be Built?
		What Are the Risks of Building versus Buying?
		When Does Open Source Make Sense?
		When Does Building Make Sense?
		How Can We Accelerate a Build?
		When Does Buying Make Sense?
		How Do We Select a Vendor and a Product?
	Chapter 20 Ten Considerations When Using Open Source Technology
		Your Business Model
		Open Source Community Health
		Tech Support
		Security
		Code Audits
		Reliability
		Hidden Costs
		Updates and Upgrades
		Potential Hardware Impact
		Legal Considerations
Appendix: Building a FinTech Company from the Ground Up
Index
EULA