Best Free FinTech Resources & Tutorials

One of today’s fastest-growing fields, financial technology, or FinTech, covers a wide range of products, services, and even companies. While most people progress from novice to expert through paid coursework, many students and busy professionals research the topic initially through free online resources.

Blog posts, news articles, and free seminars and tutorials are among the best ways to learn about FinTech. After gaining some fundamental FinTech knowledge, many FinTech beginners enroll in intensive bootcamps or certificate programs to qualify for entry-level positions.

What is FinTech?

Most scholars consider using national and international money transfers the first major advancement in financial technology. In the latter half of the 20th century, FinTech grew to include a host of then-new technologies—from the automated teller machine (ATM) to the first digital stock exchange, the NASDAQ, to the rise of online banking.

FinTech encompasses a whole universe of products, services, and technological innovations. A comprehensive list would be lengthy, but the top areas today include:

• Banking as a Service (BaaS)
• Blockchain technology
• Credit reporting services
• Digital lending (B2B and B2C)
• Embedded finance
• Insurance
• Investment advisory services
• Online payment platforms

Careers in FinTech vary, too, from financial analysis to wealth management. Among today’s most popular FinTech positions are the following:

• App Developer
• Blockchain Developer
• Business Analyst
• Business Development Manager
• Cybersecurity Analyst
• Data Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Financial Analyst
• Marketing Analyst
• Risk Control Manager

Nearly every industry today includes some form of FinTech role, especially in accounting, cybersecurity, and mobile and online payment services. Besides these, the top sectors for FinTech include:

• Banking/Finance
• Blockchain/Cryptocurrency
• Data Science
• Insurance
• Machine Learning
• Mobile App Development

What Can You Do with FinTech?

FinTech refers to the many Financial Technology products and services you can use today and some of the companies that offer them. Consider FinTech as an umbrella term referring to three main categories:

1. Services - On a basic level, many FinTech services may be considered products, and vice versa. PayPal is a service, but the platform of services PayPal offers may be called a product itself. To simplify matters, look at services that are now commonly provided and named as such: Banking as a Service (BaaS), payment services like Venmo, and investment services like Robinhood.
2. Products - FinTech products range from the payment app you use on your smart device every day to robo-advisors and digital banking. Currencies aren’t typically referred to as products, but cryptocurrencies certainly fall into the product category as opposed to a service.
3. FinTech Companies - Organizations like Visa and Mastercard top the list of major FinTech companies in the U.S., followed by Tencent and Ant Financial in China, then U.S. companies Intuit, PayPal, and Stripe. These firms offer FinTech products or services, and people generally refer to the companies themselves as “FinTechs.”

Additional FinTech products, services, and technological innovations include wealth management, insurance (a.k.a., “insurtech”), and credit reporting/identity theft protection services.

Blog Posts and Online Articles

Any search for FinTech news will typically include articles from publications like Business Insider and FinTech Times and sites like TechCrunch and FinTechNews. While these resources provide excellent, up-to-date news and information on tech trends, they don’t necessarily offer much in the way of training in FinTech fundamentals. Some of the best blog posts and articles come from course providers like Noble Desktop.

The Tech Blog section of Noble’s website offers a rich source of evergreen content relevant to FinTech students, from articles on data science and coding to blog posts on the following topics:

1. Python - The Python section of Noble Desktop’s Tech Blog hosts over 30 articles on subjects relevant to many FinTech positions. Featured topics include Python for data science, financial analysis, machine learning, automation, and data analytics. Other articles cover data visualization, top Python libraries, Matplotlib, and NumPy.
2. SQL - SQL, structured query language, is crucial to working with relational databases in many FinTech positions. The SQL section of the Tech Blog features more than 20 posts on this programming language. Among the many topics of interest to FinTech students are MySQL, PostgreSQL, Microsoft SQL Server, and Oracle.
3. Excel - When it comes to popular data analytics tools, Excel stands close to the top of almost everyone’s list. Some FinTech pros use Python, others use Excel, and others need mastery of both. The Excel section of Noble Desktop’s Tech Blog hosts over 40 articles on this essential program. Subjects include Excel Macros, Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), and Excel certification for data analytics.

An entirely different approach to free online info, the Learning Resources section of Noble’s website provides posts and tutorials on interrelated subjects like business, finance, and data.

Like the Tech Blog, this pool of resources includes a range of topics. Of particular interest to FinTech students:

1. Financial Modeling Blog - Planning a career in FinTech? Here you’ll find over 100 free tutorials and videos. Financial modeling posts include everything from credit default swaps to stock options, the Black-Scholes Model, and capital markets.
2. Python Blog - A perfect supplement to the Python section of the Tech Blog, this section of free tutorials and resources covers multiple topics relevant to FinTech students. Check out Python vs. Excel for Data Analytics, Calculating Median in Python, and Learning the Math Used in Data Science.
3. Excel Blog - The Excel section of Learning Resources hosts nearly 100 free tutorials and blog posts. These include Pivot Tables, Data Validation, and SUMIFs and COUNTIFs, to name a few.

Video Seminars and Tutorials

While some students learn better by reading materials in articles or books, others prefer to get started through video, if possible. Noble Desktop has that covered, too: They offer many of their classes live online through teleconferencing and host numerous video seminars and tutorials.

Free Seminars - FinTech students looking for video seminars will find a goldmine here. Check the top of the page for updates on registration for live online seminars. Once you click the link, you’ll only need to provide an email address to register. If you can’t make it for the live version, you can still register; Noble Desktop will email a link when the seminar is posted for viewing.

Below the links to upcoming live classes, Noble hosts a wealth of recordings of past seminars. Of particular interest to FinTech students:

• Intro to Python Fundamentals
• Intro to SQL
• Exchanging Excel for Python

Many students avail themselves of the seminars and tutorials uploaded to Noble Desktop’s YouTube channel. Subscribers get notifications for upcoming live streams, and the channel hosts a deep catalog of tutorials. For many FinTech students, the following are noteworthy:

• Get Started in Data Science
• Making a Twitter Bot in Python
• Top 10 Beginner Excel Tricks You Need to Know

Key Insights

FinTech is a broad field encompassing financial technology products, services, and companies. Top FinTech positions include:

• App Developer
• Business Analyst
• Cybersecurity Analyst
• Data Scientist
• Financial Analyst
• Marketing Analyst
• Risk Control Manager

Most FinTech students begin learning about the subject through free online resources. The most popular include:

• Blog posts and articles
• Video tutorials and seminars
• FinTech news

Relevant FinTech resources include:

• Blogs like Noble Desktop’s Tech Blog
• Live and archived tutorials from Noble’s Free Seminars page
• The Noble Desktop YouTube page

Learn FinTech with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Some people think there’s only one path to training for a FinTech career, that of a lengthy degree program, but there are other alternatives. Among the most popular is the bootcamp or certificate training model.

Noble Desktop is a leading provider of online education in areas directly relevant to the booming FinTech field. They provide multiple educational options for students, both those who are new to FinTech and others already working in tech. The following are some of their most popular programs.

1. FinTech Bootcamp - This comprehensive FinTech course is open to beginners and can be completed in four weeks full-time or four months part-time. Topics include SQL and Python for data science, automation, and machine learning.
2. Python for Finance Bootcamp - The 18-hour Python for Finance Bootcamp acquaints students with financial models, managing portfolios with Python, and other Python-centered topics. Students can save by taking this class as part of the FinTech Bootcamp. See course listings for prerequisite information.
3. Financial Modeling Bootcamp - A 21-hour program, the Financial Modeling Bootcamp includes topics like Discount Cash Flow (DCF), Leveraged Buyouts (LBO) Modeling, and financial analysis with MS-Excel. Check course listings for details, including prerequisite information.

Other Noble Desktop programs to consider are the Python Programming Bootcamp, Data Science Certificate, and Python for Data Science Bootcamp.