Visa partners with local polytechnics and Singapore FinTech Association to cultivate future talent in Singapore

04/25/2017

This joint initiative aims to narrow the FinTech skills gap and strengthen the local talent pool trained in financial technology

 

Visa, the global leader in payments, has partnered with the local polytechnics and Singapore FinTech Association to nurture future talent through a series of engagements with students from the five polytechnics in Singapore.

This initiative was introduced after the polytechnics, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Republic Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic and Temasek Polytechnic, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Singapore Fintech Association in February this year.

Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei said: ““We are very excited to collaborate with the local polytechnics and Singapore Fintech Association to launch this corporate partnership programme, designed to build a STEM talent pipeline.  We have reached out to various schools in the Polytechnics such as School of InfoComm Technology, which are predominantly male-centric to increase female representation in this industry. Through this initiative, students will attend learning sessions conducted by Visa representatives and be involved in business case challenges. We hope to inspire our young talent to join this exciting community.”

Mr Clarence Ti, Principal of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, is heartened to see the upsurge in innovation labs and workshop opportunities for polytechnic students. “We are excited that Visa’s subject matter experts are conducting workshops for polytechnic students. This is a great initiative for them to stay ahead of the FinTech game, in order to meet the industry’s demands,” he added. Ngee Ann Polytechnic is the SkillsFuture Sector Coordinator for Accountancy and Financial Services.

“We are encouraged by Visa’s support of our strategic efforts to nurture home-grown talents in FinTech." commented Hock Lai Chia, President, Singapore Fintech Association.  "The Innovation Lab visits help students to experience technology in real-life use cases, improving the delivery of financial products and services. The mentorship provided by the payment practitioners from Visa will be invaluable to the students in their pursuit of FinTech skillsets.”

The increased prominence of FinTech in Singapore and the country’s pursuit to become an entrepreneurial and smart financial hub, has created a demand for locals with relevant knowledge and skills who can use innovative and disruptive technologies to transform business operations.

The joint initiative aims to build a steady pipeline of talent in the Fintech space to cope with this demand and provide a gateway for students to make their first foray into the industry. The partnership is also in line with Singapore’s SkillsFuture and STEM movement, aimed at equipping Singaporeans with the necessary skillsets for the digital economy.

As part of this partnership, students will have the opportunity to engage with payments experts from Visa, and visit the Visa Innovation Lab, where they can learn about the future of payments and challenges in the payments landscape. A number of Visa employees will be assigned as mentors to these students to allow interactive learning.

Modules related to FinTech and the payments industry will be conducted at Visa’s learning centre - Visa University. Finally, students will participate in a business case challenge to round up their learnings.

 

About Visa

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit, or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations; however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products.

About PolyFinTech 100

PolyFinTech 100 is an initiative mooted by Ngee Ann Polytechnic, the SkillsFuture Sector Coordinator for Accountancy and Financial Services, to nurture a pool of skilled manpower to further develop Singapore as a Smart Financial Centre.  It seeks to work with the FinTech community globally to provide internships and mentoring opportunities to all polytechnic students who are keen to pursue careers in FinTech, helping them understand markets, technology, skills, ecosystem actors and regulatory environment. Find out more at www.polyfintech100.sg/.

About Singapore Fintech Association

The Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) is a cross-industry non-profit organization designed to facilitate collaboration between all market participants and stakeholders in the FinTech ecosystem. Its members represent the full range of stakeholders in the FinTech industry, from early stage innovative companies to large financial players and service providers. The SFA also partners with institutions and other associations, from Singapore and globally, to cooperate on initiatives relating to the FinTech industry. Find out more at SingaporeFintech.org.