PayPal has announced a new fintech scholarship program in partnership with the Singapore Management University. The program is designed to encourage students to involve themselves in the fintech and cybersecurity domains.
The mainstream financial, banking and payments industries are trying hard to adapt to the drastic changes brought about by the cryptocurrency technology. Bitcoin, the revolutionary digital currency, and its underlying blockchain technology have created new standards in the financial technology sector.
The leading payments and fund transfer solutions provider, PayPal is currently facing stiff competition from Bitcoin-based platforms offering similar services at a fraction of the cost. Like any other conventional financial institution, PayPal has also renewed its focus towards the new-age financial technology solutions that can potentially shape the global payments industry.
The PayPal-SMU fintech scholarship fund worth S$180,000 will be awarded to six eligible undergraduate students from the university’s School of Information Systems (SMU SIS). Each selected student will be receiving a sum of S$30,000 over the next three years.
In a press statement, SMU SIS Dean Professor Pang Hwee Hwa said,
“The scholarship will support students to specialize in the financial technology, cybersecurity or businesses analytics tracks in our BSc-Information Systems program. The scholars will have the opportunity to participate in creating fintech solutions with our research centers, as well as through interning with PayPal.”
The scholarship is part of the PayPal Innovation Lab’s initiative, and the current position of Singapore as one of the leading financial hubs in Asia makes it an ideal place to kickstart the program. By offering an opportunity for the fintech scholarship students to intern with PalPay, the payment processor has ensured access to brilliant talents who can readily join the team upon completion of their undergraduate program.
The fintech scholarship program is now open for students who joined in 2016. The initiative is expected to boost interest among students in fintech and related fields which in turn will help the global financial ecosystem, directly or indirectly.
Ref: SMU | Image: NewsBTC
