Published 20th October 2021

Coursework Assessment Brief

Module code/name MSIN0226 Fintech
Module leader name Nikhil Vadgama
Academic year 2021/22
Term 2
Assessment title Coursework
Individual/group assessment Group

Return and status of marked assessments: Within 4 weeks from the date of submission as per UCL guidelines. The
module team will update you if there are delays through unforeseen circumstances (e.g. ill health). All results when
first published are provisional until confirmed by the Examination Board.
Copyright Note to students: Copyright of this assessment brief is with the module leader(s) named above. If this
brief draws upon work by third parties (e.g. Case Study publishers) such third parties also hold copyright. It must not
be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or shared any other individual(s) and/or
organisations, including web-based organisations, without permission of the copyright holder(s).
Academic Misconduct: Academic Misconduct is defined as any action or attempted action that may result in a
student obtaining an unfair academic advantage. Academic misconduct includes plagiarism, obtaining help
from/sharing work with others be they individuals and/or organisations or any other form of cheating. Refer to
Academic Manual Section 9: Student Academic Misconduct Procedure - 9.2 Definitions.
Referencing: You must reference and provide full citation for ALL sources used, including articles, text books, lecture
slides and module materials. This includes any direct quotes and paraphrased text. If in doubt, reference it. If you
need further guidance on referencing please see UCL’s referencing tutorial for students here: https://library-
guides.ucl.ac.uk/referencing-plagiarism/welcome. Failure to cite references correctly may result in your work being
referred to the Academic Misconduct Panel.
Content of this assessment brief
Section Content
A Core information
B Coursework brief and requirements
C Module learning outcomes covered in this assessment
D Groupwork instructions (if applicable)
E How your work is assessed
F Additional information

Published 20th October 2021

Section A: Core information

Submission date 17/03/2022
Submission time 10.00 UK time
Assessment is marked out of: 100
% weighting of this assessment
within total module mark
60%
Maximum word count/page
length/duration
Up to 2500 words in total for all of Part A and Part B. Up to 10
mins for a presentation in Part C.
Footnotes, appendices, tables,
figures, diagrams, charts included
in/excluded from word count/page
length?
Included
Bibliographies, reference lists
included in/excluded from word
count/page length?
Excluded
Penalty for exceeding word
count/page length
If the word count/page length is exceeded the excess content will
NOT be marked.

Penalty for late submission Standard UCL penalties apply. Students should refer to Refer to
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/academic-manual/chapters/chapter-4-
assessment-framework-taught-programmes/section-3-module-
assessment#3.12
Submitting your assessment Please submit via the Turnitin Dropbox under the Assessment
section of the module Moodle page.
Anonymity of identity. Normally, all
submissions are anonymous unless
the nature of the submission is such
that anonymity is not appropriate,
illustratively as in presentations or
where minutes of group meetings
are required as part of a group work
submission
The nature of this assessment is such that anonymity is not
required.


Published 20th October 2021

Section B: Assessment Brief and Requirements
This assignment will require you to analyse a fintech company you have chosen. Please make
sure you confirm the fintech company you want to analyse with your module leader. This means
that you have emailed the module leader with your nominated company, and the module leader
has emailed back their confirmation.

The company that you pick should be operating in the fintech industry. You will need to use the
business model canvas to explore its business model. You will also use Porter’s Five Forces to
analyse the industry segment the company is operating in.

The company you pick should innovate in or disrupt the financial services sector. The company
must be in operation, i.e. it should have a functioning service that you can access if required to
engage with its business model (e.g., understanding the customer user experience).

You will need to answer Parts A and B with a written response. You can obtain a maximum of 70
marks for these two sections. All answers should be long-form (i.e. not bullet points) and
submitted as a pdf file.

Part C can be answered through a recorded presentation and submitted as a mpeg4 or mp4 file
full HD 1080p (1920x1080). You can attain a maximum of 30 marks for this section. Your
presentation should not be more than 10 minutes long.

Higher marks can be obtained for those that demonstrate correct critical and analytical thinking.

Brief

Part A: Business Model Canvas:
1. Please use the different sections of the business model canvas to explore the business
model of the fintech company. You must refer to each of the nine sections but only include
relevant parts of each section that apply to your chosen company. [18 marks]
2. How does this fintech company's business model differ from that of an incumbent offering
similar services in the sector? Why would customers choose the fintech company’s
service over an incumbent's? Why haven’t incumbent businesses taken the company’s
approach? [12 marks].
[5 marks for clarity and structure of answer]
[Total 35 marks]

B: Porter’s Five Forces:
1. Using each of Porter’s Five Forces, please analyse the industry segment that the fintech
company is operating in and indicate to what degree each of the forces influences the
profitability of the sector and the company’s competitive advantage if relevant. [20 marks]
2. Based on your analysis of the sector (and explicitly referring to the forces), is the overall
profitability of the sector high, medium or low, and why? What do you think about the
outlook for the profitability of the sector and the company’s competitive advantage and
why? [10 marks]
[5 marks for clarity and structure of answer]
[Total 35 marks]

C: Creating a new feature, product or service:
Imagine you are a product manager tasked to come up with a new product or feature for the
company you are analysing. You are required to come up with a recorded video presentation on
this new feature, product or service (hereafter referred to just as the product) that should cover
the following aspects:



Published 20th October 2021

1. Summarise your understanding of what the company does and its main products and
services. [5 marks]
2. Pitch the new product you are proposing to be rolled out by the company. You should use
aspects of the Business Model Canvas and Porter’s Five Forces that may be relevant to
your particular case. In particular, you should cover:
a. What is the value proposition of the new product?
b. What customer segment will this appeal to?
c. What technologies does this product utilise, and how?
d. How may this generate revenue?
e. What will this new product cost, and what additional resources may be required?

In formulating your pitch, please include other aspects of the Business Model Canvas and
Porter’s Five Forces relevant to make your case that the new product should be implemented.
Think about what necessary evidence you will need to draw on to make your business case.
Furthermore, think about how this product fits with other parts of the company and within the
industry segment. [25 marks]
[Total 30 marks]





Published 20th October 2021

Section C: Module Learning Outcomes covered in this
Assessment
This assessment contributes towards the achievement of the following stated module Learning
Outcomes as highlighted below:
This assignment contributes towards the achievement of the following stated
module Learning Outcomes as below:
 Understand the foundations of the financial services system being
underpinned by money and payments and how technology has changed
these and is changing Banking, Lending, Investing, Wealth Management,
Insurance, Identity and Regulation.
 Be able to map out and explore the Fintech ecosystem, understand the
drivers of change and innovation, and the dynamics between incumbent
and emerging firms.
 Understand how consumer attitudes are changing and the importance of
environmental, social and governance initiatives and the increasing
importance of privacy and security of data
 Explore and understand the impact of emerging technologies such as
Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Distrusted Ledger Technologies
and Biometrics on the Fintech landscape
 Know how legacy technology hinders incumbent players, what strategies
they have available and the tools that incumbent firms use to innovate (i.e.
Innovation labs, corporate accelerators etc)




Published 20th October 2021

Section D: Groupwork Instructions (where
relevant/appropriate)
Each group for this assignment should consist of three members (apart from one group where there may
be four). Each group member should contribute to the submission.

For the recorded presentation, it is up to each group on the format of whether a single group member
gives the entire pitch or each group members contributes to the recording.



Published 20th October 2021

Section E: How your work is assessed
Within each section of this assessment you may be assessed on the following aspects, as applicable and
appropriate to this assessment, and should thus consider these aspects when fulfilling the requirements of
each section:
 The accuracy of any calculations required.
 The strengths and quality of your overall analysis and evaluation;
 Appropriate use of relevant theoretical models, concepts and frameworks;
 The rationale and evidence that you provide in support of your arguments;
 The credibility and viability of the evidenced conclusions/recommendations/plans of action
you put forward;
 Structure and coherence of your considerations and reports;
 Appropriate and relevant use of, as and where relevant and appropriate, real world examples,
academic materials and referenced sources. Any references should use either the Harvard OR
Vancouver referencing system (see References, Citations and Avoiding Plagiarism)
 Academic judgement regarding the blend of scope, thrust and communication of ideas,
contentions, evidence, knowledge, arguments, conclusions.
 Each assessment requirement(s) has allocated marks/weightings.

Student submissions are reviewed/scrutinised by and internal assessor and are available to an External
Examiner for further review/scrutiny before consideration by the relevant Examination Board.
It is not uncommon for some students to feel that their submissions deserve higher marks (irrespective of
whether they actually deserve higher marks). To help you assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of
your submission please refer to UCL Assessment Criteria Guidelines, located at
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/teaching-learning/sites/teaching-learning/files/migrated-
files/UCL_Assessment_Criteria_Guide.pdf

The above is an important link as it specifies the criteria for attaining 85% +, 70% to 84%, 60% to 69%, 50%
to 59%, 40% to 49%, below 40%.

You are strongly advised to not compare your mark with marks of other submissions from your student
colleagues. Each submission has its own range of characteristics which differ from others in terms of
breadth, scope, depth, insights, and subtleties and nuances. On the surface one submission may appear to
be similar to another but invariably, digging beneath the surface reveals a range of differing
characteristics.



Published 20th October 2021

Section F: Additional information from module leader
(as appropriate)
Companies that students have previously chosen for their assignments. These are just presented to give you an
idea of appropriate companies. You do not have to choose from this list, you are free to pick your own, but you
should confirm your choice with me prior to starting this assignment.
 Acorns
 Adyen
 Affirm
 Alipay
 Ant Credit Pay
 Kisskissbankbank
 N26
 Nubank
 Nxchange
 PayDashBoard
 Paypal
 Plaid
 Proxymity
 Revolut
 Robinhood
 Sofi
 Tala
 Transferwise
 TrueLayer
 Wealthfront
 Wechat Pay
 WireX
 Yandex
 YueBao
 Zhima Credit

Please also refer to the assignment further information guide that will be released on moodle for how to approach
this assignment and tips on how to record the presentation.











Published 20th October 2021