Toby Gardner, chief executive and cofounder of fintech startup Finch has been appointed as the first professor and will also join as Swinburne’s entrepreneur-in-residence.
His startup Finch is a financial app that facilitiaties peer-to-peer payments, group expenses and personal finance management all from one app.
The appointment follows Swinburne’s launch of a post graduate course in financial technology that will give graduates an understanding of emerging technology and how it affects the financial industry.
Mr Gardner brings with him 15 years’ experience in technology most recently with Finch but he has worked in Silicon valley and has an MBA from the University of California.
“I’m honoured to be appointed to this role and I look forward to sharing my experience as a fintech entrepreneur. With changes in regulation and open banking on the horizon, there couldn’t be a more exciting time to be in the industry. It’s great to see Swinburne University collaborating with the local fintech ecosystem to prepare the next generation of fintech professionals,” said Mr Gardner.
Director of the master of financial technologies Dr Dimitrios Salampasis welcomed the important and said it contributed to the vision of true industry engagement.
“Our approach to FinTech education provides students with the broad knowledge and specific cutting-edge functional skills that they require to build tech-enabled business models for the burgeoning industry.
“Toby’s appointment contributes to our vision of true industry engagement in terms of nurturing FinTech professionals with the knowledge and skills to manage the forces of technology innovation, process disruption and financial services transformation.”
