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FinTech Research Center

Finance reimagined: mobile, automated, intelligent

Whether you’re making a quick payment, balancing accounts using API connectivity, or growing your portfolio with a robo-advisor — the FinTech industry ensures the future of money is here.

With significant FinTech growth observed in our home state, the University of Florida Warrington College of Business’ FinTech Research Center is perfectly positioned to drive an industry built on disruption.

Today, roughly half of all people use at least one fintech product — and investors realize this. Companies in this sector have surged from just under 6,000 in 2018 to about 14,000 in 2024, and roughly 20% of all venture capital investments by dollar go to a fintech startup of some kind.

The FinTech Research Center strives to study and spur these developments, create new best practices, and train UF students and working professionals for these highly impactful roles.

Join us and see and how you can unleash a new era of innovation.

About the FinTech Center

The story of modern finance is one of rapid transformation, where the global fintech market has surged from a niche sector in 2010 to a projected $1.5 trillion industry by 2030. The University of Florida FinTech Research Center is defining what comes next.

Our purpose

The University of Florida Warrington College of Business FinTech Research Center advances financial innovation by uniting faculty, industry practitioners and students to deliver applied research, pilot emerging technologies and accelerate workforce development.

We bridge the gap between academic theory and active creation, leveraging UF’s HiPerGator supercomputer to prototype AI/ML and blockchain solutions at enterprise scale. By uniting world-class faculty with industry leaders, we collaborate with partners to research innovative banking, insurance, and RegTech—alongside the talent ready to build it.

Interdisciplinary collaboration

There’s always a new technology to implement, a new vulnerability to patch or a new solution to remedy a customer concern.

The FinTech Research Center serves partners across the full spectrum of financial services, including banking, asset and wealth management, payments, insurance, and market infrastructure, with a consistent focus on reproducibility, governance, and talent cultivation.

Four core pillars

The FinTech Research Center’s work is grounded in four core pillars:

Fuel innovation: Transform complex questions into tested, production-minded solutions.
Develop talent: Build a pipeline of students and alumni skilled in finance, analytics, and state of the art technology.
Inform policy: Deliver evidence-based insights on topics such as AI risk, market integrity, and financial access.
Create economic impact: Drive measurable improvements in performance, cost, and risk.

FinTech research

Research priorities are shaped by industry collaboration and designed to deliver scalable, actionable insights that drive progress across the financial services landscape. The depth of FinTech goes far beyond coding.

Faculty deliver comprehensive expertise, connecting the theoretical and practical sides of blockchain, DeFi, and cryptocurrencies with crucial fields like advanced modeling, natural language processing, and consumer behavior analytics.

Futuristic blockchain technology and cryptocurrency network with bitcoin symbols, abstract illustration.

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing

The technology driving tomorrow’s finance involves artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. We research advanced applications including market forecasting, real-time anomaly detection, document intelligence and the integration of large language model-powered workflows for process automation.

Students working in UF's capital markets lab.

Digital assets and blockchain

Building the infrastructure for decentralized finance requires master of digital assets and blockchain. Our focus areas include risk mapping for digital assets, smart contract analysis and the study of DeFi infrastructure to ensure security and scalability.

Woman checking digital wallet on smartphone.

Risk, RegTech and cybersecurity

Ensuring compliance and resilience in a digital landscape is dependent upon strong risk, RegTech and cybersecurity protocols. We specialize in model governance, digital surveillance and monitoring systems and regulatory automation (RegTech) to manage risk effectively.

Woman using mobile phone paying via mobile banking app.

Payments and open finance

Payments and open finance drive real-time financial connectivity. Key research includes real-time payment systems, developing secure API ecosystems and cutting-edge fraud analytics to maintain trust and security.

Man in formal wear validates policy with rubber stamp.

Financial access and resilience

Fostering a sustainable and equitable financial future isn’t possible without access and resilience. We address social impact areas such as fair-access credit, green finance and sustainable investing and advanced climate-risk modeling for institutional resilience.

Launching Space Rocket From Laptop Screen.

Cross-cutting accelerators

Accelerators establish the best practices for technological execution. We develop foundational elements that accelerate innovation across all sectors, including reproducibility standards, MLOps strategies for deployment and robust governance frameworks.

Meet our experts

FinTech Research Center focus areas

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing

The technology driving tomorrow’s finance involves artificial intelligence, machine learning and natural language processing. We research advanced applications including market forecasting, real-time anomaly detection, document intelligence and the integration of large language model-powered workflows for process automation.

Digital assets and blockchain

Building the infrastructure for decentralized finance requires master of digital assets and blockchain. Our focus areas include risk mapping for digital assets, smart contract analysis and the study of DeFi infrastructure to ensure security and scalability.

Risk, RegTech and cybersecurity

Ensuring compliance and resilience in a digital landscape is dependent upon strong risk, RegTech and cybersecurity protocols. We specialize in model governance, digital surveillance and monitoring systems and regulatory automation (RegTech) to manage risk effectively.

Payments and open finance

Payments and open finance drive real-time financial connectivity. Key research includes real-time payment systems, developing secure API ecosystems and cutting-edge fraud analytics to maintain trust and security.

Financial access and resilience

Fostering a sustainable and equitable financial future isn’t possible without access and resilience. We address social impact areas such as fair-access credit, green finance and sustainable investing and advanced climate-risk modeling for institutional resilience.

Cross-cutting accelerators

Accelerators establish the best practices for technological execution. We develop foundational elements that accelerate innovation across all sectors, including reproducibility standards, MLOps strategies for deployment and robust governance frameworks.

Faculty expertise

David A. Mascio

Clinical Associate Professor

Research areas: Natural Language Processing and Generative AI for Finance

Tao Li

Bank of America Professor
Bank of America Associate Professor of Finance

Research Areas: Corporate Governance, Financial Institutions, FinTech, Hedge Funds

Fahad Saleh

Associate Professor

Research areas: Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Projects

Meet our experts

Industry collaboration

There are multiple ways for corporate partners to engage with the FinTech Research Center and its growing network.

How can we partner?

Stay connected to the FinTech Research Center to learn about our research, initiatives and partnerships.

Stay connected

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Engagement models

We offer structured paths for exploratory work, targeted problem-solving, and long-horizon R&D. These include capstones and internships, member-driven projects of 12-16 weeks aimed at a lightweight prototype or study, and sponsored research with deeper collaborations with faculty labs to advance novel methods or build robust tooling for scale.

Let’s discuss how we can help

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Study the future of FinTech

Study financial theories alongside AI, data and blockchain applications through a program that introduces concepts with real-world projects and case studies.

Explore the MS in Finance and Technology

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Why partner with UF for FinTech?

The FinTech Research Center’s ability to deliver industry leading results is powered by the unparalleled resources and academic depth of the University of Florida.

AI leadership

Built on more than 100 AI-focused faculty and HiPerGator, one of the most powerful academic supercomputers in the United States, UF’s capabilities enable large-scale analytics, model stress testing and simulation.

FinTech students presenting to a room of attendees.

Cross-disciplinary talent

The Warrington College of Business boast a talent pool of more than 8,000 students across 35 academic programs and are supported by nationally recognized faculty.

Students working together during a hackathon event.

Florida momentum

As Florida continues to grow into a major financial-services hub, UF provides a neutral, thought leading and innovation-focused platform to engage with this expanding ecosystem.

Enterprise-ready engagement

Projects and center engagement are scoped with

Membership benefits

FinTech Research Center membership aligns the depth of engagement with the scope of benefits.

Members receive non-exclusive, royalty-free access to center-funded results, per university policy.

Shape the industry ecosystem through a premier strategic alliance, leveraging comprehensive collaboration across research, talent, and innovation pipelines.

Investment: $50,000+

Accelerate R&D capabilities by leveraging faculty expertise, influencing curriculum design, and gaining early visibility into market-shifting technologies.

Investment: $25,000

Optimize your talent acquisition funnel through priority placement channels and project-based assessment of potential hires.

Investment: $15,000

Efficient market presence and foundational access to emerging talent pools to support early-stage pipeline development.

Investment: $10,000

Group networking at the Finance Professional Development Program's Pitch Competition event.

Build the future of fintech with us

Support our center’s efforts to stay on the cutting edge of an industry already known for its cutting-edge advancements.

Invest in our center

FinTech news

Jay Ritter stands at a podium on stage while standing next to AFA Secretary-Treasurer Kathleen Weiss Hanley.

Jay Ritter named 2026 Fellow of the American Finance Association

Murillo Campello is the standard of research

Top 25 Undergraduate Business Program US News and World Report UF Warrington College of Business

University of Florida undergrad business programs among nation’s best

Read all news

FinTech events

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Stay connected to the FinTech Center

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Presenters the UF Finance Professional Development Program's Pitch Competition event.

Collaborate with us

We inhabit a field with tremendous, always-accelerating potential. As you stake your organization’s future, partner with Warrington to fuel internal innovation, collaboratively problem-solve and tap into a steady stream of talent.

David A. Mascio, Ph.D.
Executive director

Andy Naranjo, Ph.D.
Chair, Eugene F. Brigham Department of Finance, Insurance and Real Estate

LaKendra Cook
Program Director, M.S. in Finance & Technology program

Meet the FinTech Center team

Email the center