What Is a Fintech Engineer?

Fintech, a shorthand for financial technology, is an industry that involves using technology to streamline financial transactions, and if you’re interested in this process, you might enjoy working as a fintech engineer. Some examples of fintech include businesses that handle peer-to-peer transactions, e-commerce, business payments, wealth management, and stock trading. When working in the fintech industry, you aim to make financial transactions as efficient and accessible as possible by eliminating unnecessary steps or requirements. Businesses hire fintech engineers to achieve this goal and stay competitive in an ever-evolving market.

Learn more about a career in fintech, what it’s like to be an engineer in fintech, and the education and experience needed for different fintech engineering roles.

What is a fintech engineer?

As a fintech engineer, you are a professional whose main responsibility is to develop new more efficient, and secure methods for users to complete financial transactions. Fintech engineers are a specific type of software engineer. Fintech engineers use their technology expertise to write, maintain, debug, and implement new programming or code like software engineers. If you choose to work as a fintech engineer, you would develop algorithms and software programs specifically designed to address needs and goals within the financial technology sector.

What does a fintech engineer do?

Fintech engineers use their programming and technology skills to create efficient, accessible financial transaction platforms for users, which means you would need in-depth knowledge about data privacy, compliance, and financial standards. In this role, you might work across various industries, such as stock trading, online banking, or financial advising.

Main duties and responsibilities

The specific duties and responsibilities of a fintech engineer depend on the industry and field in which you’re working, but some typical tasks you might expect to do include:

• Writing code and algorithms to create new financial transaction programs

• Developing new technology to address potential fraud issues

• Identifying potentially unnecessary steps to the financial transaction process

• Designing new fintech programs to support your clients

Essential skills of a fintech engineer

As a fintech engineer, the essential abilities that you'll need to develop typically include strong technology and financial skills. Some examples of these types of skills include:

Technical skills

• Data analysis

• Financial literacy

• Programming languages, such as Java or Python

• Product development

• Cybersecurity 

• Data science

Workplace skills

• Critical thinking

• Patience

• Ability to explain technical concepts

• Collaboration

• Communication

Salary and job outlook

As more businesses turn to digital financial transactions, the demand for fintech engineers only grows, and these roles are constantly increasing within the economy and offer both stability and high salaries in the current job market. If you choose to work in this industry, the average annual salary for a fintech engineer is $93,657 [1]. Additionally, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects this sector of the economy will grow 8 percent from 2022 to 2032, which is much quicker than average [2].

How to become a fintech engineer

To become a fintech engineer, you’ll first want to ensure the role is right for you. Take time to meet with fintech engineers, visit events, or do online research to see if you’d enjoy the fast-paced and evolving field of fintech engineering. Then, it’s time to see if you have the financial and technological background required to meet the role’s expectations. For many fintech engineers, this means earning a four-year degree. Online bootcamps and self-taught coursework are also great ways to develop key skills.

Education

To become a fintech engineer, you typically need a four-year degree in a subject such as computer science, finance, or software engineering. These programs offer the opportunity to develop key skills and foundational knowledge. Advanced degrees in financial technology can help you further hone your skills and make you increasingly competitive because you’ll most likely acquire knowledge about key aspects of this profession, such as cryptocurrency, financial modeling, and data analysis.

Experience

Most fintech engineers need to show they have real-world experience in the industry. Internship opportunities are a great way to develop these skills. Typically, you’ll want to have several of these as keywords on your resume such as Java and Python programming, financial data management, cybersecurity and data privacy management, and fintech product marketing and development. You might gain this experience through your coursework, bootcamps, or online lessons.

Certifications

Certifications are a great way to specialize your skills and help set you apart from other candidates. Certifications are a great way to keep up-to-date on fintech trends and strategies while increasing employability. Look for certifications related to cybersecurity, banking, insurance, wealth management, relevant programming languages, and fintech itself. For example, the Corporate Financial Industry (CFI) offers the FinTech Industry Professional (FTIP) certification to help you gain skills in cryptocurrency, payments, data science, and other current fintech concepts. Some additional fintech certifications include:

• ACAMS Certified AML FinTech Compliance Associate (CAFCA)

• CFTA Certified FinTech Analyst (CFTA)

Engineering roles in fintech

The range of fintech engineering roles is incredibly varied, meaning you’ll most likely find one that fits your particular interests, goals, and background. Some of these roles include:

Machine learning engineer

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $127,987 [3]

As a machine learning engineer, you'll typically design automated, self-running programs and algorithms that don’t require human input or supervision. These engineers work with other data professionals, such as data scientists, to create new models that address specific needs, goals, or client wants. In this position, you will typically work with artificial intelligence networks to design their automated models.

Full-stack engineer

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $117,287 [4]

As a full-stack engineer, you will be responsible for front- and back-end systems coding. You'll create programs that allow users to interact with different aspects of a website or mobile platform. You might also optimize code and develop databases focusing on improving customer experiences. Additionally, you may oversee fintech and other projects from start to finish while working with other professionals, such as graphic designers.

Solutions engineer

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $102,778 [5]

Solutions engineers sell software solutions to different clients. In this role, you'll work with a sales team to identify client needs and then help coordinate the right type of software to address those needs. You'll typically oversee the solutions plan and help ensure the software works correctly for their clients. A solutions engineer is key to developing and maintaining customer relationships while also researching new technology to identify cost-effective solutions.

Platform engineer

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $139,254 [6]

If you decide to become a platform engineer, you will most likely design, create, test, and implement different software platforms. Your duties could include writing the code that helps connect hardware and software and monitoring it to ensure it is functional and effective. You may also evaluate different software platforms for efficiency and where they might be improved, which will enhance the application's overall functionality. Platform engineers help develop automation scripts and tend to work with cloud-based servers. 

Security engineer

Average annual US salary (Glassdoor): $124,085 [7]

As a security engineer, you are responsible for creating the tools and systems that help protect sensitive information and electronic devices. You'll strive to help protect consumer and business information from fraud or hacking attempts. As a security engineer, you not only build the infrastructure for these security programs to exist but also develop the processes used to test these structures for effectiveness. 

Learn more with Coursera.

Sharpen your financial technology skills and learn more about the world of fintech engineering with courses and Professional Certificates on Coursera. With high-quality options such as the University of Michigan’s Financial Technology (Fintech) Innovations Specialization, you’ll be introduced to the foundational knowledge and key skills required for a career as a fintech engineer.