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$38M FINTECH CENTER
Coming to University of Delaware
BY JACOB OWENS
The University of Delaware is partnering with Discover Bank and Delaware Technology Park (DTP) to build a new center for financial services technology, or so-called FinTech, at its STAR Campus.
The six-story, 100,000-square-foot building on UD’s Science Technology and Advanced Research Campus will bring together academic, business, and governmental segments
of the financial world.
The $38 million project will be funded via a below-market- interest-rate loan by Discover Bank to DTP, the owner of the building, while UD will lease space for programs.
It is anticipated to open by early 2022 with potential plans and programs to include a cybersecurity leadership center that would link the Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics’ cybersecurity management with the College of Engineering’s cybersecurity engineering and technology, a space for human-machine learning and social media data analysis and a multimedia studio.
Delaware, corporate home to many of the nation’s largest banks, has become a hub for the FinTech sector, and UD now aims to train graduates to step into careers located in the state. Global investment in FinTech-related companies rose from $18.9 billion in 2013 to $111.8 billion in 2018, according to a recent report by Delaware Prosperity Partnership (DPP), the state’s public-private economic development agency.
UD President Dennis Assanis had been working on addressing the sector’s workforce needs. Recognizing that many of UD’s business and computer science grads were being employed at banks in the state, he said the university had explored for about a year the opportunity to start a new program that would target FinTech.
“It’s absolutely incumbent on us as the flagship state
university to try to innovate in financial services,” he said. “We’ve been looking for the next big play [at STAR Campus] and FinTech was the obvious space.”
The presence of big-name partners in the FinTech Center will also help UD attract top talent to the program’s faculty, adding yet another reason for students to consider the university when applying, Assanis said. That search for leaders will be aided by the opening of the new Newark rail station, which could allow professors to live in a larger
hub like Philadelphia and still commute in, he noted.
“We want to be the place for FinTech,” he said.
The center will house spaces for startups to develop and grow, managed by DTP; access to business development resources and technical assistance; and labs and centers associated within UD’s College of Engineering and Lerner College.
Delaware’s Small Business Development Center will be located nearby to assist the university‘s Spin In program, which connects UD undergrad students with community entrepreneurs and early-stage startups to give them an inside look at business innovation.
In conjunction with the new center, Discover Bank is also exploring ways to partner with UD on research related to
its FinTech needs, including cyber-related technologies and consumer data analytics, applications, and behaviors. A national nonprofit focused on improving the financial health of communities has partnered with Discover Bank to work with UD, DTP, entrepreneurs, and the community on the utilization and testing of financial technologies to improve consumer financial health.
“Discover Bank is dedicated to building stronger communities, which is why we’ve championed this project with the Delaware Technology Park and the University of Delaware to expand economic opportunities, create jobs in financial services
and FinTech, and promote financial health for underserved populations,” Discover Bank President James J. Roszkowski said. “The development at STAR helps us realize our vision of creating brighter financial futures for consumers as well as creating new opportunities for the business community.”
The presence of Discover in the venture, the result of connections through DPP, will also further announce to the world that the state is serious about the industry, DPP President and CEO Kurt Foreman said.
“There are a lot of communities around the country who say they are focused on industry X, but you have to prove it to the market that you really are committed,” he said. “Having our flagship university’s program working with an international partner will help differentiate us.”
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