About the Course

Banks face accelerating disruption from fintechs, changing customer expectations and evolving payment ecosystems. Legacy systems and manual processes limit competitiveness, while regulators push open banking, data protection and cyber resilience standards.

This ten-day programme covers core banking modernization, open banking and APIs, digital payments, digital lending, blockchain, CBDCs, AI applications, RegTech and cybersecurity, using African and global digital-finance case studies.

Participants leave with a digital transformation roadmap, a fintech partnership framework and hands-on AI and digital-channel use cases they can apply immediately.

Target Participants

Bank executives and digital transformation leaders, Heads of IT, innovation and product development, Retail and digital banking managers, Fintech and payments professionals, Risk, compliance and cybersecurity officers, Central bank and regulatory staff overseeing digital finance, Project managers implementing core banking or digital-channel projects, and consultants and development-partner staff working on financial-sector digitalization.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Analyse the drivers and impact of digital disruption on traditional banking business models.
• Evaluate core banking modernization options and digital transformation strategies.
• Design an open banking and API strategy aligned with regulatory requirements.
• Assess digital lending and alternative credit-scoring models, including their risk implications.
• Apply blockchain and distributed ledger concepts to relevant banking use cases.
• Interpret the implications of central bank digital currencies for commercial banking.
• Develop an artificial intelligence and data analytics use-case pipeline for banking operations.
• Formulate a cybersecurity and digital risk management approach for digital banking channels.
• Prepare an institutional digital transformation roadmap and governance structure.

Course Duration

• Classroom – 10 Days
• Online – 14 Days

Course Outline

Foundations of Digital Banking and Financial Technology

• Digital banking evolution
• Key fintech terminology
• Fintech ecosystem
• Drivers of disruption
• Digital business models

The Global and African Fintech Landscape

• Global fintech trends
• East African fintech ecosystem
• Regulatory sandboxes
• Bank-fintech partnerships
• Emerging fintech verticals

Digital Transformation Strategy for Banks

• Digital maturity assessment
• Strategy alignment
• Building the business case
• Digital delivery structures
• Legacy technology constraints

Core Banking Systems and Modernization

• Core banking architecture
• Modernization approaches
• Cloud-based core banking
• Data migration risks
• Vendor selection

Open Banking, APIs and Banking-as-a-Service

• Open banking principles
• API architecture
• Banking-as-a-service
• Data sharing/consent
• API monetization

Mobile and Internet Banking Channels

• Channel design principles
• USSD, app and web channels
• Channel migration strategy
• Channel fraud risks
• Channel performance metrics

Digital Payments and Payment Systems Innovation

• Instant payment systems
• National payment switches
• QR codes/wallets
• Cross-border digital payments
• Payment system risk

Digital Financial Inclusion and Agency Channels

• Digital inclusion role
• Agency banking as a channel
• Digital onboarding/KYC
• Serving unbanked segments
• Measuring inclusion impact

Digital Lending and Alternative Credit Scoring

• Digital lending models
• Alternative data scoring
• Machine learning credit scoring
• Buy-now-pay-later basics
• Responsible digital lending

Blockchain, Distributed Ledger Technology and Cryptoassets in Banking

• Blockchain/DLT basics
• Permissioned vs public ledgers
• Banking use cases
• Cryptoassets/stablecoins
• Regulatory approaches

Central Bank Digital Currencies and the Future of Money

• CBDC models
• Global CBDC pilots
• Implications for banks
• CBDC interoperability
• CBDC readiness

Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics in Banking

• AI across the value chain
• Customer analytics
• AI in fraud detection
• Data governance for AI
• Responsible AI use

RegTech and SupTech: Technology for Compliance and Supervision

• RegTech applications
• SupTech tools
• Automated regulatory reporting
• AML monitoring technology
• RegTech adoption roadmap

Cybersecurity and Digital Risk in Digital Banking

• Cyber risk landscape
• Securing APIs/cloud
• Identity/access management
• Third-party cyber risk
• Incident response planning

Customer Experience and Digital Channel Design

• CX design principles
• UX/UI for banking apps
• Personalization/behavioural design
• Building customer trust
• Measuring digital satisfaction

Digital Transformation Governance, Change Management and Institutional Roadmapping

• Governance structures
• Change management
• Digital skills development
• Managing transformation risk
• Building the roadmap

Practical Outputs

• Digital maturity self-assessment
• Digital transformation roadmap
• Fintech partnership evaluation framework
• API and open banking strategy outline
• AI and data analytics use-case pipeline
• Cybersecurity risk checklist for digital channels
• Institutional digital transformation action plan

Training Approach

Combines facilitator-led presentations, technology demonstrations, case studies and hands-on exercises mapping API, digital lending and AI use cases, culminating in a capstone digital transformation roadmap participants can apply directly.

Organizational Benefits

• Stronger institutional capacity to plan and lead digital transformation
• Improved ability to evaluate and manage fintech partnerships
• Enhanced digital channel performance and customer adoption
• Reduced digital and cyber risk exposure
• Improved regulatory readiness for open banking
• Greater competitiveness against fintech and digital-first competitors
• Stronger foundation for AI and data-driven decision-making

Certification

Participants who successfully complete this course will receive a Certificate of Course Completion from Devimpact Institute, recognizing the knowledge, practical skills and competencies developed through the programme.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can be customized and delivered as an in-house programme to address the specific policies, systems, sector context and capacity-development priorities of an organization. The course duration, modules, case studies and practical exercises may be adjusted following a training needs assessment.