A collaboration protocol on the  'TODEB Fintech Apprenticeship Program', with the visions of the Ministry of Treasury and Finance, in cooperation with the Union of Payment and Electronic Money Institutions of Turkey (TODEB) and Marmara University, was signed on  Thursday, 11th May, at Wyndham Grand Istanbul Levent Hotel.

The program was attended by the Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Murat Zaman, Deputy Chairman of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Board Muhammet Erişen, Central Bank Payment Systems and Financial Technologies General Manager Serdar Murat Öztaner, Marmara University Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt, TÖDEB Chairman of the Board Ufuk Bilgetekin and representatives of TÖDEB member bodies.

“We Create an Important Human Resource for the Fintech Industry”

In his opening speech, Deputy Minister of Treasury and Finance Murat Zaman emphasized that one of the strategic goals of this project is to eliminate the lack of trained personnel in the fintech industry in Turkey and in the world: Meeting the human resources needed by all sectors has become strategic for our country. In this direction, an important step has been taken with the cooperation of the public, private sector and university with the 'TÖDEB Fintech Apprenticeship Project'. The Ministry of Treasury and Finance, Marmara University and TÖDEB will take an important step. Within the scope of this program, it is aimed to create human resources that will directly meet the trained personnel needs of organizations that provide direct or indirect products and services with financial technologies. In this way, thousands of our young people will both be trained and employed in a way that will contribute to our '1 Million Employment' project.”

“Banks' Total Financial Market Makes Up 90 Percent of the Market Share”

Reminding that there is a banking-based financial sector in Turkey, Muhammet Erişen, Vice President of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK), said, "The market share of banks in the total financial market is around 90s. However, our non-bank financial institutions have a special place in our economy. "The electronic money institutions have a new, high-tech function that facilitates commercial life. In this sense, the payment and electronic money sector undertake a role that complements other financial activities that support institutions carrying out banking, insurance and capital market activities."

“TR QR Code System Has Arrived at an Important Point”

Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) Payment Systems and Financial Technologies General Manager Serdar Murat Öztaner, noting that the 'TR QR Code' system has become widespread at a rate of 80 percent, "It has come to a point where foreign tourists can make their payments. We will see this together as of June. Trench, DataMatrix The Guidance System (KYS), the workplace registration system, all of these were brought as serious infrastructure projects in a period of one and a half and two years, because it is not possible to develop innovative technologies in the innovative upper layer without bringing the infrastructure. We have tried to present this organ to you as much as possible by establishing the infrastructure and reinforcing it with regulations.

“It Will Bring Great Opportunities For Our Students”

Marmara University Rector Prof. Dr. Mustafa Kurt said, “This program will bring good opportunities for our students. We attach great importance to the program as it will bring both industry expertise and scientific expertise with academics at our university. We think that this program, which will be held under the leadership of our university academics and hosted by our university, will be a very important step in solving the talent gap, in which each course's own dynamics are taken into account, it is aimed to transfer sector experiences as well as academic knowledge, and internship opportunities are taken into consideration.

'TODEB Fintech Apprentice Program' Will Last 28 Weeks

The program, which was designed based on the human resource requirements of the financial sector and aims to develop a curriculum, will be spread over one academic year. In the first half of the program, which is planned to consist of 28 weeks, a curriculum developed with courses based on legislation and information technologies will be followed, and the curriculum will be implemented over a hybrid model, taking into account the dynamics of each course. The courses will be held under the leadership of Marmara University academics and it will be aimed to transfer academic knowledge by blending it with industry experience. Face-to-face lessons will be held in Marmara University classrooms, and online lessons will be conducted using the virtual live classroom infrastructure systems of Marmara University.

In the second half of the program, internship opportunities will be provided to the participants in TÖDEB member payment and electronic money institutions, and the whole process will be coordinated by TÖDEB.

Application, evaluation and admission processes to the program will be carried out with  coordination of the Marmara University Continuing Education Center (MÜSEM). Final-year students of any undergraduate diploma program within the borders of the Republic of Turkey or young citizens of the Republic of Turkey who have graduated from any undergraduate diploma program within the last 3 years as of the date of application and have not exceeded the age of 30 can apply to the program.