Career Options After MBA in Digital Finance and Banking [2024]

Finance and Banking are the most popular post-graduation choices for students across the world as accredited by the Graduate Management Admissions Council (GMAC). It reports that 23% of the students considered a master’s in finance degree in 2018. With the current market known for its survival of the fittest principle, primary education boundaries must be looked beyond and opted for advanced educational programs.

Today, employers seek professionals who hold expertise in industry management skills and have certifications and specialized experience to enhance the financial and holistic development of an organization. 

For any organization, big and small, saving and investing are the two sides of the coin, crucial for the company’s growth. For an MBA professional in digital finance and banking, the scope of their work includes managing credit card companies, investment funds, stock brokerages, etc.

In recent times there also has been a growth in the number of engineers who are completing an MBA in finance to provide cost-effective, high-end technology to the corporate world, thus opening new demographics for career options after an MBA in digital finance and banking. 

Why MBA in Digital Finance and Banking?

With machine learning and blockchain technology redefining the finance industry globally, the MBA degree makes students equipped with the complete pedagogy of statistics, economics, management, leadership, and marketing. Digital disruption is now embraced by increasing the number of prominent banks, venture capitalists, and asset management organizations.

MBA is an excellent degree, especially in today’s times. Firstly, it helps job aspirants to differentiate themselves from the competition. It is demanded by most employers today and is listed as a prerequisite for various positions; having this degree helps in not losing out the job opportunities, thus increasing the chances of employment and getting better growth.

MBA imparts management skills and knowledge of all the essential topics required to run a business, for example, sales, marketing, finance, operations, etc. The specializations help get expertise on one subject, thus building a niche for the students. Therefore, MBA helps in building good management and leadership qualities. This is one of the reasons why for leadership roles MBA becomes a prerequisite.

Apart from the theoretical studies, there are multiple extensive internship programs by prestigious global financial institutions that provide exposure and tactical knowledge about the operation of these companies and train them to do so seamlessly. 

India has also observed massive growth in the financial sector over the years, where the market has opened to several new corporations with promising results. According to IBEF, the banking sector leads, with commercial banks having more than 64% of the entire assets provided by the financial system.

On the other hand, the mutual fund industry had a market size of 185 billion USD in 2016, while the life insurance industry accounts for USD 15.75, which is expected to grow in the coming years, respectively. 

Such exponential growth in India’s finance system has opened newer paradigms for students to pursue and explore their piqued interest in diversified dimensions. This change is fuelled by large companies like Google and Amazon that offer intriguing career roles in product management, product design, and reputation management, which needs a deep understanding of finance and path-breaking solutions led by AI, neural networks, IoT, etc. 

MBA in Digital Finance and Banking: Vast Scope

There are many career opportunities for MBA professionals and freshers who are trained in digital finance and banking, and their work fields can range from asset management to accounting and risk management. Here are some of the most sought-after career options in the country currently.

1. Financial Analyst

Multi-National Corporations seek financial experts in market, economics and accounting for churning large datasets that may help understand and make better strategic decisions and investments related to the scaling of the enterprise.

Your job description would include contributing to the decision-making process for products and reaching out to clients to help them identify the best product for them to invest in and reap returns. The financial analysts are responsible for providing solutions to the organization. They analyze the financial statements and perform risk management. Prediction of performance based on the analysis is also one of the tasks of financial analysts. One can procure an MBA degree as it is one of the best career options after banking.

Some of the skills required from financial analysts are mentioned below-

1. Accounting
2. Analysis skills
3. Problem- solving
4. Risk management
5. Critical thinking
6. Communication
7. Leadership skills

On average, the salary procured by financial analysts is 4.0 lakhs per annum. The average salary ranges from 2.1 lakhs per annum to 10.2 lakhs per annum (Source).

2. Investment Banker

Popular as a role in current times, an investment banker is responsible for their essential purposes in handling IPOs and identifying the right mergers and acquisitions at a fair price and worth.

They help in raising capital through the analysis they perform. The investment bankers also help in building financial risk models that help the organization in making informed decisions and increase its growth.

The world’s most prominent financial institutions, like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, etc., also need skillful investment bankers to manage the company-investors relationship and look for distinct investment opportunities in pricing financial instruments. 

Some of the skills required from investment bankers are mentioned below-

1. Numeral literacy
2. Financial analysis
3. Risk management
4. Financial modelling
5. Analytical skills
6. Communication
7. Interpersonal skills
8. Negotiation

Job aspirants often deliberate, “After banking what can I do?”  To answer simply, they can enrol themselves into MBA and choose investment banking as their career. Similarly, people coming from various backgrounds like commerce, accounts, economics, chartered accountancy, etc., can also pursue this career.

On average, the salary of an investment banker is 13.0 lakhs per annum. The salary ranges from 5.0 lakhs per annum to 50.0 lakhs per annum (Source).

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3. Chief Financial Officer

Widely known as the CFO, the individual is responsible for intricate tasks, including monitoring cash flow in an organization, making realistic strategies to predict capital needs, risk management, analyzing the organization’s financial performance, identifying bottlenecks, and suggesting insightful, corrective approaches.

It is one of the most prestigious and important roles in any organization. After MBA bank jobs can be pursued, or one can get into the corporate world and make their career here. With experience and high skillsets, the road to becoming a CFO comes closer.

Almost all MNCs across industries require experienced CFOs to ensure maximum success in the market. Because of the intricacies of the role, it is one of the highest-paying career options in the digital finance and banking industry, with an average salary of 40 lakhs per annum. The average salary ranges from 8.0 lakhs per annum to 102.0 lakhs per annum (Source). The salary bracket could differ according to various factors such as geographical location, company, experience, skill sets, etc.

4. Risk Managers

As inferred by the name, this role specializes in discerning any probable risks in the company’s financial operation that can prove to be a threat to its integrity, safety, and growth. Such an individual is responsible for correcting losses and managing unpredictability in future trends and cost-involvement in an organization. 

The risk managers are also responsible for reviewing and assessing the risk management models and processes. And according to the demand of the situation, they recommend the policies. With the help of tools, they perform various internal or external risk evaluations.

There are various skill sets required to form risk managers; some of them are mentioned below-

1. Analytical skills
2. Financial literacy
3. Numeral literacy
4. Problem- solving

On average, the risk managers procure the compensation of 9.1 lakhs per annum. The average salary ranges from 3.0 lakhs per annum to 24.0 lakhs per annum (Source). It is a lucrative option for bank jobs after MBA.

5. Venture Capital Analyst

The job description of such an individual includes being aware of the dynamic industry trends and keeping up with them, thus beating competitors. Such professionals are solely responsible for networking and working closely with venture capital firms and identifying promising, innovative startups required in the market; by providing them capital for scaling their companies.

Some of the skills required from the Venture Capital Analyst are mentioned below-

1. Financial modelling
2. Accounting
3. Numeral literacy
4. Business acumen
5. Analytical skills
6. Critical thinking
7. Problem- solving

On average, such professionals’ salaries can range from INR 4,90,000-5,00,000 Lacs per annum, tentative according to expertise and skills. 

6. Portfolio Manager

As a portfolio managers, individuals are entirely responsible for managing money in terms of hedge funds (pooled money of an enterprise). They need to continually explore the current market condition and help clients to achieve their pre-set financial targets. 

Some of the skills required from the portfolio manager are mentioned below-

1. Decision- making
2. Analytical
3. Data handling
4. Risk analysis
5. Interpersonal
6. Critical thinking
7. Problem- solving 

There are various banking courses after MBA one can get into if they wish to study the industry in a deeper manner. The extra courses further the chances of getting better job prospects.

Also Read: MBA Salary in India

Conclusion

With the latest technological developments and trends leaning towards the increased demands of smart, high-end financial products and services, the current market provides thriving opportunities for an MBA professional equipped in digital finance and banking studies. Rising to relevance, we offer one-of-a-kind India’s first online MBA course in Digital finance and banking by the prominent O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU).

This course provides ardent, insightful training to undergraduates to pursue their MBA and better understand industry policies and principles, making them better prepared for probable employers and the market.

If you are keen on upgrading your career with an MBA Degree, upGrad is offering an MBA in Digital Finance & Banking in collaboration with the Jindal Global Business School and the Jindal School of Banking & Finance. The program has been designed with future-oriented content suited for those working in or aspiring to work in finance across domains. Be a JGU alumnus and take advantage of continued engagement and networking with the world of academia, policy, and industry.