HSLU

The IFZ is the finance and banking institute of the Lucerne School of Business and calls itself the largest finance institute of any Swiss university of applied sciences. The institute is based in the canton of Zug, where the Crypto Valley ecosystem of crypto and blockchain companies grew up. Andreas Dietrich heads the IFZ, whose programs and research cover banking, investments, insurance and financial management.

The Verein IFZ, an association founded in 1997 to build up the institute in Zug, has more than 800 corporate and individual members and funds part of its research every year. Since 2012, the IFZ has published the IFZ Retail Banking-Studie every year, which compares the key figures and corporate governance of Swiss retail banks. Each edition adds focus topics such as digitalization, bank sourcing, mortgage lending and sustainability, and an annual conference presents the results.

The IFZ FinTech Study 2026 counted 529 fintech companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein at the end of 2025, up from 511 a year earlier. For the first time, analytics, big data and artificial intelligence formed the largest technology group, ahead of process digitization and distributed ledger technology. Most of these firms sell to banks and other businesses, and 60 percent of them work mainly in B2B markets.

The same study ranks 35 fintech hubs in 31 countries on social, technological, economic and legal factors. Geneva and Zurich placed directly behind Singapore, the top hub, while venture capital for Swiss and Liechtenstein fintech firms fell in 2025. Thomas Ankenbrand, Denis Bieri, Joël Ettlin, Angelo Gattlen, Patric A. Huber and Jovana Milojević edited the edition, and its research partners include Swiss Fintech Innovations, the Canton of Zug and SIX.

The fifth edition of the IFZ Crypto Assets Study found 407 companies active in crypto asset investments in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, up from 359 twelve months earlier. Most of them are based in the cantons of Zug and Zurich. Exchange-traded and structured crypto products on Swiss exchanges held about CHF 15 billion at the end of June 2025, more than CHF 6 billion above the level of June 2024.

The study finds that Swiss franc stablecoins have not grown like their US dollar counterparts, while tokenized deposits and other balance sheet instruments are emerging as a use case. HSLU lecturer Patric A. Huber co-leads the stablecoin working group of Swiss Fintech Innovations, which works out how a stablecoin pegged to the Swiss franc can be issued, structured and run as a business. For 2025, the IFZ FinTech Study estimates crypto trading from Switzerland at CHF 332.2 billion on derivatives exchanges and CHF 69.0 billion on centralized exchanges.

HSLU researches blockchain (in German) across its schools of computer science and business, from cryptography to the effects of the technology on society. HSLU and the University of Lucerne run the Blockchain Zug Joint Research Initiative together, and the Canton of Zug pays CHF 39.35 million of its setup costs over five years. The Zug cantonal parliament approved the funding (in German) on 29 February 2024, which includes nine new chairs at a Zug Institute for Blockchain Research at the University of Lucerne.

Within the initiative, HSLU contributes computer science, finance and engineering, and the University of Lucerne adds research from the humanities. HSLU names the Canton of Zug and the Crypto Valley Association among its blockchain partners. The list also includes the venture capital firm CV VC, its ecosystem business CV Labs and the Zug Institute for Blockchain Research.

The IFZ is on Campus Zug-Rotkreuz at Suurstoffi 1, 6343 Rotkreuz, less than five minutes on foot from Rotkreuz railway station in the canton of Zug. The Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology uses the same campus, so the finance and computer science programs of HSLU share one site.

The CAS Crypto Finance & Cryptocurrencies of the IFZ runs over five months, awards 15 ECTS credits and is taught in German at Rotkreuz. Its four modules are Blockchain Technology, Digital Assets & Cryptocurrencies, Crypto Finance Ecosystems and Compliance & Regulation, led by Georges Grivas and Thomas Ankenbrand. The MAS Blockchain & Crypto Assets (in German) combines three CAS programs with a master module, runs part time over 24 months and awards 60 ECTS credits.

The Master of Science in Banking and Finance is taught in English on Campus Zug-Rotkreuz and takes four semesters, or six semesters in the extended format. Its focus areas are bank and risk management, corporate finance and investments including alternative investments, and fintech. Students also work on blockchain, data analytics and the digitization of banking during the program.

The CAS Digital und AI Transformation im Banking (in German) teaches bank staff how AI, blockchain and cloud banking change the business of a bank. The program runs for six months with 15 ECTS credits, in German and English, and Andreas Dietrich and Nils Hafner lead it. Its four courses cover the setting of the transformation, its strategy, digital customer management and fintech products.