The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has established a permanent Digital Sandbox, providing year-round access for firms to experiment with innovative technologies. Previously, this platform was only available temporarily for participants in pilots and TechSprints.
The FCA noted that over half of the Small to Medium Enterprises that took part in these previous initiatives achieved significant milestones, such as launching new products, securing funding and partnerships, or receiving industry awards and recognitions.
Participants in the Sandbox will have continuous access to more than 200 synthetic, public, or anonymised data sets, along with over 1,000 APIs, facilitating the testing and validation of technology solutions. The range of available data includes payments and transaction information, social media insights, investment data, Companies House records, and credit data. Additionally, an observation deck will allow regulators, incumbents, and other stakeholders to monitor in-flight testing at a technical level.
Starting from 1 August, the FCA will begin accepting applications for the Sandbox, covering a wide array of financial use cases, with approvals promised within four weeks.