Firms that have been accepted in the Regulatory Sandbox, including our previous cohorts.
We have received over 630 applications to the Regulatory Sandbox since its launch.
Applications include:
- Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and blockchain
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Open Banking and Application Programme Interface (API)
- Digital ID
- Data analytics
- Crypto and DeFi
- Infrastructure and process innovation
- Environment, Social and Governance (ESG)
- Robo advice
- Embedded finance
- Services aimed at facilitating access to finance
- RegTech
Always open firms
In August 2021, the Regulatory Sandbox moved to an always open model, allowing firms to submit their applications throughout the year. Read more about applying and testing in the Regulatory Sandbox[1].
If you would like to know which firms have been accepted since we moved to an 'always open' model and learn more about their business models, see our accepted firms list[2].
Case study: Innovation can benefit us all
Our Innovation Hub is playing its part in helping innovative products and services. Find out about a start-up[3] which has worked with all 3 of our main innovation services.
Green FinTech Challenge 2021 firms
5 firms approved for the Regulatory Sandbox were accepted into the Green FinTech Challenge 2021 - find out more about the successful firms[4].
Firms accepted into the Regulatory Sandbox
Always open Sandbox: accepted firms
Since August 2021 we have accepted 23 firms. Propositions operate in sectors, including retail lending, retail investments, retail banking, payments and wholesale.
Since 2021, the main types of innovation have continued to be dominated by data and technology infrastructure, with firms using AI/machine learning and predictive analytics, distributed ledger technology (DLT) / blockchain technology, open banking, APIs and digital ID.
| Firm name | Description |
|---|---|
| Aklimate Ltd. trading as Cocoon | Cocoon makes it easier for people to insulate their homes. Cocoon takes care of every aspect of the insulation journey, from assessing property needs to obtaining the grants and finance to make home improvements affordable and accessible. |
| Amplified Global Limited | Amplified Global uses AI-based technology to assess intelligibility, and help companies communicate more simply with their customers, so their customers can understand and act on what they have read. Amplified will test how simplified terms and regulated notices from lenders can improve comprehension, and lead to improved consumer outcomes. |
| Etive Technologies | Etive Technologies has created MyIdentity.org.uk which is a Digital Identity Trust Scheme, (aligned to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Digital Identity Trust Framework), specifically developed for the Home Buying and Selling Process. It allows individuals to prove their identity once to support AML requirements, creating a digital identity that enables the consumer to reuse this with each of the up to 5 regulated entities they may use in the buying or selling of a property. |
| Fair4All Finance | Fair4All Finance is working with organisations to pilot the No interest Loan Scheme (NILS) to customers in vulnerable circumstances. It provides an option to customers who have a need but are unable to access or afford existing forms of credit, and who can afford to repay the capital of the loan. |
| Fluenccy | Fluenccy provides FX intelligence as an embedded finance solution, enabling SME customers to see, understand and manage their FX risks and opportunities more efficiently. |
| Granular | Granular is building a market for hourly certificates of renewable electricity, which comply with the guidelines of EnergyTag, a global, non-profit and industry-led initiative. It provides tools and market solutions to facilitate 24/7 clean energy sourcing, helping firms progress towards net-zero and improve the transparency of emissions reporting. |
| Green Growth Investments | A mobile-app that allows consumers to make green investments in the form of exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Consumers can set their risk appetite and select their preferred green initiatives which relate to the funds they invest in. |
| Greenomy | A software as a service (SaaS) solution that helps corporates, credit institutions and asset managers measure, disclose and improve their sustainability levels according to the new EU Sustainable Finance standards (EU Taxonomy, SFDR and NFRD/CSRD) and upcoming Green Taxonomies. |
| H&W Investment Limited trading as Xcavate | Xcavate is a community-driven protocol for real estate investments and tokenisation. Their goal is to bring greater transparency, accessibility, speed and efficiency to the global real estate sector. Xcavate features open processes with less friction, removing opaque layers of intermediaries and associated costs. |
| Intellibonds Limited | An AI-augmented software as a service (SaaS) platform for fixed income institutional investors. The software generates trade ideas, constructs and rebalances bond portfolios, and predicts the credit risk of existing bond portfolios. |
| Investment Tribe | A fintech that aims to deliver fractional ownership in buy-to-let property. Investments are issued as security tokens and held via DLT. Clients can trade security tokens on ‘Bulletin Board’ and access their rental income on a quarterly basis. |
| Karfu | Karfu is a free online platform that helps consumers save money and uncover the financial and environmental costs of their mobility choices, beyond private car ownership, by showcasing more sustainable and local alternatives. The platform includes vehicles from cars to bicycles, across access options from ownership to usership, and explains how its results are calculated. The algorithm is led by user preferences, including environmental and sustainability interests. |
| Little Steps Financing Limited | Little Steps Financing provides a 0% interest financing product that allows parents to spread the payment of monthly nursery fees in small instalments over a maximum period of 4 years. Little Steps Financing aspires to make early years childcare more accessible and affordable for more parents in the UK. |
| Lloyds Bank PLC | Lloyds Bank PLC has created an algorithm-based digital advice journey. This results in a one-off, personalised recommendation for customers to place their investible cash into a product wrapper/fund, based on their investment experience, finances, attitude to risk and affordability. The digital journey will be complemented by non-advised human support. The intention is to make investment advice, and investing, more widely available and attractive to relevant consumers, and increase take-up of suitable investments. |
| Noggin HQ | Noggin HQ is building a platform to compare and purchase credit products. By restructuring the credit application process and leveraging an alternative credit risk mechanism, they aim to facilitate more efficient distribution for companies, and in turn, produce fairer outcomes for people. |
| Notabene, Inc. | Notabene is a RegTech firm that helps Virtual Asset Service Providers comply with the Financial Action Taskforce Recommendation 16, often referred to in the industry as the ‘Travel Rule’. Notabene’s solution enables firms to immediately identify transactions that fall under Travel Rule requirements, automate counterparty due diligence, and seamlessly and securely exchange and store Travel Rule data. |
| OneID | OneID is a government-certified, UK-based identity technology company making it easier for people to prove who they are online by accessing bank-verified and secured data. This technology can authenticate the identity of over 40 million people in the UK in a way that is certified to the DCMS Digital Identity and Attributes Trust Framework for a ‘High’ level of confidence. |
| Platern | Platern provides a privacy-focused open banking protocol and SaaS for developers. The unified data model lets developers combine transaction data from multiple financial institutions, which can be used to build bespoke personal financial dashboards. |
| Reseo | Reseo is an e-business ID solution that facilitates investment onboarding, aiming to speed up the opening of corporate investor accounts in the global investment management sector and connecting onboarding platforms to create an industry-wide solution. |
| SuperFi Finance Limited | SuperFi is addressing increasing consumer debt in the UK by utilising Open Banking to help borrowers locate and understand their different sources of debt – enabling them to optimise their repayments to achieve debt freedom faster. |
| The Investing and Saving Alliance | TISA’s federated Digital ID project – Enabling easy access to all digital services by creating a single, reusable, secure Digital ID that meets all relevant regulatory requirements (KYC and AML) and is positioned to consumers, as the prime means for securely identifying themselves to UK Financial Services. |
| Trust Power | Loop is a free, energy-saving smart meter app, designed and developed by Trust Power – a purpose-led organisation aiming to decarbonise UK households. Via a range of personalised insights and behavioural nudges, Loop aims to reduce users’ electricity and gas bills by making significant carbon savings. Loop also has an in-app simulator that helps users understand the impact of solar on their energy bill and self-sufficiency before installation. We are testing the impact of alternative financing methods in the context of creating low carbon homes. |
| Xpand | Xpand is developing software to support the sustainable impact management of public sector investment and to provide businesses with access to innovative forms of funding and investment. |
| Yottol Financial Services (Swiftfolios) | Yottol has developed Swiftfolios, a deep learning WealthTech platform aiding investments into risk-rated multi-asset class exchange traded fund (ETF) portfolios. Swiftfolios will allow investors to use AI (recurrent neural network algorithms) as and when they choose to drive asset allocations to generate higher returns than a pre-selected benchmark. |
Cohort 7 firms
In June 2021, we received 58 applications to cohort 7 of the Regulatory Sandbox. 13 applications were accepted to test.
Most applications for this cohort came from firms in the retail investments and retail lending sectors. In the wider context of coronavirus (Covid-19), we were interested in seeing more innovation and testing from firms developing businesses, products or services intended to:
- detect fraud and scams
- support the financial resilience of vulnerable consumers
- improve access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
| Sandbox cohort 7 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| Bayfikr | A consumer-to-business (C2B) mobile platform empowering UK-based expatriates and immigrants to pay bill providers in their home country instantly, securely & directly using their UK bank accounts, along with traditional peer-to-peer (P2P) remittance services. |
| Blockpass | A digital identity (ID) software service ‘KYC Connect’ supporting businesses with their Know Your Customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) due diligence requirements when onboarding customers. Blockpass will assess the ability to reuse digital ID credentials for already onboarded customers, as well as the ability to update existing Blockpass businesses where customers update their digital ID profile during a subsequent onboarding process. |
| Cardeo | A mobile app to assist credit card holders to better manage their accounts and to optimise their repayments utilising Open Banking. For selected users, an offer of flexible refinancing of their existing credit card debt is made. |
| Chekk | An e-KYC and digital ID solution that facilitates 100% remote onboarding of retail and business customers of financial institutions. |
| Hlthie | A digital-first health insurance product offering customisable plans to meet individual needs and wallets, and a mobile app for access to claims care anywhere. |
| JO1N | An in-store credit broker that provides a software platform that merchants can use to allow their customers access to credit. The platform is linked to a panel of lenders which provides customers a choice of different interest-bearing credit options for purchase finance. |
| Kontinuous | A distributed leger technology (DLT)-enabled platform that helps SMEs continuously raise capital and efficiently manage a large pool of investors directly from their website. |
| Project Endeavour | Reusable digital ID solution with enhanced fraud screening capability (undertaken by Synectics Solutions) to enable existing Yoti app users (with verified digital ID) to be onboarded for an Orenda pre-paid card and account. |
| StarLiX | A tokenised payment platform that aims to facilitate more efficient low-cost cross-border payments by using payment institutions rather than correspondent banks and with KYC/AML compliance data of all parties involved, embedded in the transactions. |
| TrustElevate | TrustElevate is a RegTech e-KYC service that enables the digital onboarding of child and teen bank accounts in compliance with KYC and AML requirements, by checking against authoritative data sources to verify a child’s identity and parental responsibility. |
| VALK and CMS | VALK is operating a digital, end-to-end, DLT-based solution that integrates every stage of a fundraise or M&A deal onto one platform which connects financial institutions and investors. The platform’s DLT-based interoperability digitises and automates the securities issuance process for a streamlined, efficient and more secure execution of private offers. |
| Willow Money | An Open Banking platform that helps consumers save money and pay off debt faster by refinancing costly credit and incentivising long-term financial wellness. |
| Yonder | Yonder takes the hassle out of cancelling unwanted subscriptions and reduces monthly bills through a science-backed system that cancels out behavioural biases to save users money. |
Cohort 6 firms
In July 2020, we received 68 applications to cohort 6 of the Regulatory Sandbox. 22 firms were accepted to test. Applications primarily came from firms looking to operate in the retail banking, payments and retail lending sectors.
Accepted propositions included financial education platforms, a digitised motor finance proposition, safekeeping and transacting of digital assets using DLT and a sustainable finance investment platform.
For cohort 6, we called out, for the first time, areas where we would like to see more innovation. This included propositions that ‘make finance work for everyone’ and ‘support the UK in the move to a greener economy’. The propositions in cohort 6 support what we believed was the increased demand for digital offerings created by the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19).
| Sandbox cohort 6 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| AgeWage | A way of understanding a pension pot using a value for money score. The test measures how understanding can empower savers to find and compare other pensions and turn pots into retirement plans. |
| AID:Tech | A blockchain based e-money platform that enables verified digital identity holders to allocate and trace payments, funds and donations to reduce fraud. |
| DLA Piper | A RegTech proposition that develops a rules-based methodology to digitally manage regulatory compliance with regards to the issuance of digital assets. |
| Climate Savers | An app to encourage consumers to spend their money on sustainable products and services. Utilising Open Banking to track users’ spending habits, users will be rewarded with discounts at partner retailers for spending habits which are aligned to meeting net-zero emissions targets. |
| CrediCar | An intelligent digital lending platform for the used car industry. The white label platform allows financial providers and car dealers to provide consumers open access to finance products, personalised finance quotes suited to their individual credit risk and affordability profiles, and the ability for the consumer to finance and buy a used car through the platform. |
| Crowdz UK | SMEs invoice financing platform using smart contracts on blockchain to tokenise invoices and re-route payments. |
| Faizpay | A multichannel payment initiation service for merchants combining a Near Field Communication (NFC) card with any smartphone or tablet, enabling in-store and e-commerce transactions. |
| Fronted | A rental deposit cash advance to help people move. Fronted uses Open Banking to make better lending decisions, reduce costs to UK consumers and improve social mobility. |
| FundAdminChain | A private distributed ledger network providing a market platform for launching and trading collective investment funds, allowing investors and product providers to connect, transact and settle at lower cost and with less friction. |
| HipayUK | Hipay will be partnering with Alipay (Alibaba), Wechat Pay (Tencent) and other payment institutions to provide a contact free QR code payment solution for public transport across the UK. The test aims to provide users with a diversified cross-border payment e-wallet platform which promotes value, convenience and accessibility for all UK users. |
| Hitachi Europe Limited | The ‘Sustainable Finance Platform’ aims to facilitate the mobilisation of capital towards green projects through a ‘matching function’ between investors or lenders and project owners. The prototype uses the ‘Internet of Things’ to communicate operational information about green assets and blockchain for enhanced transparency and security. |
| HUB Financial Solutions | A low cost automated, initial and ongoing advice service developed for people approaching and in retirement with modest pension savings. |
| Huozhi | A platform that facilitates the funding, by customers, of essential goods and services for families, paid workers and businesses in crisis zones where formal financial services are unavailable. |
| Mintago | A financial wellbeing platform provided by employers that gives their employees the education and tools to plan their financial future and better understand the short and long-term trade-offs of their spending. |
| Moneyfold | DLT based e-money solution enabling pay-to-URL by turning a website address into a destination for receiving money. |
| My Ahmed Ltd | A Sharia compliant e-money platform with a Zakat donation calculation tool serving the Muslim community. |
| Nest Insight | Automatic enrolment into a payroll deduction emergency savings tool linked to workplace pensions via a roll-over feature, which aims to support increased short-term financial resilience while also increasing pension contributions. |
| NestEgg | A mobile app and software platform using Financial Health Indicators to transform the way lending decisions are made and improve vulnerable borrowers’ financial health and credit profile. |
| Project Pyctor | Pyctor, a project led by ING Bank in collaboration with ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Invesco, Societe Generale – Forge, State Street, UBS, Citibank and others, is a decentralised permissioned network that aims to provide digital asset safekeeping and transaction services, with a focus on regulated security tokens issued either on private or public blockchain. |
| StudentFinance | A digital platform to finance higher education tuition fees through 'Income Share Agreement', a flexible model where students pay a percentage of their income when earning above a minimum income threshold. Student Finance uses machine learning to determine students' employability and future earning projections. |
| Weather Solutions | A parametric weather insurance product that compensates for heightened energy costs during colder than normal winters. |
| YourBlock | A consumer privacy focused platform that provides secure tools for consumers to store and make use of their personal data to access financial products and services, starting with motor insurance. |
Cohort 5 firms
In April 2019, we received 99 applications to cohort 5 of the Regulatory Sandbox, – the largest number of applications in any cohort. 29 firms were accepted to test.
Most of the applications were from firms looking to operate in the wholesale and retail banking sectors. Accepted propositions included digital identity solutions, platforms that tokenise issuance of financial instruments, and services aimed at facilitating greater access to financial services for vulnerable consumers.
| Sandbox cohort 5 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| Barclays | A tool that profiles investor motivations and preferences around the social and environmental impact of their investments and portfolio. |
| Bó | A companion bank account for retail customers which aims to encourage users to take an active role in improving their financial wellbeing, by being more in control of their discretionary spend. The account uses data and behavioural techniques to encourage users to set goals, monitor spending and increase their savings. |
| British Heart Foundation | A travel insurance product with a bespoke medical screening process for consumers living with cardiovascular disease. |
| Currensea | A debit card that lets consumers pay from their existing bank account at low rates when travelling abroad. |
| Digital Wealth Solutions | A digital platform for financial advice firms to support the provision of regulated advice and an ongoing service to clients. The platform complements the traditional face-to-face approach and aims to improve adviser production, moderate the cost of providing advice and increase access to advice. |
| Diro Labs | An identity verification service that can verify any person or document online directly from the original source. The solution provides provable, auditable and reportable evidence of Know Your Customer (KYC) and due-diligence in a shareable format through a central blockchain-based store of information. |
| Fintech Delivery Panel Partners |
A test that is looking to show that consumers can take control over their digital identities and ‘port’ previously verified digital identities across different companies that rely on them to satisfy their customer due diligence and KYC obligations related to identity verification. Deloitte, Evernym, Onfido
uPort, Onfido
Signicat, Onfido
|
| Fractal | A platform that facilitates SME financing and securitisation of SME debt, by digitising credit applications and connecting loan issuances to the underlying financial data, using distributed ledger technology (DLT) and artificial intelligence technology. |
| Funds4Talents | A flexible, income-based student loan designed to make higher education more accessible. Funds4Talents uses machine learning to assess the borrower’s previous academic performance and historical university alumni data to carry out credit risk assessments and predict future income potential. |
| Jammtoday | An online comparison tool of robo- and passive advice providers which allows users to input preferred investment objectives and needs to filter these providers to those meeting the input criteria. Jammtoday provides links to the provider’s website allowing users to complete their investment journey directly with their chosen provider. |
| Karma | An interest-free salary-advance and cash flow management product utilising DLT that enables consumers to spend a portion of their salary every month at a range of different merchants. |
| L&C Mortgages Limited | A platform that allows a customer to interact, select and transact their mortgage end-to-end online. |
| London Stock Exchange Group | A test that will integrate DLT within LSEG-operated listing and trading venues to test market infrastructure for the issuance, admission and trading of equity securities, evidencing the change of beneficial ownership. LSEG has invited Nivaura and select market practitioners along the value chain to participate as part of this test. |
| Monergie | A financial wellness platform provided by employers as a benefit to their employees. The initial services include a salary advance model enabling individuals to access their accrued earnings anytime through the month, without changes to their employer's payroll cycle. |
| Moneyline & Aviva | A home contents insurance product for low-income customers that can be arranged at the same time as taking out a loan. The aim is to provide continuous insurance cover for customers that may need to take a break from making payments and to increase cover amongst customers that are traditionally under-insured and lacking in financial resilience. |
| Muinmos | A RegTech solution which uses artificial intelligence to help firms categorise and validate regulatory compatibility of a range of financial products and services on a national and cross border basis. |
| Nuggets | An e-commerce payments and verified digital identity platform. It will test the storage of personal and payment data securely with blockchain, and the use of this data to access financial services products. |
| Open Banking Implementation Entity | A payment method enabling consumers to securely and conveniently make multiple payments of varying amounts based on rules and parameters the consumer establishes. |
| Paypoint & LINK | An alternative to an ATM, over the LINK network, that enables consumers to make balance enquiries or to withdraw specific amounts of cash over the counter through payment terminals in local shops. |
| Post Office | An app which builds on the development of digital identities for the GOV.UK Verify service, allowing users to create a single digital identity to give them access to both government services and financial services products. The test will aim to show that it gives institutions a high degree of assurance that new customers are who they say they are, and that it removes the burden for users to provide evidence of identity each time they want to access a new product or service. |
| ProxyAddress | A service which will enable homeless individuals to open a basic bank account by providing them with a proxy 'fixed address' for use in the on-boarding process. The aim is to enable customers at risk of financial exclusion to maintain access to a safe repository of funds, and an ability to receive wage payments which can support their transition out of homelessness. |
| Quo Money | An app-based service that aims to promote money management skills among vulnerable consumers. It uses Open Banking to generate a personalised financial plan and prompts the consumer to adhere to it. |
| Renso | A DLT-based real estate investment management platform. |
| Shrap | A mobile app removing the need for physical coins and facilitating free, anonymous electronic micro payments. |
| Standard Chartered Bank | An application that uses tokenisation to facilitate the issuance of retail bank deposits that are backed by FSCS protected fiat funds. The aim is to enable consumers to receive economic benefits from longer-tenor deposits while maintaining flexible and easy access to their deposited money. |
| Statys | A technology solution that uses artificial intelligence to reduce costs and increase efficiencies in the credit scoring and risk assessment process for SME lending. |
| Torca | A platform that uses DLT to streamline the capital raising process, providing a one-stop-shop for issuing securities, including onboarding, raise-management and token issuing services. The platform aims to increase transparency and speed of execution for both security issuers and investors. |
| untied | A platform that uses bank data to automate the preparation and submission of tax returns. |
| Zilch Technology Limited | An accessible way to pay for everyday lifestyle purchases over time. With Zilch, customers will be able to partially pay for purchases at any MasterCard merchant, repaying the remainder over 6 weeks in equal, interest-free instalments. |
Cohort 4 firms
In July 2018, we received 69 applications to cohort 4 of the Regulatory Sandbox. 29 firms were accepted to test, including 3 firms that were accepted as part of previous cohorts but did not proceed to test.
Accepted propositions included firms working across consumer credit, automated advice and insurance. We accepted several firms that wanted to test propositions relating to cryptoassets, as we were keen to explore whether, in a controlled environment, consumer benefits could be delivered while effectively managing the associated risks.
| Sandbox cohort 4 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| BlockEx | Platform that facilitates the issuance and manages the lifecycle of regulated bonds using DLT. |
|
Capexmove
|
Platform that uses DLT to allow small companies to raise capital in a more efficient and streamlined way. |
|
Chasing Returns
|
Psychology-based risk platform that promotes good money management discipline and improves outcomes for customers that trade Contracts for Difference (CfDs). It acts like a digital coach, encouraging adherence to money management and risk exposure levels. |
|
Community First Credit Union
|
Initiative to facilitate creation of an identity token that supports customers who lack traditional forms of ID, in order to assist them in accessing bank account services in the UK. |
|
Creativity Software
|
RegTech solution that supports regulated activities in the UK to achieve more secure customer authentication via mobile phone network based geolocation services. The intention is to draw on geolocation technology to protect UK bank customers from fraud and crime. |
|
CreditSCRIPT
|
Investment platform that gives professional and institutional investors access to a wide range of online lending markets through a single access point. Investors will be able to gain exposure to consumer, SME and real estate loans via CreditSCRIPT. |
|
Dashly
|
Fully autonomous, ‘always-on’ mortgage advice platform that continuously tracks and compares a borrower’s existing mortgage, alerting them the moment it pays to switch. |
|
Etherisc
|
Service that uses smart contracts on a blockchain to provide fully automated, decentralised flight delay insurance. |
|
Fineqia
|
Blockchain-based digital platform that enables companies to issue and administer debt and equity securities, including bonds backed by cryptoassets. |
|
Fractal
|
Insights platform using distributed ledger and artificial intelligence technology to power SME financing by digitising credit applications and connecting loan issuances to the underlying financial data. |
|
Globacap
|
Capital raising platform for SMEs and institutional investors which facilitates the issuance process of debt and equity securities. Globacap use DLT to simplify and streamline the issuance process. |
|
Hub85
|
Fully automated governance solution that enables financial organisations to monitor and understand how spreadsheets are used for regulated activities. The software monitors and enforces compliance rules, identifies structural file errors and quantifies enterprise risks. Analytics captured by the software can be used to identify and expedite the automation of operational tasks. |
|
London Media Exchange
|
Platform that facilitates the buying and selling of contracts for digital advertising space. In the short term this will improve transparency for market participants, and in the long term will lead to the development of derivatives. |
| Mettle | Current account which helps small business owners make decisions, with forward looking finances, smart invoices and easy receipts. |
|
Mortgage Kart
|
Automated advice offering to help customers pick the most suitable mortgage given their needs and circumstances. |
|
Multiply
|
Service that combines financial modelling and machine learning to provide holistic financial plans with specific product recommendations directly to consumers. |
|
Natwest
|
Governance model based on DLT that enables organisations to work collaboratively on developing and running decentralised applications. The model codifies society rules in smart contracts on a blockchain creating a digital mutual. NatWest will open source the code after successful testing. |
| NorthRow | Service that enhances KYC, client onboarding and monitoring processes using account data to support identity verification and financial suitability. |
| Pluto | Chatbot on Facebook Messenger that allows customers to buy and manage travel insurance. Policies are written in plain English and customers can ‘ask’ the chatbot what they are covered for. Group discounts and automated claims handling will also be available. |
|
Salary Finance
|
Payroll-linked lending platform which provides consumers with access to their earned income by the day or week. By enabling employees to access their earned income more frequently, they will be better able to manage their budget, address unexpected needs or avoid ‘late payment fees’ of existing commitments. |
|
TokenMarket
|
Funding platform that uses DLT to facilitate the issuance of shares in private companies more efficiently. |
|
Tokencard
|
Service that connects a centralised payment card to a decentralised blockchain. Consumers hold their own assets in a decentralised smart contract wallet and top up their card through simple exchange. |
|
Universal Tokens
|
Service that leverages blockchain technology in the distribution of insurance products to increase trust and improve user experience. |
| Veridu Labs | Privacy-driven KYC and AML solution backed by machine learning and network analyses to facilitate onboarding and access to business banking. |
|
World Reserve Trust
|
Service that facilitates cheaper and faster global trade payments and settlement using the Sīlùbì, an asset-linked smart token that utilises a permissioned DLT network. |
| Zippen | Service that enables individuals to transfer and consolidate (hence ‘zip’) their pensions (‘zip-pen’) all in one place, delivering convenience, financial advantage or both. |
| 1825 (part of the Standard Life group) | Automated advice proposition for consumers that are close to retirement. Plans are generated by an automated advice engine that considers how to meet the needs and aspirations of consumers using their available liquid and illiquid assets. |
| 20|30 | DLT-based platform that allows companies to raise capital in a more efficient and streamlined way. The test will be facilitated in conjunction with London Stock Exchange Group and Nivaura. |
Cohort 3 firms
In June 2017, we received 61 applications to cohort 3 of the Regulatory Sandbox. 18 firms were accepted to test.
Accepted propositions covered a range of areas including blockchain based payment services, RegTech, general insurance, AML controls, biometric digital ID and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification.
| Sandbox cohort 3 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| Barclays | RegTech proposition which tracks updates to regulations within the FCA Handbook and aligns their implementation to Barclays’ internal policies. |
| Barkat Ventures | International money transfer platform that enables customers to send healthcare services along with their remittances. |
| Chynge | DLT-based cross-border money remittance system that incorporates a transaction monitoring system which is powered by a virtual, artificial-intelligence compliance bot to tackle money laundering, terrorism financing, and fraud more efficiently. |
| Curl | New consumer payment network designed around open banking APIs, which works via @usernames and direct bank transfers. |
| Economic Data Sciences | Technology solution that utilises artificial intelligence to provide fund managers with a mathematically-defined optimal trade-off among a number of risks and objectives during the investment selection process. |
| Etherisc | Uses smart-contracts on a blockchain to provide fully-automated decentralised flight insurance. |
| first direct and Bud | App which learns customers attributes from transactional and demographic data to identify financial and non-financial products from a marketplace of first direct, HSBC and external institutions. |
| FutureFlow | Transaction monitoring system that monitors the movement of money through the economy by tagging individual units of value in transaction amounts and facilitates the sharing of anonymised information between parties in order to help prevent financial crime. |
| Nationwide | Automated solution providing digital savings guidance and investment advice. |
| Orca | P2P investment aggregation platform that facilitates investment in a diversified portfolio of P2P loans. |
| Rebank | Platform that consolidates business bank accounts into one login. Using predictive algorithms, Rebank offers businesses the potential to improve the efficiency of their banking tasks and business payments. |
| ResonanceX | New electronic platform that enables end-to-end automation of price discovery, execution and life-cycle management of structured products using centralised or blockchain asset custody. |
| Sherpa Management Services | Insurance solution that offers members one account to set-up and manage multiple insurance risks. Sherpa offer dynamic products which provide the ability to increase and decrease the sum assured as needs change. |
| Solidi | Blockchain based payments platform that uses cryptocurrencies to facilitate money remittance at a faster speed and with lower transaction costs. |
| Spherical Defence Labs | Application Programming Interface (API) security system that detects advanced hacks and breaches in banks powered by deep learning and computational linguistics. |
| Square Book | New auction method of book-building for initial public offerings/private placements that aims to be fairer and more transparent than existing methodologies. |
| Wrisk | Usage-based contents insurance product with innovative risk scoring method. |
| Yoti | Technology provider that lets users create an encrypted, biometric digital identity linked to their government issued ID. Yoti lets users of the app actively consent to share their verified identity details with financial institutions for use in KYC verification. |
Cohort 2 firms
In January 2017, we received 77 applications from a diverse range of sectors, locations and sizes. 31 applications were accepted and 24 firms proceed to test.
| Sandbox cohort 2 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| AssetVault | AssetVault enables consumers to catalogue all of their assets in a secure online register and better understand their total value. AssetVault then works with insurance providers to protect the consumer and their assets with appropriate insurance products. |
| Assure Hedge | A web-based platform offering forex (FX) options to assist SMEs and individuals to protect against losses incurred because of currency fluctuations. |
| Beekin | Leverages artificial intelligence and data sharing to build transparency and liquidity in alternative assets (real estate, angel investments), and offers risk management and analytics services to small investors. |
| BlockEx | BlockEx wish to test a bond origination, private placement and lifecycle management platform based on distributed ledger technology. |
| Canlon | An insurance policy that saves a portion of the net premium to reimburse policyholders if a claim is not made. |
| Disberse | A blockchain-based service provider that distributes and tracks development and humanitarian finance. |
| Evalue | An on-going, fully automated online streamlined advice process for employees in the workplace designed to help them set and achieve realistic retirement goals. |
| Experian | A mortgage eligibility tool that can be used to help consumers who are in the research phase of buying a home by increasing awareness of their eligibility, based on the lender’s affordability criteria. |
| FloodFlash | FloodFlash provides event-based flood insurance, even in high-risk areas. Customers receive a pre-agreed settlement as soon as the company’s sensor detects that flood waters have exceeded a certain depth. |
| Laka | An alternative insurance business model where the consumer makes payments at the end of the month, based on the exact cost of claims settled during that period. |
| Money Dashboard | A tool that offers an instant view of consumer affordability by aggregating and organising financial transactions from online accounts and mapping them to mortgage lenders’ criteria, supporting a digital mortgage journey. |
| Moneyhub Enterprise | Moneyhub combines artificial intelligence, data analytics and psychology to nudge consumers to encourage affirmative financial actions. |
| Nimbla | Nimbla provides flexible trade credit insurance and credit and invoice management tools to UK SMEs, via an online platform |
| Nivaura | Nivaura's focus is on automating the primary issuance and administration of financial assets through a centralised system or a blockchain infrastructure. |
| Nuggets | A consumer blockchain application that gives users a single biometric tool for login, payment and identity verification, without sharing or storing private data. |
| nViso | An online platform providing advisors and clients behavioural assessment profiles generated by artificial intelligence and facial recognition. |
| OKLink | A money remittance service combining domestic e-money transfers on OKLink’s cross-border blockchain settlement system. |
| Oraclize | A distributed ledger technology based e-money platform which turns digital identity cards into secure digital wallets through the use of smart contracts and fiat-backed tokens. |
| OweMe | A blockchain based platform that aims to help companies receive early payments from their clients against their invoices. |
| Paylinko | A DLT-based payments solution enabling users to send and receive payments using a link. |
| Saffe | A face recognition payments and authentication service provider. |
| Systemsync | An employee benefits comparison platform for SMEs, powered by payroll's automated Workplace Pension submissions. |
| YouToggle | An app that uses mobile phone telematics to monitor a user’s driving and create an individual score that can then be shared with a car insurer to obtain a discount. Driving information captured by the app could also be used as evidence in the event of motor accident. |
| ZipZap | A cross-border money remittance platform that chooses the most efficient means for a payment to reach its destination, including via digital currencies. |
Cohort 1 firms
In July 2016, we received 69 applications to cohort 1 of the Regulatory Sandbox from a diverse range of sectors, locations and sizes. 24 applications were accepted, and 18 firms tested.
| Sandbox cohort 1 firms | Description |
|---|---|
| Billon | An e-money platform based on distributed ledger technology that facilitates the secure transfer and holding of funds using a phone based app. |
| BitX | A cross-border money transfer service powered by digital currencies/blockchain technology. |
| Blink Innovation Limited | An insurance product with an automated claims process that allows travellers to instantly book a new ticket on their mobile device in the event of a flight cancellation. |
| Bud | An online platform and app that allows users to manage their financial products, with personalised insights, on a single dashboard. Bud's marketplace introduces relevant services users can interact with through API integrations. |
| Citizens Advice | A semi-automated advice tool that allows debt advisers and clients to compare the key features of solutions to their debt problem. |
| DISC Holdings Limited | A technology provider that has partnered with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to determine the feasibility of making emergency payments using means other than cash or the Faster Payments Scheme. The payments platform will use blockchain to allow the DWP to credit value to a mobile device to transfer the value directly to a third party. |
| Epiphyte | A payments service provider that aims to provide cross-border payments using blockchain technology. |
| HSBC | An app developed in partnership with Pariti Technologies, a FinTech start-up, to help customers better manage their finances. |
| Issufy | A web-based software platform that streamlines the overall Initial Public Offering (IPO) distribution process for investors, issuing companies and their advisers. |
| Lloyds Banking Group | An approach that aims to improve the experience for branch customers aligned with the online and over the phone experience. |
| Nextday Property Limited | An internet-based property company that will provide an interest-free loan for a guaranteed amount to customers if they are unable to sell their property within 90 days. |
| Nivaura | A platform that uses automation and blockchain for issuance and lifecycle management of private placement securities. |
| Otonomos | A platform that represents private companies’ shares electronically on the blockchain, enabling them to manage shareholdings, conduct book building online and facilitate transfers. |
| Oval | An app that helps users to build up savings by putting aside small amounts of money. These savings can then be used to pay off existing loans early. Oval will be working with Oakam, a consumer credit firm, and a number of their customers during the test period. |
| SETL | A smart-card enabled retail payment system based on their OpenCSD distributed ledger. |
| Tradle | An app and web-based service that creates personal or commercial identity and verifiable documents on a distributed ledger. In partnership with Aviva, they will provide a system for automated customer authentication. |
| Tramonex | An e-money platform based on distributed ledger technology that facilitates the use of ‘smart contracts’ to transfer donations to a charity. |
| Swave | A micro-savings app that provides an across-account view, enables a round-up service every time a user spends money and calculates an affordable savings amount based on the user’s spending behaviour. |
: Information added H&W Investment Limited trading as Xcavate added to accepted firms
: Information changed Application and acceptance figures updated
: Information added Reseo added to accepted firms
: Editorial amendment
: Information added Always Open Sandbox: Accepted firms update
: Information added Always Open Sandbox: Accepted firms update
: Information added Link to case study.
: Editorial amendment page updated as part of website refresh
: Information added Details of 5 accepted firms for 2022 added.
: Information added Details of accepted firms for 2022 added.
