Poland is to launch a FinTech regulatory sandbox overseen by the country’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), and run by a group of industry players under a decentralised model. The sandbox is aimed at supporting the development of innovation in the financial market.
The sandbox is open to entities planning to start operations on the financial market (start-ups) that have an untested, innovative product or financial service based on modern information technology and to entities already offering certain solutions on the financial market (supervised entities, financial institutions), who want to conduct further tests in order to develop new services or business models.
The regulatory sandbox is the first of its type in Poland, whose aim is to actively support young technology companies in entering the financial services market.
Eight companies have so far been selected as sandbox operators: PKO Bank Polski, Huge Thing, D-RAFT/The Heart, Alior Bank, BusinessCaddy Foundation for Enterprise Development, Bank Pekao, Bank Handlowy w Warszawie (part of the Citi Group), and Bank BGŻ BNP Paribas.
“The KNF regulatory sandbox is a unique initiative on the Polish market, allowing FinTechs to test their solutions in a safe environment. It is an honour that we can be part of the so-important FinTech program that will revolutionise the financial innovation sector for the Polish ecosystem. Knowledge in scaling start-ups will bring tangible results and create new competitive solutions on the market,” said Jędrzej Iwaszkiewicz, the co-founder of D-RAFT/The Heart, an international hub where leading multinationals connect with ready-to-scale start-ups for joint business development.
