Speaking at SIBOS 2016 in Geneva, David Geale, Director of Policy at the Strategy & Competition Division at UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) , said that sandboxes allow firms to test their innovations with fewer regulatory controls. He gave the example that in a sandbox, if a customer lost some money due to the fault of the company, the company would be expected to compensate the customer, but would most likely not be fined, which would be the normal process outside the sandbox. He said he preferred to use the term “tech-sprints” to describe the nurturing activities of fintechs.
David Geale also shared his dis-satisfaction with the thick reams of paper that outline the terms and conditions of any product, something that most customers don’t care to read. He said that regulators should encourage finance companies to communicate differently with customers and hoped that fintech companies could facilitate this transformation.
UK based FCA started its Innovation Hub 2 years ago to help fintech companies navigate the financial sector regulatory space and to also help the financial sector take a safer path towards innovation. During the last 2 years, the Innovation Hub has interacted with over 300 fintech companies from around the world.
– Manoj Agrawal from SIBOS 2016
