This page provides detail on applications to our innovation pathways and regulatory sandbox, including a breakdown of applicants by sector and technology used, as well as common reasons applications are refused.
Our outcomes
Metrics
Use the dropdown menu below to view the metrics and the latest results.
What the metric values tell us
Our digital and innovation metrics show our ongoing commitment to support innovation in the financial sector. Firms continue to express significant interest in and engagement with our innovation services. Details on key initiatives aimed at facilitating innovation, including our sandbox programmes, can be found in the SICGO report.
Firms from a variety of sectors apply to use our services, with a mixture of cutting-edge technologies used (DI-M01). In addition to our Innovation Services applications, we received 1,265 applications for our 5 Innovation Sprints - Financial Inclusion, Market Abuse Surveillance, GFIN Greenwashing, AI and Open Finance – with 611 attendees. We also received 79 applications for our new AI Spotlight Service.
Payments & Digital Assets emerged as the leading sector for both the Innovation Pathways and Regulatory Sandbox, highlighting continued progress in payment innovation and the development of digital finance infrastructure. In contrast, the Digital Sandbox saw a different trend, with over 53% of applications coming from cross-sector solutions. This suggests the Digital Sandbox is attracting firms testing broader, systemic innovations across traditional financial niches. Unlike other services, where Retail Lending was a key theme, the Digital Sandbox received more applications from the Fund & Investment Management sector, highlighting interest in data-driven investment use cases.
This year, we also delivered Policy & TechSprints in critical areas to advance our initiatives utilising technology and innovation. Additionally, we launched the AI Lab to meet specific support needs related to artificial intelligence.
We have criteria in place (DI-M02) to ensure the firms we approve are the applicants that can benefit the most from our assistance and are putting forward genuinely innovative products and ideas.