Our support for firms launching innovative products and services has continued to evolve. This report shows how our innovation services have provided that support.
We launched 'Project Innovate' in 2014 in a world first and our approach has been copied around the world. As we celebrate 10 years of FCA Innovation[2], this report provides an overview of the firms we've supported, alongside data on our innovation services[3], and case studies on a sector-by-sector basis. It aims to help firms, and others with an interest, understand what we do and how they can work with us.
During the 10 years:
- We’ve received over 2,500 applications and supported almost 1,000 firms.
- We’ve hosted 15 Tech and Policy Sprints on topics from financial inclusion and authorised push payment (APP) fraud to greenwashing and female empowerment.
- 25 firms have accessed the Digital Sandbox[4], developing proof of concepts using data related to fraud, the Financial Services Register and open finance.
- 8 out of 10 firms using our services said they were useful.
- An independent study found that our sandbox firms are 50% more likely to raise funding than their peers and, on average, raise 15% more in investment.
Sectors covered
- Wholesale firms
- Distributed ledger technology
- Fund tokenisation
- Payments and open banking
- General insurance
- Consumer investments
- Retail lending
- Financial inclusion
- Artificial Intelligence
- RegTech