The SARB has been following the approaches, adopted by other jurisdictions, to assist policymakers and regulators in staying abreast of FinTech developments given how some lending and payment platforms have grown to become systemically important systems within a short space of time. For this reason, jurisdictions such as Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United Kingdom have implemented innovation hubs and regulatory sandboxes.
Innovation hubs provide support, advice and guidance to firms in navigating the regulatory framework and/or identifying supervisory, policy or legal issues and concerns. Regulatory sandboxes provide the platform for live or virtual testing of new products or services, in a controlled environment, with or without any ‘regulatory relief’.