Bank of England Gets into Fintech Space with ‎Accelerator for Innovations

by Aziz Abdel-Qader
  • The Old Lady is aiming to keep pace with challenges by inviting fintech firms to participate in its new initiative
Bank of England Gets into Fintech Space with ‎Accelerator for Innovations
Bloomberg, Bank of England
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The Bank of England has become the first central bank to launch a ‎‏‘‏Fintech Accelerator ‏’‏‎ that will work with new technology firms to help it harness fintech ‎innovations for central banking, according to an official press release on the BoE's website. ‎

The new initiative, which has already carried out initial work in some areas, will ‎open the door to fintech start-ups developing solutions in data anonymization, ‎cyber security and distributed ledger technology. In return, the accelerator will offer ‎firms the chance to demonstrate their solutions for real issues facing policymakers, ‎together with the valuable ‘first client’ reference that comes with it. With time, it ‎will build a network of firms working in this space for the benefit of both parties.‎

The new world of online trading, fintech and marketing - register now for the Finance Magnates Tel Aviv Conference, June 29th 2016.

‎The British central bank hinted in its announcement at other areas of potential ‎future interest for the accelerator, which may include finding new ways to structure ‎and analyse large datasets, machine learning, particularly in relation to anomaly ‎detection and pattern recognition, and finally protection of the Bank’s sensitive ‎data.‎

How it Works

The initiative will see the BoE inviting fintech firms, selected based on clearly defined ‎criteria, to engage in short proof of concept projects (POCs) via a transparent and ‎competitive process. These criteria will ensure that each project has the potential to be truly innovative, relevant to ‎the Bank’s mission and that commercial considerations are taken into account.

At the end of this process, ‎the BoE will then consider producing an assessment of its experience and ‎publishing the findings. Also, where appropriate, it will consider acting as a reference ‎for the partner firms that achieved successfully completed POCs. ‎

Qualified applicants will also have the opportunity to become an on-going partner of the bank.‎

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, was planning to announce the new initiative at Mansion House on June 16. However, he ‎did not deliver the scheduled speech due to the tragic murder of MP Jo Cox ‎and instead paid tribute to her, saying: “She was a remarkable person who ‎‎dedicated her life to helping others”. ‎

Now released by the bank on Friday, Carney’s planned speech stated: “Fintech should ‎neither be the wild west nor strangled at birth. The Bank is devoting ‎considerable resources to ensure whatever develops is sustainable, not ‎ephemeral.”‎

“It change the nature of money, shake the foundations of central banking ‎and deliver nothing less than a democratic revolution for all who use ‎financial services,” he added.‎

Although the so-called fintech accelerator is thought to be the first scheme of ‎its kind launched by a central bank, it follows a similar announcement from the UK ‎FCA which launched a "sandbox" last year to offer a ‘safe space’ in which businesses can test ‎innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms while ensuring that consumers are appropriately ‎protected.‎

The Bank of England has become the first central bank to launch a ‎‏‘‏Fintech Accelerator ‏’‏‎ that will work with new technology firms to help it harness fintech ‎innovations for central banking, according to an official press release on the BoE's website. ‎

The new initiative, which has already carried out initial work in some areas, will ‎open the door to fintech start-ups developing solutions in data anonymization, ‎cyber security and distributed ledger technology. In return, the accelerator will offer ‎firms the chance to demonstrate their solutions for real issues facing policymakers, ‎together with the valuable ‘first client’ reference that comes with it. With time, it ‎will build a network of firms working in this space for the benefit of both parties.‎

The new world of online trading, fintech and marketing - register now for the Finance Magnates Tel Aviv Conference, June 29th 2016.

‎The British central bank hinted in its announcement at other areas of potential ‎future interest for the accelerator, which may include finding new ways to structure ‎and analyse large datasets, machine learning, particularly in relation to anomaly ‎detection and pattern recognition, and finally protection of the Bank’s sensitive ‎data.‎

How it Works

The initiative will see the BoE inviting fintech firms, selected based on clearly defined ‎criteria, to engage in short proof of concept projects (POCs) via a transparent and ‎competitive process. These criteria will ensure that each project has the potential to be truly innovative, relevant to ‎the Bank’s mission and that commercial considerations are taken into account.

At the end of this process, ‎the BoE will then consider producing an assessment of its experience and ‎publishing the findings. Also, where appropriate, it will consider acting as a reference ‎for the partner firms that achieved successfully completed POCs. ‎

Qualified applicants will also have the opportunity to become an on-going partner of the bank.‎

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, was planning to announce the new initiative at Mansion House on June 16. However, he ‎did not deliver the scheduled speech due to the tragic murder of MP Jo Cox ‎and instead paid tribute to her, saying: “She was a remarkable person who ‎‎dedicated her life to helping others”. ‎

Now released by the bank on Friday, Carney’s planned speech stated: “Fintech should ‎neither be the wild west nor strangled at birth. The Bank is devoting ‎considerable resources to ensure whatever develops is sustainable, not ‎ephemeral.”‎

“It change the nature of money, shake the foundations of central banking ‎and deliver nothing less than a democratic revolution for all who use ‎financial services,” he added.‎

Although the so-called fintech accelerator is thought to be the first scheme of ‎its kind launched by a central bank, it follows a similar announcement from the UK ‎FCA which launched a "sandbox" last year to offer a ‘safe space’ in which businesses can test ‎innovative products, services, business models and delivery mechanisms while ensuring that consumers are appropriately ‎protected.‎

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