We have today launched an accelerator to work in partnership with FinTech firms on the unique challenges that we face as a central bank. Firms can apply now to take part.
The accelerator will work with new technology firms to help us harness FinTech innovations for central banking. In return, it will offer firms the chance to demonstrate their solutions for real issues facing us as policymakers, together with the valuable ‘first client’ reference that comes with it. With time, the accelerator will build a network of firms working in this space for the benefit of us and them alike.
How the accelerator will work
We will select firms to take part in short proof of concept projects (POCs) via a transparent and competitive process, based on clearly defined selection criteria. These criteria will ensure each project has the potential to be truly innovative, relevant to the Bank’s mission and mindful of commercial considerations.
At the end of the proof of concept, we will consider producing an assessment of our experience and publishing the findings. For successfully completed POCs, the Bank will consider acting as a reference for the firms.
Our Fintech Accelerator has already carried out initial work in the areas of data anonymisation, cyber security and distributed ledger technology. Other areas of potential future interest for the accelerator include:
finding new ways to structure and analyse large datasets
machine learning, particularly in relation to anomaly detection and pattern recognition
protection of the Bank’s sensitive data
However, our interest is not limited to the topics above. We would also welcome expressions of interest from innovative firms in all areas of FinTech that can demonstrate how their work relates to the Bank’s mission.
FinTech Accelerator
In his Mansion House speech published on 17 June, the Governor of the Bank of England announced that the Bank is launching a FinTech Accelerator to work in partnership with FinTech firms on challenges that we, as a central bank, uniquely face. The Accelerator will work with new technology firms to help us harness FinTech innovations for central banking.
In return, it will offer firms the chance to demonstrate their solutions for real issues facing us as policymakers, together with the valuable ‘first client’ reference that comes with it. With time, the Accelerator will build a network of firms working in this space for the benefit of us and them alike.
What does the Accelerator do? – Aims of the work:
The FinTech Accelerator deploys innovative technologies on issues that matter to the Bank’s mission and operations. Working in partnership with FinTech firms we will seek to develop new approaches, build our understanding of these new technologies and in some way support development of the sector.
How will the Accelerator engage with firms?
The Accelerator will appoint FinTech firms to run short Proof of Concept (POC) projects in a number of priority areas. Each POC will have clearly defined requirements and success indicators.
The selection process will be competitive and transparent. We will make clear our priorities, so that relevant firms can register their interest. From there a short list will be developed, and senior Bank staff will select the firms to work with on a POC. The selected firms will have the opportunity to test and demonstrate their products in a live environment, working closely with Bank experts. At the close of the POC, the outcomes will be assessed against the initial criteria, and the Bank may publish a case study or act as a reference client.
Successful firms may have the opportunity to re-tender through an open process to become an on-going partner of the Bank.
What is in the current cohort?
Below are some examples of current projects.
BitSight: Uses publicly available bulk data to assess firms’ cyber resilience, including looking for evidence of malware on a firm’s systems, signs of known software vulnerabilities, or weak encryption, which can be used to form a view on the information security of a firm over time. For the Proof of Concept, we will be looking to engage with BitSight to evaluate the Bank’s own resilience and to assess the benefit of this service as one of the range of information security tools that we use.
Privitar: Provides tools to anonymise and desensitise data. As part of our Proof of Concept, we will first test this software on a manufactured dataset to examine the analytical value of the desensitised data. We will then look to assess the capability of the tool on data held internally to establish if this will allow us to provide wider access to data for researchers within the Bank.
PwC: We have invested in understanding the technology of blockchain and distributed ledger, working with PWC. The team built a multi-node scalable distributed ledger environment, which contained several smart contracts to illustrate the applications of the technology. This has enabled us to better comprehend the resiliency benefits and practical limitations of the technology. These are detailed further in the linked publication.
Areas of Interest
Other priority areas are listed below, but we also welcome expressions of interest from firms working in other areas of FinTech.
We are interested in new ways of structuring and analysing large data sets and data gained in regulatory reporting. Other technological developments of interest are around machine learning, particularly in relation to anomaly detection and pattern recognition.
We would welcome expressions of interest or proposals for the Bank to participate in, or act as a silent observer or partner with an existing pilot distributed ledger network. Pilots should test how the technology functions in ‘real world’ scenarios. Where relevant, we will also be interested to explore the potential regulatory implications from the use of the technology.
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