For any further enquiries and assistance, please feel free to contact us on the following email address: fintech@rbz.co.zw

The Fintech Regulatory Sandbox is intended for innovators in the financial services sector who have already developed their service, product or business model and are ready to undertake a proof of concept through monitored market testing.

For all prospective Applicants, applications may be submitted through the Sandbox Application Portal.

To start the application process, register for the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox (FRS) here . After registration, all applications will be managed theough the FRS Portal.

The regulatory sandbox provides the following benefits:

  1. the ability to test products and services in a controlled environment;
  2. reduction in time-to-market at potentially lower cost;
  3. ability to monitor disruptive technologies to ensure that they do not introduce systemic risk to the financial system;
  4. support in identification of appropriate consumer protection;
  5. provision of avenues for regulatory engagement with fintech firms in the financial services space while contributing to economic growth; and
  6. inform regulatory reforms to meet the changing demands of the financial sector.

The Reserve Bank will consider participants in the financial services sector such as innovators, start-ups and financial institutions. Participants currently outside the sector with solutions for financial services may apply in partnership with a licensed financial services business in the country.

A prospective applicant should refer to Annex 2, Annex 3 and Annex 4 of the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines for eligibility criteria, permissible products and services and application requirements, respectively.
In addition the applicant should read the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines.

All enquiries can be directed to the Sandbox Team on the following email: fintech@rbz.co.zw

The sandbox application is open ended and applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

The Reserve Bank shall treat all information availed or submitted by any entity seeking to participate in the Sandbox as confidential, unless the same is already in the public domain.

In order to provide stakeholders with information of emerging risks and regulation of financial technologies and business models, the Reserve Bank may produce reports on anonymised data, regulatory insights and any lessons learnt from the Sandbox.

The Fintech Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines are available on the RBZ website or here.