SBP concludes First Cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox

The State Bank of Pakistan has concluded the first cohort of its Regulatory Sandbox, Mettis Global reported, citing an SBP press release. Four of the six participants shortlisted after extensive scrutiny successfully demonstrated their solutions following testing from January to June 2026. The cohort was launched in August 2025 to encourage innovation in digital financial services within a supervised environment.

The cohort covered three themes: remittance solutions built on technology, open banking, and merchants onboarded remotely. United Bank Limited (UBL) is among the successful participants, having tested a remittance solution together with Taptap Send UK Limited. The other three successful entries, Digi Khata, Swich Retail and Neem Exponential Financial Services, focused on open banking.

SBP stressed that passing the sandbox does not amount to regulatory approval, so successful firms must still obtain authorization before they go to market. The findings and recommendations from cohort one will feed into the development of regulatory frameworks, and the central bank expects the sandbox to keep supporting fintechs and banks.