{
  "id": 7689833,
  "title": "State Bank of Pakistan cautions on sandbox approval",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/16/state-bank-of-pakistan-cautions-on-sandbox-approval",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-16T02:30:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Dawn Business",
    "slug": "dawn-business",
    "url": "https://www.dawn.com/news/2030248/state-bank-of-pakistan-cautions-on-sandbox-approval"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has cautioned that passing sandbox testing does not equate to regulatory green light. Participating entities must secure the required authorisation and clearance from the central bank prior to commercially releasing their sandbox-tested product or service. Following SBP Vision 2028, the bank initiated its inaugural regulatory sandbox cohort in August 2025, aimed at promoting digital financial services innovation through controlled testing of innovative solutions under SBP's regulatory supervision. The initial cohort centered on three areas: technology-driven solutions for foreign currency transfers, open banking, and the remote onboarding of merchants. After rigorous evaluation, SBP selected six participants to pilot their solutions within the sandbox from January to June. Throughout the program, SBP teams offered crucial support and regulatory advice to the participants. Upon conclusion of the testing phase, the following entities successfully showcased their solutions: Taptap Send UK Ltd and United Bank Ltd for Inward Remittance Technology-Enabled Services; Digi Khata (SMC-Private) Ltd for Open Banking; Switch Retail Private Ltd for Open Banking, and Neem Exponential Financial Services (Pvt) Ltd for Open Banking. SBP emphasized that the insights, lessons learned, and regulatory suggestions from cohort-1 will aid in formulating appropriate regulatory structures for the industry's overall benefit, as stated in a recent publication in Dawn on September 16th, 2026.",
  "summary": "KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Tuesday that the successful completion of sandbox testing does not imply regulatory approval. Successful participants must obtain the necessary authorisation and approval from the central bank before commercially launching the product or service tested in the sandbox. In line with SBP Vision 2028, the central bank launched the first cohort of its…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}