The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) has been recognised at the Fintech Summit & Awards for its work on innovation - a milestone moment for the industry. Regulators don’t often take centre stage at fintech awards. Startups, banks, and investors are usually in the spotlight. This time, it was the CBI’s Sandbox team receiving the award for Fintech Advisor of the Year. And rightly so.
Why it Matters When Regulators Win
Innovation in financial services isn’t only about who builds the best technology or raises the largest round. It’s also about the conditions that allow innovation to be tested safely and scaled responsibly.
That’s where regulators play a critical role. Too often, they’re seen as the backstop - the group that sets the guardrails after the fact. But the Central Bank of Ireland has shown a different path.
Through its Innovation Hub and now the Innovation Sandbox Programme, the Central Bank of Ireland has created structured ways for innovators to engage early, test responsibly, and bring policy and delivery closer together.
The Sandbox: Policy and Delivery, Together
The Sandbox is not a tick-box initiative. It’s designed around real themes and real challenges. The first cohort, focused on combatting financial crime, brings together startups, data specialists, and policymakers to see how new solutions perform under regulatory and operational scrutiny.
This matters because the challenge isn’t just spotting promising technology - it’s proving it works in the market, safely and effectively. The Sandbox creates a structured environment where that evidence can be built, with guidance from the regulator itself.
That same principle - safe, structured validation before going live - is what enterprises increasingly look for in their own delivery pipelines. It’s also what NayaOne enables: moving from concept to evidence in a way that is compliant, repeatable, and scalable.
Recognition at the Right Time
The award comes at a pivotal moment. Across Europe and beyond, financial institutions are under pressure to deliver innovation faster, while regulators are under pressure to manage new risks - from AI to digital assets to fraud at scale.
The CBI’s approach demonstrates how regulators can lean into this moment, not just as overseers, but as enablers of innovation. It sets a benchmark for others and proves that forward-looking regulation can be celebrated, not feared.
For enterprises, it also signals that the ecosystem is moving toward a common model: innovation tested in controlled environments, validated against policy and operational needs, and only then deployed at scale.
Shaping the Future of Financial Innovation
The Central Bank of Ireland’s award is more than recognition for a single team - it’s a signal of where the industry is heading. Innovation in financial services needs the right environment: safe, structured, and collaborative. The Sandbox shows how regulators can shape those conditions, and why that matters for the whole ecosystem.
At NayaOne, we’re proud to play our part in powering that environment. By enabling sandboxes and vendor delivery programmes, we help enterprises and regulators move faster, with more evidence and less risk. It’s a model that’s not only award-winning - it’s essential for the future of financial innovation.
If you’d like to explore how NayaOne can enable your sandbox or structured vendor delivery programme, get in touch with our team.
