Frequently Asked Questions
Virtual Sandbox
Access to the Virtual Sandbox is provided free of charge.
You can apply for participation in tests using the Virtual Sandbox within 12 months from the date of obtaining qualification from the Innovation Hub Programme.
First, you must apply to the Innovation Hub Programme and obtain qualification for participation in tests using the Virtual Sandbox. Next, after obtaining such qualification, you must apply to participate in tests via the dedicated application form, and after obtaining acceptance and being granted the appropriate permissions, begin tests in the Virtual Sandbox environment.
Yes, foreign entities may participate on the same terms as domestic entities.
Entities that do not meet the criteria indicated in the Regulations for participation in tests in the UKNF Virtual Sandbox environment are excluded from the Programme.
Any entity wishing to provide payment services envisaged by the PSD2 Directive or based on a blockchain network on the Hyperledger Fabric platform, which has obtained the appropriate qualification from the Innovation Hub Programme in accordance with the Regulations for participation in tests in the UKNF Virtual Sandbox environment.
The UKNF makes available a choice of the PSD2 or DLT Virtual Sandbox. The PSD2 Virtual Sandbox allows for testing basic payment services envisaged by the PSD2 Directive, i.e., Payment Initiation Service (PIS), Account Information Service (AIS), and Confirmation of the Availability of Funds (CAF). The DLT Virtual Sandbox is a test environment intended for verifying the operation of developed business applications functioning within the Hyperledger Fabric network. The Sandbox allows for the creation of smart contracts or the acceptance of existing ones that have a specific value. The environment currently processes production business applications that have real services in the form of smart contracts, e.g., transactions, tokens, document circulation, voting.
The Sandbox provides free access to a fully functional environment where the user can test their solutions without the need to invest in their own ICT infrastructure.
The goal of making the PSD2 Virtual Sandbox available is to support entities developing innovative payment services operating in the PolishAPI standard by enabling them to verify new solutions in a secure test environment.
After the tests are completed, the participant analyses the obtained results themselves and decides whether their solution meets the adopted business assumptions and whether they will apply for a license under general principles.
No. The UKNF does not issue such certificates.
No. Completion of tests alone does not entail obtaining a license. The participant may apply for a license under general principles.
Yes. The UKNF does not claim any rights to the technological solutions provided by participants in tests using the Virtual Sandbox.
Participation in the Programme does not provide project funding.
Results subject to intellectual or industrial property rights and results not subject to such protection, created as an effect of participation in the Virtual Sandbox, constitute the exclusive property of the participant.
The participant should have access to IT infrastructure allowing for the use of their own solution (e.g., application, frontend, backend API, authentication servers, document repository, relational database, analytical systems, etc.) and have the ability to integrate it with the UKNF IT infrastructure, e.g., via SDK files.
Each participant obtains access to the Virtual Sandbox environment for a period of 90 days with the possibility of extending it by another 30 days on the principles provided for in the Regulations for participation in tests in the UKNF Virtual Sandbox environment.
The Office provides technical support throughout the duration of the tests regarding the provision of access and efficient functioning of the test environment, as well as providing instructions allowing for the independent implementation of tasks in the Virtual Sandbox environment.
Yes.
The owner of the Virtual Sandbox environment is the UKNF.
Accelerators and incubators provide the market with knowledge about technology, supporting innovation from the theoretical and know-how side. The Virtual Sandbox gives access to a ready-made test environment on which solutions can be tested, therefore it is a tool serving the practical verification of business ideas.