Sandbox Blockchain

The Sandbox is addressed to companies that wish to develop products or services based on the blockchain technology, yet they do not have a proper test environment available. 

For a number of years, PKO Bank Polski has been developing its signature programme of cooperation with the environment of technological start-ups called “Let’s Fintech  with PKO Bank Polski.” Thanks to this, we understand the perspective of the market well, along with the needs of technological entrepreneurs; furthermore, we are able to combine them with the business expectations of large organisations. As a technological company with a banking license, we are willingly using innovative solutions which help streamline our work or increase the level of satisfaction of our clients. When filling in the application, you can choose whether you are interested only in access to the Sandbox, or whether you are also looking for the possibility of business cooperation or capital engagement on the side of the Bank. More information about our blockchain projects is available here: https://fintech.pkobp.pl/fintech-en/blockchain-in-the-bank/.

The “Let’s Fintech” programme is a signature programme of PKO Bank Polski, where we are looking for interesting solutions on the start-up market. Interesting both with respect to the business implementation, as well as capital engagement via own Venture Capital fund.

Sandbox Blockchain is a separate project implemented jointly by PKO Bank Polski, KIR, IBM, the National Cloud Operator and the Fintech Poland Foundation. Application to both programmes is made by a joint application form on our website. When filing the application, you can choose which options of cooperation are interesting for you at a given moment.

At PKO Bank Polski, we have been experimenting with blockchain technology for several years and we are striving for further implementations in the banking sector. Below are the issues that constitute the main area of the bank's activities and interests in the context of blockchain technology:

1. Investment market;
2. Payment services;
3. Trust services (credibility of documents, remote client identification);
4. VAS for banking activities;
5. Corporate banking – clearing services (transfer agent).

Nevertheless, we are also happy to look at ideas from other areas.

It is easy. Just file an application to the programme via a form on our website (link at the top of the page). If your application has been positively assessed, we will send you an invitation to cooperate. During expert evaluation, we will primarily focus on the IT infrastructure resources held by you, technical knowledge and experience of your team members. We also concentrate on business logic and the market potential of the prototyped solutions. A disqualifying factor at the very start is presence on the list of public warnings of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).

A Sandbox user should have access to infrastructure which will be the basis for components not forming a functional part of the Sandbox Platform and which will be contained within the scope of the project (e.g. frontend application, backend API, authentication servers, document repository, relational database, analytical systems, etc.). Furthermore, the user should have adequate knowledge and competence:

• experience with at least one of the following programming languages: javascript, java, golang;
• experience in integration of the application layer with SDK with the use of at least one of the following:
• expertise in building data models and business logic (including complex queries on objects and attributes) using key-value databases;
• experience in programming deterministic business logic;
• familiarity with the concept and the operation of Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform;
• familiarity with the concept and the operation of public key infrastructure, including use of X.509 certificates and ECDSA keys;
• familiarity with the concept and the operation of GRPC communication protocol, HTTP/2 transfer protocol, Gossip data distribution protocol and TLS encryption protocol.

No, the use is fully free of charge. Furthermore, if your solution is compatible with the current business needs of PKO Bank Polski Group, we will offer a pilot implementation to you, for which you will be paid.

Obviously, the results of work which is the object of intellectual or industrial property rights and results which are not the object of such protection, created as a result of participation in Sandbox, remain the exclusive property of a Sandbox user. The exception is a situation when we jointly decide about the shape of business cooperation. In such case, the issue of intellectual property rights will be regulated by the concluded contract.

Our programme is only meant to help the blockchain market entrepreneurs develop own solutions and overcome the barriers of entering the market. We believe that some of the solutions that you are working on will help us streamline our organisation. On the macro scale, our aspiration and the aspiration of all project partners is to improve the technological level of the Polish economy. This will offer benefits to all market participants. 

There is no other such comprehensive programme on the Polish market. The group of project partners which includes large business organisations, leading suppliers of IT infrastructure, representatives of the start-up environment offers a guarantee of safety and top business, technological and regulatory standards.