PHOENIX – The Arizona Attorney General’s Office's (AGO) FinTech Sandbox has been operational for more than three years and one graduate highlights the program's success.
FinTech is an abbreviated term for “financial technology.” Examples included mobile banking, cryptocurrency, and mobile payments.
Launched in 2018, Arizona’s first-in-the-nation FinTech Sandbox provides much-needed relief for entrepreneurs by lifting some regulations and allowing innovative products and services to be live-tested in a marketplace limited to a capped number of consumers. The program is under the supervision of the Arizona Attorney General's Office to ensure compliance with Arizona’s consumer protection laws.
Verdigris Holdings, Inc. entered the Sandbox in 2019 in hopes of developing a solution that combines custom technology and industry expertise to deliver simple transactional financial services at a low cost to unbanked people and the companies that serve them. Today, Verdigris Holdings is the parent company of BrightFi, a technology, and operations platform that delivers digital banking solutions for those who cannot afford or do not wish to bank with traditional big banks.
"I think that we got a great deal of confidence and an impetus from being a participant in the Sandbox. I think that it was certainly part of the foundations for our success," said Michael Coghlan, CEO of BrightFi. "It gave us a degree of latitude that allowed us to test things and test approaches and develop operations that perhaps would be more difficult had we not been participating in the Sandbox."
AGTV sat down with Assistant Attorney General Sam Fox and BrightFi CEO Michael Coghlan to learn more about the program:
Arizona’s FinTech Sandbox is administered through the Consumer Protection & Advocacy Section of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. This allows the office to act quickly if necessary to protect consumers, stop deceptive acts, and work with entrepreneurs to solve problems.
To learn more about the AGO's FinTech Sandbox click here.
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