Australian start-ups will soon have access to a regulatory sandbox which will be ‘game-changing’, says Stone & Chalk’s Alex Scandurra.

The new regulatory sandbox will allow start-ups in the financial services space to trial products with customers for six months before obtaining a license from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Under the new ASIC proposals, fintech services can trial services and products with up to 100 retail clients, but will have to abide by the $10,000 limit on investment per retail client and the total cap of $5 million.

Chief executive of leading Australian fintech hub Stone & Chalk, Alex Scandurra, has called the sandbox a ‘game-changer’ which will boost collaboration across the board.

“A sandbox will allow for greater user testing and validation prior to starting the licensing process,” he said.

“This will help reduce the time and costs needed to commercially launch a fintech product or service.”

Submissions on the ASIC consultation paper are open until July 22.