Malaysian bank Maybank has launched a regional, collaborative fintech sandbox aimed at helping ASEAN fintech startups test and develop their products.

The Maybank Sandbox provides developers with real banking APIs to connect and make use of existing banking functions. It also offers simulated data for analytics and simulation, as well as development tools to enable them to create new web and mobile applications.

Maybank Sandbox will also enable team members from different countries to collaborate on the same virtual environment.

A person can put a fintech idea, which can be a new service, product, tool, game or code fix into Maybank Sandbox. The idea creator would have to state key information such as high-level scope and use cases.

A developer can access the sandbox and choose to pursue any idea, working independently or in collaboration with multiple developers. Once the solution is completed, the developer(s) can publish the solution back to the idea creator.

“Our aim is to be the leading platform for aspiring FinTechs, technologists, technology enthusiasts and even students from anywhere in the world who want to learn about developing real world solutions to ideas that not only come from banks but also brokers, insurance companies and other non-bank organisations,” said Maybank Group Chief Technology Officer Mohd Suhail Amar Suresh.

“Hence, the Maybank Sandbox is developed with a simplified and intuitive UX and is packed with functionality, tools and environments, to ensure that it is friendly to non-technical or expert users,” he added.

While Maybank may be one of the first private financial institutions in the region to set up a sandbox, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has already taken the lead in setting up fintech regulatory sandbox this year. Singapore-based insurtech startup PolicyPal became the first startup to join the sandbox.