Nine firms have been accepted into the advice unit set up by the regulator to develop automated financial services, Christopher Woolard has said.
In a speech to the British Bankers Association the FCA’s executive director of strategy and competition said 19 applications were received in the initial tranche.
Of these nine firms, eight are established financial services providers wanting to bring automated advice to the market "at scale".
Mr Woolard said: "The nine successful firms have begun the process of engaging with the Advice Unit, who will seek to provide regulatory feedback on the automated advice models they are developing.
"Firms who were not successful have received feedback to help them understand why they did not meet our eligibility criteria, and have the option to reapply when we open our next cohort."
He said this process would provide lessons for the regulator as much as for the firms involved, and said the FCA would be making public what it has learnt from the process.
The advice unit was launched in June after being announced in the Financial Advice Market Review report.
It will focus on helping firms develop fully or partly automated online services and other models that use technology to deliver low cost advice.
The FCA is currently advertising for the role of manager for the advice unit as well as technical specialist and senior associate.
Mr Woolard also said the FCA received 69 applications for its sandbox, a "safe space" for firms to test new ideas without incurring regulatory consequences.
Interest has been high and total applications have far exceeded our expectationsChristopher WoolardHe said: “Interest has been high and total applications have far exceeded our expectations.
"Of 69 applications, we have accepted 24 to develop towards testing, which met the Sandbox eligibility criteria, leading us to expand our team to meet demand.
"The demographic of applicants is diverse, covering a range of geographies, both domestic and international, including Singapore, Denmark, USA and Canada.
"The range of sectors covered was also broad: from the applications accepted, four came from retail banking, four from insurance firms, three covering advice and profiling and three related to IPO. There was also one application each for digital identity, disclosure and the mortgage sector.
"They also came in all different sizes – including from challengers and incumbents. We have also seen incumbents and start-ups create partnerships – the incumbent bringing established systems, distribution channels and customers and the start-up bringing new technology and fresh insights."
Mr Woolard said the FCA was currently finalising the details of the testing, timelines and consumer safeguards.
He said that in the “coming weeks” the FCA would provide and update as well as publish a list of all the firms taking part in trials.
