Lauren Jones, ex Head of Standards at Payments UK, and now Icon’s International Payments Ambassador, reports from out in the field where she is actively testing different methods of payments and…

The internet of things (IoT) is at the peak of the hype cycle, so it’s not surprising to find payment companies trying to jump aboard the gravy train. The problem is, consumers…

Ten years ago the European Commission (EC) and the European Central Bank (ECB) announced a common vision for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which they described as an “integrated market for…

  At Finovate Europe, 2017, 71 Fintech companies got to present their latest and greatest products via a 7 minute live demo, in front of 1,500 people.  What makes this years’ Finovate…

As a European directive, PSD2 has to be transposed into UK law. HM Treasury has recently launched a consultation inviting comment on the proposed legislative changes. The consultation document is written in…

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently mandated that larger banks adopt and maintain a common standard for open APIs (Application Programming Interface) to help create more innovation and competition in the…

  Over the last year, we’ve been talking with many banks and payment service providers about the challenges of instant payments.  The most progressive organisations are looking to instant payments as an…

The revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) has been the cause of much hand-wringing in the banking space, with incumbents foreseeing a future when the new banking giants are Starling, Tandem, Monzo and…

The end of 2016 witnessed an excellent step by the Hungarian Central Bank (MNB) – the release of the ‘Operational model of the instant payment service in Hungary’. It is remarkable for…