Shifting geopolitical dynamics and the demands of the always-on digital economy have reshaped the European payments landscape – driving the need for instant, secure and accessible transactions across the bloc.  This transformation…

Currently, only 38 participants are directly connected to CHAPS (Clearing House Automated Payment System), with most connecting through indirect agreements. Many prospective participants choose not to pursue direct participation due to strict…

Driving the mainstream growth of Open Banking payments continues to be a key talking point for the UK government, regulators and wider banking industry. With more than 10% of the UK adult…

Last month, Icon brought together payments professionals from across Europe and the US for our 3rd IPF Day. Amid regulatory pressures, increasing competition and evolving business needs, the event served as an…

In 2024, Sibos is opening its doors in Beijing, marking the first time that China’s capital is hosting the event. Taking place 21-24 October, the event will bring together thousands of senior leaders…

Financial crime is on the rise, and it is costing billions. New research shows UK financial services organisations are collectively spending £34.2 billion each year on financial crime compliance, up 19% since…

As banks look towards their priorities for the coming year, instant payments – particularly the new European Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) – loom large in the minds of many. A poll of…

Instant payments, characterised by their speed and availability, are transforming the financial landscape across the globe. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in particular, has emerged as a leader in adopting and innovating in…

Icon recently released IPF 2024.1, which included upgrading all of our components to Java 17 and required Java 17 as a minimum. I was the lead engineer on this piece of work,…

Matt Piper, Head of Pre-Sales at Icon Solutions, explains why flexibility is key when it comes to future-proofing payments but, to understand the steps that must be taken, there are fundamental questions…

Following NACHA’s annual Smart Faster Payments Conference in Miami, Arjeh van Oijen, Head of Product Management for Icon Solutions, explores the key trends shaping the rollout and adoption of real-time payments in…

In the run up to NACHA’s annual Smart Faster Payments Conference in Miami, Arjeh van Oijen, Head of Product Management for Icon Solutions, explains why real-time payments are top of the agenda…

In this blog, Jamie Packham, shares his own experiences deploying generative artificial intelligence (AI) models and explores the potential for AI to help accelerate banks’ migration to the ISO 20022 messaging standard….

It is critical for financial institutions to have an efficient Reconciliation and Investigation (R&I) capability to minimise financial risk by identifying potential payment errors, discrepancies, or irregularities promptly and fixing them early…

A recent independent survey conducted by Celent found that 73% of corporate banks have reported clear revenue benefits from investment in advanced data analytics. Looking ahead, analytics, intelligent automation, and artificial intelligence…

The banking industry is going through significant transformation across its various business domains and core banking has been one of the key areas of focus for many banks in recent years. Most…

Back before Christmas, at the same time as the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, a new report by HM Treasury was released – the Future of Payments Review report [1]. This report proposes a set…

In the first blog of our two-part predictions series, we explored the key technological and regulatory trends shaping the payments landscape in 2024. In this second blog, we explore the practical strategies…

2023 put the traditional processing model for account-based payments to the test, as evolving customer demands, intensifying competition from fintechs and shifting regulatory requirements continued to intensify margin pressures. And although 2024…

Last month Icon hosted its final IPF Client Day of 2023. The event brought our clients together in London to explore the latest business trends in the payments market and technologies shaping…

Icon’s expertise was needed when a Tier 1 global bank wanted to introduce an automated self-service customer journey for account closures. We did not only bring our strong architecture capabilities and banking…

Where is your bank on the order management (or pre-processing, or initiation management – whichever you prefer) maturity scale? Are you running your order management on legacy technology as a routing/integration layer…

This case study is about Icon providing a Tier 1 UK bank with expert solution and data architecture capabilities to augment the bank’s own teams across three areas: 1 Payments – Creating…

This case study is about a South Africa-headquartered pan-Africa bank that engaged Icon to determine the bank’s overall capability to deliver their target architecture and make prioritised recommendations for transforming the bank’s…

With Artificial Intelligence (AI) being part of the Zeitgeist and almost every newspaper containing an article on AI, it is reasonable to want to ensure that your business can gain competitive advantage…

This Tier 1 bank was looking for a payments infrastructure that would allow them greater flexibility, speed and innovation. The bank recognised Icon’s proven track record in delivering payments transformation strategies for…

When a Tier 1 UK bank was facing numerous challenges with its core banking system, typical to monolithic and legacy platforms, the bank turned to Icon. This case study describes how we…

This case study demonstrates Icon’s expertise and understanding of how enterprise architecture supports effective transformation and that it must encompass people, processes and technology. It’s about work we recently did for a…

Icon Solutions was founded in 2009 with the desire to be different and simplify banking transformation, using technological expertise and deep experience to fight complexity, promote transparency and put the needs of…

With the Payments IT landscape frequently changing due to regulations, customer needs, and innovations, Financial Institutions (FIs) face challenges of high cost, slow pace of change, operational complexities, and a constant struggle…

This Tier 1 UK bank was keen to benefit from a more efficient use of its fraud and financial crime technology and data, while decreasing operating costs. Read about Icon’s work to…

By all measures, Sibos 2023 in Toronto was a great success. The event brought together more than 9,000 attendees to discuss this edition’s theme – ‘Collaborative finance in a fragmented world’. Rich…

When this Tier 1 UK bank was facing a strict industry timeline for compliance with ISO20022 messaging standards, Icon helped the bank in a number of ways. One was that we proposed…

Icon’s consultants are recognised New Payments Architecture (NPA) experts and this case study details the work our team has done for a leading UK challenger bank. Specifically, we helped with the implementation…

Traditional banking has evolved over centuries into what we have today: digitalized products and services that keep the worldwide economic cogs turning. In pursuit of automation and digitalization banks have accrued sizeable…

As banks continue to grapple with the account-based payments processing model amid seemingly interminable margin pressures, the wider commercial implications of software developer capacity limitations are coming into much sharper focus. In…

The traditional payments processing model for account-based payments is under unprecedented strain amid diminishing profit margins, increasing competition from fintechs, and rising costs. These challenges are only set to compound in a…

This case study describes Icon’s work for a specialist provider of premium finance solutions to the insurance industry. The business wanted to transform its operations and technology estate because the existing Core…

This is a case study about Icon’s work for a Tier 1 bank which was looking to derive greater business value from its Customer Due Diligence (CDD) solution. The legacy CDD solution…

With 2023 emerging as the year of choice for banks when it comes to adopting new strategies and technologies to take control of their payments processing capabilities, many now find themselves at…

Just over a year ago, my colleagues and I offered a few predictions about developments and trends in global payments and banking, intended to help financial institutions shape their strategy for the…

It’s a transformative time for the payments industry. The development of innovative payments methods and technology has changed marketplace dynamics, pushing new players into the spotlight and shifting the focus of payments…

The critical role of women in computer science has arguably been under reported throughout history. From Ada Lovelace – who developed the first computer software – to Margaret Hamilton leading the development…

By all accounts, 2022 was difficult for just about everyone. Continuing economic fallout from the pandemic, geopolitical upheaval, soaring inflation, rising energy costs and a host of other pressures all underscored the…

This time last year, as we wrapped up 2020, we had so many questions and wondered what 2021 would bring. With remote working, lockdowns and travel restrictions, we wondered when life would…

After a challenging year for many, the unprecedented events of 2020 affected us all in some way. We saw entire industries shut down overnight, monumental uplifts in digital volumes as everyone went…

24th November 2020 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments expertise, has been featured in Financial IT’s winter magazine ‘Innovations in FinTech‘ (page 28). Financial IT interviewed…

The US payments industry is undoubtedly ripe for change. Before the unprecedented shock of COVID-19, digitization and payments transformation initiatives had been organic, piecemeal and predominately the preserve of the largest banks….

Many of us take it for granted, but accessing basic financial services is fundamental to our economic and social development. It is hard to ‘get on’ if you are forced to hide…

What’s next for banks in this strange new world we find ourselves in? Forget the forecasts and predictions, we are in uncharted territory and the honest answer is that no one truly…

Read about how Icon initiated a major transformation programme to dramatically improve customer experience for corporate customer on-boarding for a global Tier 1 bank.

Discover how Icon accelerated the delivery of a major digital transformation initiative, covering their Retail Banking and Customer Servicing operations in the UK.

Discover how Icon initiated a digital transformation programme to replace a Tier 1 global bank’s online and mobile applications for its Commercial Banking customers from the UK and Hong Kong.

Financial inclusion is a hot topic within industry press at the moment. In the UK, an influential group of MPs are proposing that banks should have a ‘legal duty for care for…

Icon Solutions is delighted to be speaking alongside BNP Paribas at the InstaPay Webinar: Leveraging instant payments to deliver payments transformation which will share some of the insights gained from the delivery of…

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…

Here at Icon we always look to the future on how Banks can improve their service offering. The following  informs you of the criteria that the API platform needs to meet in…