Swiss bank leads new funding round; joined by existing investors Citi and NatWest 18th June 2025: Icon Solutions, the UK fintech enabling banks globally to design and implement state-of-the-art payment systems, has…

“Legacy” is a term often applied to IT, and it brings up connotations of complexity, fragility, rigidity. Architects need to remediate this situation, whilst actively supporting the delivery of cost savings, rationalization,…

Our client, NatWest embarked on a major overhaul of its payments infrastructure using the Icon Payments Framework (IPF) to accelerate its payments modernisation, as part of the banks strategy to become a…

When embarking on a modernisation programme, banks are faced with a basic question: should we build the new capabilities in-house, or should we buy an off-the-shelf solution?

For banks, payments modernisation is no longer a nice-to-have that can be kept on the backburner – it is imperative to staying in business. The ability to adapt to changes in how…

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) was launched by 16 leading European banks and financial institutions with the goal of streamlining payments across Europe. EPI aims to create a unified payment system leveraging…

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…

Our client, a Tier 1 UK bank, approached Icon for support with developing a payments and payment card strategy for its Commercial Banking division. Alongside upgrading its payments product strategies, the bank…

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…

For this bank Icon delivered a target Payments Reference Architecture that met the client’s strategic objectives in terms of resilience, performance, simplification and agility. Icon’s consultants worked within a closely integrated team,…

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…

This case study is about Icon helping a Tier 1 UK bank onboard a Payment Service Provider to expand the number of currencies available for customers to make international payments. We provided…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Discover how Icon Solutions enabled BNP Paribas to meet their first challenge on the transformation journey through the fast track deployment of IPF for instant payments, and how the impact of our…

Icon Solutions has announced that its payments platform solution – IPF – has been selected by a major Swiss bank as the core of its payments transformation programme that includes instant schemes,…

Market forces are driving banking innovations which promise significant downstream benefits for corporates. Banks are facing intense competition, with 8% of corporates already reporting that they are using non-bank specialists for credit…

The number of banks identifying payments data monetisation as a key strategic priority has doubled in the past two years. The growth of real-time payments (RTP), ISO 20022 migration and open banking…

Icon recognised for outstanding contribution to charitable causes 12 July 2021 – Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of world-class payment solutions and technology consultancy services for banks and other financial services organisations,…

13 April 2021 – Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of world-class payment solutions and technology consultancy services for banks and other financial services organisations, has today announced the appointment of Simon Barrows…

11th January 2021 –  Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of world-class payment solutions and consultancy services, has today announced the appointment of Alastair Brown to its Board of Directors. Alastair is the…

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…

29th October 2020 –  Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of world-class payment solutions and consultancy services, today announced a strategic investment from J.P. Morgan. Icon Solutions is a leading global provider of…

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….

03 September 2020 – Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of payment solutions and consultancy services, has been selected by a Tier One Australian Bank to review and industrialise its payments transformation strategy….

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…