Blogs

Can banks improve experiences with GenAI?

With advancing computing power and the availability of vast datasets, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made remarkable progress over the past decade. Applications based on transformers, a type of neural network architecture optimised…

Tamsin Crossland

30 January 2025

Blogs

Implementing Verification of Payee

What is Verification of Payee? Verification of Payee (VoP) is a requirement for financial institutions in SEPA countries introduced by the EU’s Instant Payment Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/886) to tackle rising fraud….

Pavan Haldia

29 January 2025

Blogs

Exploring the rise to real-time at Icon’s U.S…

On Wednesday 5th February, Icon is hosting its annual payments conference in New York to explore the growth of instant payment adoption in North America. We will hear from U.S banks on…

Arjeh van Oijen

28 January 2025

Blogs

An architect’s view on payments transformation with IPF

Matthias Lossek, one of Icon’s solutions architects reflects on the payments transformation journey with IPF, and the wisdom of embracing change. When I started my career in the financial services industry, on…

Matthias Lossek

24 January 2025

Blogs

Navigating Verification of Payee: UK, EU and globally

Verification of Payee (VoP) is an additional mandatory layer of payments protection to avoid payments in error and to prevent fraud such as an Authorised Push Payment (APP). With the increased adoption…

Atul Verma

16 January 2025

Blogs

Designing a global payment solution with multi-entity support

While using the IPF tool kit to implement a payments solution for a tier 1 international banking group with a presence across the globe we were faced with the challenge of designing…

Taffy Brecknock

15 January 2025

Blogs

Delivering future-proof payments modernisation successfully

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…

Darren Capehorn

5 December 2024

Blogs

Sibos 2024: Darren Capehorn in conversation with Mark…

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…

Mady Dyson

16 October 2024

Blogs

AFP Nashville 2024 – what do corporate clients…

In today’s turbulent economy, corporate treasurers are looking for banks that offer payment and treasury services that help them automate tedious AP and AR processes, optimise their liquidity management, reduce risks as…

Arjeh van Oijen

14 October 2024

Blogs

SEPA OLO transforming cross-border payments

The G20 roadmap seeks to enhance cross-border payments by tackling challenges around cost, speed, access, and transparency, prompting various industry initiatives. One such initiative is FMI interconnectivity, covered in the blog “Developments…

Kate Nelson

8 October 2024

Blogs

Developments in cross-border payments and the evolving landscape

In 2020, the G20 launched its Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments focussing on goals around speed, transparency, cost and access. Progress on this roadmap is leading to change across the cross-border payments…

Kate Nelson

2 October 2024

Blogs

Beyond the EU Instant Payments Regulation

As the EU Instant Payments Regulation (IPR) implementation deadlines loom (January 2025 for receiving and October 2025 for sending instant payments), Payment Service Providers (PSPs) are scrambling to get their instant payment…

Kate Nelson

17 September 2024

Blogs

Stability first: Exploring the Bank of England’s approach…

On 30th July, the Bank of England (BoE) published a new discussion paper outlining its approach to innovation in money and payments. The BoE’s goals are to maintain stability, trust and confidence…

Adam Richardson

6 September 2024

Blogs

Transforming ISO 20022 payments data for better reporting…

Over recent years, starting with the SEPA scheme, and now with SWIFT and CHAPS, there has been a convergence onto the ISO 20022 standard messaging format. As payment messages in ISO 20022…

Adam Richardson

24 August 2024

Blogs

The Journey of Canada RTR and UK NPA…

From Delays to Innovation: Payments Canada’s Real-Time-Rail (RTR) is the country’s new real-time payment system, enabling account-to-account (A2A) money transfers 24/7 for low-value payments with immediate fund availability and irrevocability. This initiative…

Hussam Kamel

2 August 2024

Blogs

2023/24 recap: setting the stage for innovation and…

To mark the publication of Icon’s 2024 Annual Report co-founders Darren Capehorn, Ben Hallifax and Tom Kelleher, explore the key company milestones that have positioned Icon for its next phase of global growth….

Icon Solutions

30 July 2024

Blogs

EBADay or Groundhog Day? Transforming to end the…

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…

Toine van Beusekom

26 June 2024

Blogs

The Future of Payments – Time to Take…

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…

Vatsal Bhatt

24 June 2024

Blogs

Upgrading to Java 17, or: how I learned…

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,…

Patrick Altaie

14 June 2024

Blogs

How to future-proof payments: key questions to ask…

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…

Matt Piper

11 June 2024

Blogs

Is now the time for real-time payments in…

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

23 May 2024

Blogs

Understanding the Road to Real-Time in North America…

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

23 April 2024

Blogs

Adventures in AI: Addressing a Fundamental Challenge Facing…

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….

Jamie Packham

19 April 2024

Blogs

Modernise Payment Reconciliations and Investigations to reduce operational…

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…

Sandeep Tolanur

25 March 2024

Blogs

Hype, hope or holy grail? Unlocking new opportunities…

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…

Toine van Beusekom

18 March 2024

Blogs

It’s time to revisit the order management concept

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…

Toine van Beusekom

3 December 2023

Case Studies

Defining the strategic roadmap for a major African bank’s payments transformation journey

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

21 November 2023

Case Studies

Architecting and executing a real-time payments transformation programme for a global Tier 1 bank

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

9 November 2023

Blogs

A transformative year for Icon Solutions

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…

Mady Dyson

25 October 2023

Blogs

The value of a “Payments Reference Architecture” in…

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…

Ranga Natraj

19 October 2023

Blogs

Collaboration is the Key: Takeaways from Sibos 2023

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

18 October 2023

Case Studies

Designing and delivering a solution for ISO20022 migration for a global Tier 1 bank

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

12 October 2023

Blogs

Core banking transformation: key drivers for change

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…

Gene Philip

28 September 2023

Blogs

Is low code the answer to higher payment…

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…

Toine van Beusekom

27 September 2023

Blogs

Vertical thinking: Why banks need to decouple their…

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…

Esther Groen

7 September 2023

Blogs

Three focus areas for European banks

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…

Liam Jeffs

7 July 2023

Blogs

EBAday 2023: Asking banks … do you feel in control?

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

12 June 2023

Blogs

Key considerations for a successful cloud strategy for financial services

Compared to other sectors, the financial industry has been slow to move to the cloud – and with good reason. Regulatory compliance and data privacy issues alone make banks hesitant to give…

Dean Ogden

22 May 2023

Blogs

Catalysing Growth of Digital Payments in Cash-First Countries

The UK is due to upgrade its instant payments platform by mid-2025. The New Payments Architecture (NPA) aims to deliver multiple benefits, including ease of access and enhanced data carrying capabilities. In…

Arjeh van Oijen

14 April 2023

Blogs

Is ‘Low Code’ the Secret to Payments Transformation?

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

16 March 2023

Blogs

New Payments Architecture – what banks should be doing to prepare

A sea-change is coming to UK payments. In 2016-17, the UK’s industry-wide Payments Strategy Forum created the New Payments Architecture (NPA) initiative. The initiative seeks to create a state-of-the-art, real-time payments infrastructure…

Andrew Ducker

16 February 2023

Blogs

Celebrating International Day for Women and Girls in Science

As we celebrate the eighth International Day for Women and Girls in Science on Saturday 11th February 2023, we know that, as technology specialists, our industry needs to do so much more….

Tamsin Crossland

10 February 2023

Blogs

Payments outsourcing: minimising risk and maximising value-added services

Research indicates that payments transformation isn’t optional—it’s imperative for survival. Yet modernising payments infrastructure can be a costly undertaking. Toine van Beusekom, Strategy Director at Icon Solutions, discusses how Tier 2 and…

Toine van Beusekom

30 January 2023

Case Studies

Transitioning to a microservices-based payments architecture

This Tier 1 UK bank needed to accelerate change to its payments platforms to be more competitive and deliver value sooner. Read what Icon Solutions did to help the bank transition to…

Cindy Heidebluth

16 January 2023

Blogs

5 predictions to help shape banks’ resolutions for 2023

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…

Icon Solutions

11 January 2023

Blogs

How payments transformation can help Tier 1 banks to scale

It’s no secret that the account-to-account payments processing model remains under strain. Despite payment services being ‘mission critical’, many Tier 1 banks continue to see these payment operations as a ‘cost centre’….

Anand Vaidya

13 December 2022

Case Studies

Delivering SCT Inst across Europe

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…

Kate Nelson

29 November 2022

Blogs

Competition in payments: the rise of A2A payments and the role of regulation

Innovation is enabling new types of payments and creating a truly dynamic ecosystem. Yet in order to create a market where new schemes like Account-to-Account payments can compete, regulation must play a…

Esther Groen

7 November 2022

Case Studies

Defining a payments technology strategy and roadmap to…

Icon Solutions was engaged by the bank to assist them with evolving their current payments technology estate. The bank needed to enhance and refine their current payments technology estate in order to…

Kate Nelson

1 November 2022

Case Studies

Designing an enhanced payments proposition to deliver value…

Icon Solutions was engaged by the bank to propose an enhanced payments proposition for small and medium business customers and to recommend the best technical approach for deployment. The project was co-sponsored…

Kate Nelson

27 September 2022

Case Studies

Designing a technology strategy roadmap for payments and…

The bank’s reaction to major changes in the global Payments industry was a new Payments Platform Reference Architecture. Icon Solutions was asked to assess both current and target states, and overall delivery…

Kate Nelson

8 August 2022

Case Studies

Automating the customer due diligence experience

Our client is a Tier 1 bank with £750+ billion of assets and 19 million customers across UK and Ireland. Icon had proven experience at the bank from previous engagements, and were…

Kate Nelson

28 June 2022

Case Studies

Migrating legacy payments platforms to future-proof systems

Our client wanted their in-house payments platform to be used for processing all types of payments and needed to migrate legacy systems to the platform. As part of this programme, they needed…

Kate Nelson

8 June 2022

News

Major Swiss Bank Selects Icon’s IPF Platform for…

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,…

Kate Nelson

23 May 2022

Case Studies

Transforming payments with IPF

Our client, a major Swiss bank operating in a number of countries across the globe, selected Icon Solutions to assist them on their payments transformation journey and chose Icon’s payments platform, IPF,…

Kate Nelson

10 May 2022

Case Studies

Payments Architecture service in support of ISO 20022…

Our client needed to transform their current payments architecture to ensure scalability and resilience, moving to an event-driven architecture approach. Faced with this significant strategic challenge, the bank needed a trusted third…

Kate Nelson

6 April 2022

Case Studies

Payments data monetisation: unlocking the business value from…

Icon Solutions was engaged by the wholesale banking division, co-sponsored by the Global CIO and the Chief Architect for Payments, Liquidity and Cash Management. In commissioning Icon, the Wholesale division’s business and…

Kate Nelson

22 February 2022

Blogs

Payments data transformation: what does it mean for corporate treasurers

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…

Louise Shorthouse

29 September 2021

Blogs

Understanding the realities of payment data monetisation

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…

Toine van Beusekom

13 July 2021

News

Icon Solutions Wins ‘PayTech for Good’ at PayTech…

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,…

Kate Nelson

12 July 2021

Blogs

The key to instant payments adoption in European

At a recent payments forum hosted by the Bank of Finland, ECB board member Fabio Panetta signalled commercial banks must make instant payments ‘cheap and easy to use’. While on the operational…

Michel Vaja

7 July 2021

Blogs

Recognising the hidden female pioneers in technology

How many people have heard of Kathleen Booth or Margaret Hamilton? Chances are not many. But why not? These two women achieved two significant firsts. Kathleen invented the first assembly language and Margaret,…

Tamsin Crossland

23 June 2021

Blogs

Accelerating software engineering through Domain Specific Languages

In the fourth part of our series exploring the motivations, architecture and principles driving the development of IPF, Tom Beadman, Principal Engineer at Icon Solutions, discusses the benefits of using Domain-Specific Languages…

Tom Beadman

5 May 2021

Blogs

Is monetising data the key to competing?

As competition in payments has increased, data has long been touted as the cure-all for incumbent banks. If banks could charge a transaction fee for every time they are told that ‘data…

Simon Wilson

28 April 2021

Blogs

5 ways banks can compete in payments

Remaining competitive in payments is the key to future relevance and profitability for incumbent banks. But with incumbents now competing on multiple fronts against various players, how can they stay ahead of…

Simon Wilson

21 April 2021

News

Icon Solutions Expands Services Strategy

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…

Icon Solutions

13 April 2021

Blogs

Who are banks competing against in payments now?

For several decades, incumbent banks have held a comfortable leadership position in payments. But the rapid growth of digital payments has signalled opportunity for new market entrants to attack this status quo….

Simon Wilson

23 March 2021

Blogs

The European Payments Initiative – Back to the Future

In July 2020, a group of sixteen major European banks from five Euro countries announced the launch of the European Payments Initiative (EPI) with the aim of creating a unified payment solution…

Michel Vaja

10 March 2021

Whitepapers

Competing in Payments

For decades, incumbent banks have held a leadership position in the payments business and enjoyed high fees, healthy margins and limited competition. But as the payments ecosystem expands, these incumbents find themselves competing…

Simon Wilson

18 February 2021

Blogs

The clash of the frameworks

Setting the scene In the third part of our series exploring the motivations, architecture and principles driving the development of IPF, Pat Altaie, Senior Consultant, discusses the benefits of using interoperable programming…

Patrick Altaie

14 January 2021

News

Icon Solutions Strengthens and Expands Board of Directors

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…

Kate Nelson

8 January 2021

Blogs

2021 Predictions: Realising the Value of Payments Transformation

It has been said that prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future. The unprecedented events of 2020 demonstrated quite how difficult it can be. The monumental uplifts in digital…

Simon Wilson

6 January 2021

Blogs

CQRS and Event Sourcing: good options for instant payments?

In the second part of our series exploring the motivations, architecture and principles driving the development of IPF, Sirin Sevinc, Senior Solution Architect, explains the roles CQRS and Event Sourcing play in…

Sirin Sevinc

17 December 2020

News

Icon Solutions featured in Financial IT winter magazine

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…

Kate Nelson

24 November 2020

Blogs

Banking on the Future: Payments Transformation

Standardisation, regulation and technological innovation means payments are well on the way to becoming instant, invisible and free. This is good news for everybody. Well, not quite everybody. Banks are now faced…

Simon Wilson

24 November 2020

Blogs

5 common software product challenges

Over the past 20+ years, I have been deeply involved in designing, building and delivering systems in a few different sectors across a multitude of technologies and methodologies, varying team sizes and…

Simon Callan

16 November 2020

News

Icon Solutions secures strategic investment from J.P. Morgan

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…

Kate Nelson

29 October 2020

Blogs

Wading through the noise around payments transformation

As part of Icon Solutions’ thought leadership in the world of payments, our latest webinar, ‘Busting the Myths of Payments Transformation’, delved into the noise and misnomers in the payments transformation space and…

Lauren Jones

6 October 2020

News

Major Australian Bank Selects Icon Solutions

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….

Kate Nelson

3 September 2020

Blogs

Strange new world: What next for banks in these uncertain times?

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…

Simon Wilson

21 July 2020

Case Studies

Powering instant payments connectivity in the Cloud

Discover how Icon Solutions helped this Belgian Bank to offer instant payments to their customers as well as drive its migration to public Cloud, using IPF.

Kate Nelson

15 July 2020

Blogs

Busting the myths on payments transformation

‘Payments transformation’ has emerged as perhaps the single biggest opportunity for banks. But getting payments transformation right is no easy task. With only 9% of banks nearing completion in their transformation efforts,…

Toine van Beusekom

12 June 2020

Whitepapers

Busting the Myths of Payments Transformation

Payments transformation has emerged as perhaps both the single biggest opportunity, and challenge, for banks. Given the proven link between successful payments transformation and payments profitability the potential rewards are huge. But…

Simon Wilson

9 June 2020

Blogs

Are banks ready for real-time payments?

In the U.S. and across the globe, financial institutions are wrestling with evolving consumer expectations, razor-thin margins and increased competition. Yet, significant opportunities are there for those who have built a foundation…

Gene Neyer

2 April 2020

Case Studies

Delivering a roadmap for payments transformation

Find out how Icon helped a leading UK financial institution with a savings and mortgage customer base of over 15 million facing challenges around the performance and resiliency of their payments systems.

Kate Nelson

28 November 2019

News

Icon at InstaPay webinar on payments transformation

Icon Solutions is delighted to be speaking alongside HSBC and Nordea in an exclusive InstaPay webinar, ‘The Payments Transformation Race – who’s winning?’, where we will be sharing insights from our recent…

Kate Nelson

20 November 2019

News

Only 9% of banks effectively monetising payments data

London, 19th November 2019 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and payments expertise, today revealed that only 9% of the world’s top tier banks are effectively monetising payments data….

Kate Nelson

19 November 2019

Blogs

What does it take to win the payments transformation race?

The new report “The Payments Transformation Race: Criteria for Success” from Aite and Icon Solutions identified that banks that have a clear and robust payments transformation plan are more profitable than their…

Cindy Heidebluth

7 October 2019

News

Icon Solutions talks payments transformation in new podcast

In a recent podcast hosted by InstaPay at this year’s Sibos, Icon’s Aniruddha Maheshwari, Payments Consultant sits down with InstaPay Editor, Lauren Jones. In this podcast they discuss some of the payments…

Kate Nelson

3 October 2019

News

The Payments Transformation Race – In The News

A week has passed since the release of our commissioned research report ‘The Payments Transformation Race: Criteria for Success’ written by Aite Group, and it has sparked interesting debate within the industry….

Kate Nelson

23 September 2019

News

65% of banks struggle with payment profitability according to research

Report reveals that slow payment transformation risks shrinking margins further London, 17th September 2019 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and payments expertise, today launches a new report “The Payments…

Kate Nelson

17 September 2019

News

Meet Icon Solutions at Sibos 2019

London, 31st July 2019 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and payments expertise, is delighted to announce it will be exhibiting at this year’s Sibos event, “Thriving in a hyper-connected world”,…

Kate Nelson

1 August 2019

News

Payments Transformation Scorecard launched

Icon Solutions, a leading Fintech provider of payment and technology solutions, has commissioned Aite, an independent research and advisory firm, to explore the payments transformation progress of global banks. The research provides…

Kate Nelson

21 June 2019

News

Icon Solutions commissions research on payments transformation progress

Icon Solutions, a leading Fintech provider of payment and technology solutions, has commissioned Aite, an independent research and advisory firm, to explore the payments transformation progress of global banks. ‘Payment transformation’ is…

Kate Nelson

12 June 2019

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