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

Case Studies

Transforming a global Tier 1 bank’s payments architecture capability to improve the customer experience

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,…

Cindy Heidebluth

23 February 2024

Blogs

The Future of Payments – Will I Need…

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…

Adam Richardson

5 February 2024

Blogs

How Can Banks Take Control of Their Payments…

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…

Mady Dyson

30 January 2024

Blogs

2024 Predictions: Payments Trends to Watch This Year

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

19 January 2024

Case Studies

Leading the design and delivery of a foreign exchange payments solution for a Tier 1 UK bank

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

15 January 2024

Blogs

Customer-centric innovation – why our IPF Client Days…

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…

Arjeh van Oijen

20 December 2023

Case Studies

Automating account closures to enhance customer experience and improve operational efficiency

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

4 December 2023

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

Helping a Tier 1 UK bank enhance and scale its payments and customer data platforms

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

27 November 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

Blogs

AI can help your business, but only once…

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…

Tamsin Crossland

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

The time is now for banks to reimagine…

The rapid convergence of emerging technologies and evolving business models is presenting banks with systemic and operational challenges that are proving profoundly difficult to navigate. Many banks are simply slow in responding…

Toine van Beusekom

29 August 2023

Blogs

‘PSD3’ – or should that be ‘PSR1’? Exploring…

On 28th June 2023, the European Commission (EC) set out its proposals for ‘modernising payment services and opening financial services data’. The proposals for payments – referred to as ‘PSD3’ –essentially reflect…

Andrew Ducker

9 August 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

International Women’s Day: How the banking and payments industry can embrace ‘DigitALL’

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…

Tamsin Crossland

8 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

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

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

Blogs

The benefits of using DLT for digital currencies

Central banks across the globe are exploring and testing Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to provision Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC). In this blog, Arjeh van Oijen, Head of Product Management, and Atul…

Icon Solutions

8 March 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

Case Studies

Enhancing the technology strategy for corporate payments

Icon Solutions was engaged by the bank to help sharpen and future-proof their technology strategy for payables and receivables products. The work Icon undertook was led by the Wholesale Banking division and…

Kate Nelson

19 January 2022

News

A Year In Review: Icon Solutions 2021 Wrap Up

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…

Kate Nelson

5 January 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

News

New industry survey from Icon on demystifying Request…

Request to Pay is an emerging payments service that promises benefits for merchants, banks, acquirers, billers and end consumers. It is becoming an increasingly popular value-added service for payments, with adoption under…

Kate Nelson

20 September 2021

Blogs

Why MPS language workbench is key for successful LOP

This is fifth part of our series exploring the motivations, architecture and principles driving the development of IPF. Volodymyr Prokopyuk, Senior Payments Architect at Icon Solutions, discusses the benefits of Language Orientated…

Vlad Prokopyuk

15 September 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

News

Icon Solutions’ recent webinar highlights

Highlights from our recent webinar where Toine van Beusekom, Strategy Director, Payments at Icon Solutions, Boris Bialek, Global Head of Enterprise Modernization at MongoDB, Kieran Hines, Senior Analyst at Celent and Krystle…

Icon Solutions

29 June 2021

News

Icon Solutions interviewed by FinextraTV

Thomas Halpin, Managing Director, Global Head of Payments Product Management, Global Liquidity and Cash Management, HSBC and Michel Vaja, Head of Payments Consulting, Icon Solutions, speak to FinextraTV about the recent report…

Icon Solutions

24 June 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

News

Biggest revenue opportunities from payments data monetisation revealed

08 June 2021 – Research conducted by Celent on behalf of Icon Solutions and MongoDB has revealed the bank data services that corporates will pay for, and the ones they consider table…

Icon Solutions

8 June 2021

News

Icon Solutions Sponsor Virtual EBAday 2021

17th May 2021 – Icon Solutions is delighted to return as a key sponsor for the sixth year running at this year’s EBAday Virtual Conference, ‘Payments transformation in 2021 – The road…

Icon Solutions

16 May 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

News

Icon Solutions Sponsor Virtual MoneyLive Summit 2021

11th March 2021 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and payments expertise, is delighted to announce its sponsorship of this year’s MoneyLive Summit. The company’s payments experts will be…

Icon Solutions

11 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

Blogs

Celebrating the women at Icon Solutions

Financial and technological industries have always been male dominated, with men at the forefront of key projects and making up most of the workforce. Although things have improved over the years with…

Cindy Heidebluth

8 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

News

A Year In Review: Icon Solutions 2020 Wrap Up

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…

Icon Solutions

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 featured in The Sunday Times

9th November 2020 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments expertise, was yesterday featured in The Sunday Times report by Raconteur on ‘The Future of Banking and…

Icon Solutions

9 November 2020

News

Icon Solutions Sponsor Virtual EBAday 2020

3rd November 2020 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments expertise, is delighted to return as a key sponsor and presenter for the fifth year running at…

Icon Solutions

2 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

Icon participate in AFP virtual conference

Icon Solutions is delighted to be taking part in the AFP virtual conference on 20th October at 12pm ET. ‘The ISO 20022 financial messaging standard is now seeing widespread adoption for domestic…

Cindy Heidebluth

1 October 2020

Blogs

COVID-19 has accelerated innovation in payments

COVID-19 has been a major stress test for digital transformation. Merchants have had to ramp up their e-commerce, delivery and card-not-present capabilities. As COVID-19 continues to take its toll, players in the…

Lauren Jones

29 September 2020

Blogs

4 trends accelerating US payments transformation

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….

Lauren Jones

15 September 2020

Whitepapers

The move towards payments digitization in the US

Post Covid-19 there will be no return to the norms of 2019 for banks in the US; with the impact on the behavior and expectations of customers resulting in an overwhelming demand…

Lauren Jones

9 September 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

Supporting Financial Inclusion Beyond Digital

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…

Darren Capehorn

10 August 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

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

Case Studies

Defining a payments technology strategy and roadmap

Discover how Icon Solutions enabled a Tier 1 bank to reboot their payments transformation programme, evolve their payments technology strategy and secure executive support.

Kate Nelson

12 May 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

News

Feature in Public Sector Counter Fraud Journal

Icon Solutions’ article on ‘Preventing and detecting fraud using machine learning’, written by Tamsin Crossland, Senior Solution Architect, has been featured in issue four of The Public Sector Counter Fraud Journal. With…

Kate Nelson

4 March 2020

Whitepapers

Maximising the value of investments in instant payments

Instant payments is no longer the new kid on the block, with over 40 schemes around the world. The question now is how do banks make a return on the investment they’ve…

Lauren Jones

20 February 2020

Case Studies

Creating a platform for high volume payment processing

Discover how Icon Solutions enabled a Tier 1 bank to migrate to new technologies which were capable of executing enormous volumes of payments.

Kate Nelson

19 December 2019

Blogs

Why aren’t banks extracting value from payments data?

As traditional financial institutions compete with big tech and fintech players, gaining access to and extracting value from payments data has become paramount. In fact, the Economist recently described data as now the most…

Hussam Kamel

17 December 2019

Blogs

Striving for ubiquity and interoperability in the US

The first Faster Payments Barometer, conducted by the US Faster Payments Council in partnership with Glenbrook, received over 700 responses with broad coverage across industry stakeholder groups such as financial institutions, core…

Gene Neyer

11 December 2019

Blogs

Should banks outsource payments?

At a recent webinar hosted by InstaPay on payments transformation, a question was posed to the speakers (from HSBC, Nordea and Icon Solutions); “Given the challenges involved in payments transformation and the…

Cindy Heidebluth

10 December 2019

Case Studies

UK Faster Payments Build and Support

Learn how Icon refreshed this Tier 1 Bank’s technology, providing robust documentation and a flexible foundation for ongoing change.

Kate Nelson

29 November 2019

Case Studies

Implementing a ring fence banking solution

Discover how Icon Solutions implemented a Ring Fence Banking Solution for a major UK Bank in under four months, ensuring fast and effective delivery.

Kate Nelson

29 November 2019

Case Studies

The future of payments: Transformation with BNP Paribas

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 consultancy work has set…

Kate Nelson

29 November 2019

Case Studies

Design and integration of a core banking platform

Find out how Icon ensured a new core banking platform was integrated into the UK’s largest retail and commercial bank’s existing systems landscape.

Kate Nelson

28 November 2019

Blogs

5 Key Takeaways from AFP Conference 2019

AFP Annual Conference drew a huge number of attendees this year and packed a lot into three days. People came from far and wide to attend and discuss all things payments, risk…

Jason Hayes

29 October 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 publish ISO 20022 whitepaper

ISO 20022 is celebrating its fifteenth birthday this year and in recognition of this milestone, Icon Solutions have released a new whitepaper exploring some of the reasons why it has become the…

Kate Nelson

7 October 2019

News

Meet Icon at AFP 2019 in Boston!

London, 4th October 2019 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and payments expertise, is delighted to announce it will be exhibiting at this year’s AFP 2019 Show in Boston 20-23rd…

Kate Nelson

4 October 2019

News

Icon Solutions featured in City AM

Icon Solutions, a leading Fintech provider of payment and technology solutions, was approached by City AM to give a view on whether we should be worried about yesterday’s services sector PMI data. Simon…

Kate Nelson

4 October 2019

Whitepapers

Leveraging ISO 20022 to extract value from data

The payments industry relies on data every day. It is through this data that consumers are able to receive salaries, pay bills and make purchases. But financial institutions are under increasing demand…

Lauren Jones

3 October 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

Blogs

Do agile projects need Solution Architects?

Increasingly software development in large organisations is moving to agile methods, primarily scrum.  Agile empowers developers to design and build the system – where does solution architecture fit in? Agile and scrum…

Adam Richardson

19 August 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

Whitepapers

Central Banks and Distributed Ledger Technology

Can Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) be the basis for a revolution in cross-border payments?  Cross-border payments and the correspondent banking model have not kept pace with advances in domestic payments such as…

Hussam Kamel

30 July 2019

News

Icon included in '1000 companies to inspire Britain'

London – 26th June, 2019 – Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of global payment technology solutions and consultancy services, has been named as one of the ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ in…

Kate Nelson

26 June 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

Blogs

What does real-time payments really mean for corporates?

Faster Payments have changed the world for the better and many corporates are already reaping the benefits. During our recent webinar we heard from industry experts in the US, Steve Ledford –…

Kate Nelson

20 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

Research

The Payments Transformation Race: Criteria for Success

While payments transformation is high on the list of priorities for banks, there is a lack of information around strategic considerations, best practice and how to minimise risk to ensure success. In…

Kate Nelson

12 June 2019

Blogs

The journey to RTP in Canada

While Canada has been a leader in mobile and app-based banking technology, the same cannot be said for the speed of their implementation of Real Time Payments (RTP).  However, the last Payments…

Jason Hayes

7 June 2019

News

Head of Continental Europe to speak in Madrid

Icon Solutions, a leading Fintech provider of payment and technology solutions, is delighted to announce that Gema Montoya, Head of Continental Europe, will speak at NACHA’s Alliance 2019 Spring Meeting in Madrid…

Kate Nelson

5 June 2019

News

Icon Solutions’ RTP survey results are in!

Thank you to all who completed our recent survey, developed in partnership with InstaPay.  As you’ll remember, the aim of the survey was to understand how far along banks are from adopting…

Kate Nelson

4 June 2019

News

Icon Solutions to sponsor EBAday 2019

London, 14th May 2019 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments expertise, is delighted to return as a key sponsor and presenter for the fourth year running at…

Kate Nelson

21 May 2019

News

Adoption of real-time payments and payments modernisation survey

As part of a NACHA initiative, we are conducting a short survey to collect views from the banking community on the adoption of real-time payments and payments modernisation in North America. The results…

Kate Nelson

2 May 2019

News

The era of collaborative payments platform

Discover the era of collaborative payments platform at NACHA Payments 2019! For the last 10 years banks have focused on consolidating payment infrastructures, but have ended up with multiple ‘hubs’, inefficient processes,…

Kate Nelson

30 April 2019

News

Icon Solutions featured in International Banker

Icon’s Toine van Beusekom was recently featured in International Banker with his article titled ‘Why do banking IT failures happen, and what can we do about them?’. In 2018, MPs announced a…

Kate Nelson

25 April 2019

News

Icon Solutions Celebrates 10 Years in business!

This month, Icon Solutions is celebrating 10 years in business. With over 30% of new businesses failing during the first two months of being open, 50% in the first five years and…

Kate Nelson

25 April 2019

Blogs

Can legacy solutions meet tomorrow’s payments demands?

A colleague summed it up perfectly when he described a ‘tsunami of payments’ heading the way of banks on account of changes in the payments landscape. The changes have been fuelled primarily…

Cindy Heidebluth

21 March 2019

Blogs

The battle for RTP dominance in the United…

Since Fed catalysed the private sector to deliver real-time payment capabilities, there has been advocacy for the central bank backed, real-time payments (RTP) scheme. Many feel the lack of a ubiquitous RTP…

Gene Neyer

13 March 2019

Blogs

Celebrating Women at Icon Solutions on International Women’s…

Since time began men have been at the forefront of technological innovations and in the finance world, building and establishing themselves as leaders – this culture has made it difficult for the…

Kate Nelson

8 March 2019

News

Icon Solutions to keynote at the 2019 Payments…

Icon Solutions Executive Advisor, Gene Neyer, has been invited to keynote at the 2019 Payments Summit which will be taking place at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix between Monday 11th and Thursday 14th March. Gene…

Kate Nelson

12 February 2019

Blogs

Women in Payments debate the impact of the…

Last week I attended a Women in Payments event entitled, ‘New Payments Architecture – What can we expect and how will we get there?’ The event was hosted by AmazonPay in London…

Kate Nelson

29 January 2019

Blogs

Request to Pay – the potential is clear

  This week Icon Solutions had the pleasure of hosting a discussion around the UK’s New Payments Architecture, focusing on the Request to Pay (RtP) service which is due to be launched…

Tom Hay

6 December 2018

News

Icon Solutions announced as a founding member of…

  London – 13th November 2018 – Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of global payment technology solutions and consultancy services, was recently announced as a founding member of a newly launched organisation, the…

Cindy Heidebluth

14 November 2018

Blogs

Displacing card payments – beyond just technology

  At Icon we firmly believe that the combination of APIs and Instant Payments will provide a powerful alternative to card payments, particularly in e-and m-commerce. And it’s not just our belief…

Tom Hay

29 October 2018

Blogs

FedPayments forum guiding the US toward a faster,…

Last week I attended the Federal Reserve’s inaugural FedPayments Improvement Community Forum in Chicago which had six Fed COOs participating and the Fed Governor, Lael Brainard, giving the opening keynote.  The purpose…

Gene Neyer

8 October 2018

Whitepapers

Regulatory Fragmentation and Real-Time Payments

There is a lively debate on whether the modern real-time payment infrastructures came into being through regulation or out of commercial necessity and end-user demand. Although regulators are almost always involved in…

Gene Neyer

26 September 2018

Blogs

Creating customer value from new technologies

  I recently had the pleasure of speaking at an event in Paris organised in partnership with DXC, one of Icon’s partner organisations. The audience included representatives of banks and corporates, and…

Tom Hay

19 July 2018

News

Icon to speak at InstaPay webinar designed for…

Webinar: The road to Instant Payments in Germany: Connectivity, Culture and Global Considerations Tuesday 3rd July 2018 2pm – 3pm CST Gene Neyer, Icon Solutions’ Chief Executive Officer, will be joining esteemed…

Cindy Heidebluth

28 June 2018

Whitepapers

Creating a Next-Gen Payments Platform for an Evolving…

The convergence of Open Banking, PSD2 and instant payments are giving rise to new use cases in the payments industry on an almost daily basis. The creation of new customer centric value-added…

Aniruddha Maheshwari

31 May 2018

Blogs

Comment tirer parti des paiements instantanés afin d’assurer…

  En France, de nombreuses banques étudient actuellement l’évolution des systèmes de paiement en vue d’adopter les Instant Payments. Ceci est principalement dû à des facteurs tels que la réduction des coûts,…

Aniruddha Maheshwari

3 May 2018

News

Icon to speak at FinTech South 2018

Icon are pleased to confirm they will be taking part in a panel discussion at FinTech South 2018 in Atlanta on the 7th – 8th May. Gene Neyer, Icon’s Chief Strategy Officer,…

Kate Nelson

23 April 2018

News

Icon Solutions Announces EBAday 2018 Sponsorship

  Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of European payment and technology solutions has confirmed its sponsorship of EBAday in Munich. Tom Kelleher, Icon’s Commercial Director has confirmed that Icon will be a key sponsor of EBAday…

Cindy Heidebluth

4 April 2018

Whitepapers

ISO 20022: The good, the bad and the…

  You would think from the many articles, discussion panels and chaotic clamour regarding ISO 20022 in recent years, that it was the new kid on the block. However, ISO 20022 has been slowly…

Lauren Jones

29 March 2018

Blogs

Optimizing your Chances of Real-time Payments Success

  “Been there, done that, got the scars to prove it!” Experience is a great thing, but it’s sometimes painful to get it the hard way. It’s quicker, less expensive, and generally…

Tom Hay

29 March 2018

Blogs

Top 5 TIPS for the Introduction of SCT…

  The recent InstaPay webinar “Transitioning to Instant Payments in Germany” provided some more TIPS (pun intended) for the introduction of SCT Inst.  Icon’s very own Gene Neyer took part along with…

Richard Dear

28 March 2018

News

Icon to speak at InstaPay webinar for the…

How can Banks in Germany prepare for Instant Payments whilst controlling costs and managing risks? And what can we learn from those who have already travelled the path to Instant Payments? In…

Cindy Heidebluth

13 March 2018

News

Icon Solutions appoints new Head of Payments Architecture

  London, 9th March 2018 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments expertise, today announced the appointment of Toine van Beusekom as Head of Payments Architecture. With…

Mady Dyson

9 March 2018

Blogs

I pagamenti istantanei in Italia diverranno più popolari…

I vantaggi di essere i primi ad adottare il sistema dei pagamenti istantanei Benché l’azienda EBA Clearing abbia lanciato i pagamenti istantanei dell’area unica dei pagamenti in euro (SEPA) a novembre 2017…

Mady Dyson

7 March 2018

Blogs

The business case for RTP – moving past…

  While the conversations we have had with payments business leaders point to a willingness to participate in the Clearing House’s RTP scheme, many of them are struggling with the business case…

Mady Dyson

15 February 2018

Blogs

Will Instant Payments be more popular than coffee…

The benefits of being an early-adopter of Instant Payments Even though EBA Clearing launched SEPA Instant Payments in November 2017 via RT1, so far only a handful of banks (early-adopters) have decided…

Aniruddha Maheshwari

15 February 2018

News

Icon’s Darren Capehorn and Gene Neyer Speak to…

  In a recent interview with PYMNTS, Darren Capehorn, Icon’s Director of Services, and Gene Neyer, Executive Advisor, discuss how payments are changing and how flexible technology can help banks adapt to…

Mady Dyson

8 February 2018

Blogs

Some TIPS for the introduction of SCT Inst

  At the European Central Bank’s #TIPSapp event on Tuesday there was lots of focus on opportunity, both short-term and longer-term from the introduction of Instant Payments (IP). The day was to…

Mady Dyson

7 February 2018

Blogs

Video – Instant Payments: ça marche!

  As part of Icon’s continued efforts to support the adoption of Instant Payments across the Eurozone, we were invited to present our thoughts and expertise on Instant Payments to a wide…

Mady Dyson

12 January 2018

News

Icon Solutions appoints real-time payments expert Gene Neyer…

  London, 10th January 2018 – Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments expertise, today announced the appointment of industry luminary Gene Neyer as Executive Advisor to the…

Mady Dyson

10 January 2018

Blogs

Deutschlands Rolle in der Einführung von SEPA Instant…

  The neusten Zahlen des European Payments Council (EPC) zeigen, dass sich derzeit mehr als 400 deutsche Payment-Service-Provider (PSPs) auf die Einführung der neuen SCT Inst-kompatiblen Instant-Payments-Plattform RT1 von EBA Clearing vorbereiten….

Kate Nelson

19 December 2017

Blogs

Canada embraces Real-time Payments as a platform for…

  In the Canadian market, both consumers and banks have been early adopters when it comes to banking innovation, whether it is mobile, desktop or behind the scenes technology. Canadian consumers generally expect,…

Mady Dyson

14 December 2017

Blogs

Real-Time Payments Adoption in the US: the non-mandated…

  The Clearing House’s (TCH) central processing scheme in the US has recently started Real Time Payments (RTP) testing for the clearance and settlement of funds between banks. The event is significant…

Mady Dyson

7 December 2017

News

Research: Icon unveils changing face of commercial banking…

  Ovum Report: Real-Time Payments Key Driver for $3.3 Billion Rise in Technology Spend by North American Commercial Banks 50 percent of U.S. and 40 percent of Canadian banks to increase investment…

Kate Nelson

5 December 2017

Blogs

Germany’s role in the uptake of SEPA instant…

  The latest stats from the European Payments Council (EPC), show there are over 400 German Payment Service Providers (PSPs) gearing up to go-live early next year with EBA Clearing’s new SCT…

Kate Nelson

27 November 2017

Blogs

Preparing for Instant Payments? Don’t take a knife…

There was much agreement at Retail Banking Europe (#RBE2017) in Amsterdam last week. Banks need to support the digital economy and are slowly reinventing themselves to become digital entities. Although different approaches…

Kate Nelson

21 November 2017

News

Icon’s Head of Payments to present at T-Systems…

  Tom Hay, Icon Solutions’ Head of Payments, will be speaking on instant payments at the T-Systems Symposium on 28th November 2017 in Budapest. This prestigious event takes place annually and hosts…

Kate Nelson

8 November 2017

Blogs

Insights from Money 20/20

  This week the Icon team was at Money 20/20 where we saw a lot of discussion around the new ways in which consumers are interacting with their money, modes of payments…

Kate Nelson

27 October 2017

Blogs

Insights from Sibos 2017: It’s time to think…

  At the recent Sibos 2017 conference in Toronto, one theme rang out loud and clear – it’s time to think about the corporate. The common thread throughout the four-day conference was…

Kate Nelson

25 October 2017

News

Icon to attend Money20/20 Las Vegas

  London, 12th October 2017 –Icon Solutions, the leading provider of technology solutions and real time payments expertise, are looking forward to attending the highly regarded Money20/20 in Las Vegas, which will…

Kate Nelson

12 October 2017

News

Tom Hay, Head of Payments at Icon, appointed…

  London, 5th October 2017 – Icon Solutions are delighted to announce the appointment of Tom Hay, Head of Payments, to the European Payments Council’s Scheme Technical Forum (ESTF). The Forum is…

Kate Nelson

5 October 2017

Whitepapers

Spotlight on Central America

Author: Lauren Jones Date: 2nd October, 2017 Lauren Jones, Icon Solutions’ International Payments Ambassador, has created a profile on Central America’s regional payments scheme: Sistemas de Interconexíon de Pagos (SIP). This shares key facts and figures…

Lauren Jones

2 October 2017

News

Icon hosts exclusive instant payments roundtable in Hungary

  Icon Solutions was delighted to host an Instant Payments breakfast roundtable in Hungary, in association with their local partner T-Systems on Wednesday 13th September 2017. Breakfast Roundtable The topic of this…

Kate Nelson

19 September 2017

Whitepapers

Changing lanes in Hungary: From batch to instant…

From July 2019, customers of Hungarian banks will be able to make instant credit transfers of up to HUF 10 million and the beneficiaries would be able to use these funds within…

Aniruddha Maheshwari

19 September 2017

News

Icon Solutions Extends its Real Time Payments Expertise…

  London, 5 September 2017, Icon Solutions, the independent IT payment specialist technology provider and consultancy, has today announced the appointment of a strategic senior hire in Canada. Jason Hayes, has joined Icon…

Cindy Heidebluth

5 September 2017

News

Icon’s Director of Services, Darren Capehorn to speak…

Icon’s Director of Services, Darren Capehorn is scheduled to speak at Payments International on Thursday 14th September 2017. Darren will be presenting ‘Instant Payments – it’s not all about speed…or consumers’ and…

Kate Nelson

3 August 2017

Blogs

Are traditional hubs a good fit for instant…

Any mention of payments and multiple schemes, and the gurus are quick to respond with an “industry leader payments hub” as your go-to solution. These hubs are ‘centralized payments platforms’ which provide…

Icon Solutions

3 August 2017

Blogs

Taking Care of Business – The US Approach…

The US has always been more business-friendly than the Old World, and New York is peppered with temples to industry built by 19th century tycoons such as John D. Rockefeller and J….

Mady Dyson

31 July 2017

News

Icon Solutions completes connectivity testing between IPF and…

  London, 27th July 2017 – Icon Solutions, a leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments consultancy, today announces the completion of connectivity testing between its Instant Payments Framework (IPF) and…

Kate Nelson

31 July 2017

Whitepapers

Global Payments: Spotlight on Guatemala

Author: Lauren Jones Date: 13th July, 2017 Lauren Jones, Icon Solutions’ International Payments Ambassador, has created a country profile on the Guatemalan payments market. This shares key facts and figures for this country including modernisation plans…

Lauren Jones

14 July 2017

News

Icon announces charitable donations totalling £62,000

  London, July 13th 2017 – Icon Solutions, an independent award-winning payment and specialist technology company, has donated £62k during the last 12 months in charitable programmes around the world supporting health,…

Cindy Heidebluth

13 July 2017

Blogs

PSD2 Set to Topple Europe’s ‘House Of Cards’…

We’re at something of an inflection point in the payments landscape. It’s pretty clear that the arrival of PSD2 and Instant Payments will significantly disrupt retail payments, and the media has been…

Mady Dyson

6 July 2017

Whitepapers

Global Payments: Spotlight on Belize

Author: Lauren Jones Date: 4th July, 2017 Lauren Jones, Icon Solutions’ International Payments Ambassador, has created a country profile on the Belize payments market. This shares key facts and figures for this country including the launch…

Lauren Jones

3 July 2017

Blogs

PSD2 and Instant Payments – Membership has its…

  In 2014 Europe started ramping up the rhetoric for building a pan European Instant Payments solution (now known as SCT-Inst). In response, various forums sprung up to enable interested parties to…

Kate Nelson

28 June 2017

Blogs

Insights from EBAday 2017

  It’s fair to say that Dublin in the June sunshine was out to impress the financial world attending the European Banking Association’s 12th annual congress. Dublin, founded by the Vikings during…

Kate Nelson

27 June 2017

News

Finextra interviews Richard Dear on the consequences of…

London, EBAday 2017,  Finextra     Finextra interviews Icon’s Richard Dear on the Ovum research “Instant Payments and the Post-PSD2 Landscape” as well as the challenges banks are facing when planning and implementing…

Cindy Heidebluth

26 June 2017

News

Finextra interviews Richard Dear on implementing instant payments

London, EBAday 2017,  Finextra     Finextra  interviews Icon’s Richard Dear regarding financial organisations seeking to move to instant payments. In this interview, Richard identifies some of the key challenges involved and…

Cindy Heidebluth

22 June 2017

Blogs

The ERPB Highlights the Holes in PSD2

A year ago, the European Retail Payments Board (ERPB) flagged that “In practice, PSD2 and the EBA RTS will not cover all aspects that are relevant for the development of an integrated…

Kate Nelson

22 June 2017

Blogs

The EC’s PSD2 RTS: Winners & losers

While the industry continues its race against time to be PSD2-ready in January 2018, there still remains a number of unknowns and conflicting opinions on how the banking and payments landscape will…

Kate Nelson

22 June 2017

News

Icon’s IPF completes connectivity testing with SIAnet

Dublin, June 21st 2017 – Icon Solutions has completed connectivity testing between IPF and SIA’s high-speed and secure network infrastructure SIAnet, which provides access to EBA Clearing’s platform for instant payments. SIAnet…

Kate Nelson

21 June 2017

News

PSD2 and Instant Payments to drive a 37%…

  Retail Instant Payments in Europe will hit €725bn in transactions by the end of 2027 Single card payments set to decline from 40% to 11% market share by 2027 Instant Payments…

Cindy Heidebluth

19 June 2017

News

Icon announces partnership with T-Systems Hungary for Icon’s…

  London, June 13th 2017, Icon Solutions, a leading provider of technology and instant payments solutions, has today announced its expansion into the Hungarian market by partnering with T-Systems Hungary to provide customers with…

Cindy Heidebluth

13 June 2017

Blogs

How PSD2 is replacing the benefits of cards

The world is now immediate. We’re able to buy things online and have them delivered the same day (sometimes within an hour), our correspondence is sent and reacted to in seconds, and…

Kate Nelson

8 June 2017

News

Icon partners with Capgemini to host a PSD2…

  With PSD2 around the corner and Instant Payments no longer a dot on the horizon, the crucial question is: are you ready? Icon Solutions will be partnering with Capgemini to host…

Kate Nelson

8 June 2017

News

Icon Solutions’ Instant Payments Framework (IPF) connects to…

  Icon Solutions, a leading provider of technology solutions and real-time payments consultancy has just announced the enhancement of its Instant Payments Framework (IPF) product to support connectivity to The Clearing House’s…

Kate Nelson

8 June 2017

Blogs

Constructing the future of Financial Services at SWIFT’s…

The banking community of Mexico joined together at SWIFT’s Business Forum in the capital to discuss how the industry should build the future of financial services. It may not come as a…

Kate Nelson

25 May 2017

Blogs

PSD2 and Instant Payments Rewrite the Script

  PSD2 brings a seismic shift in what it fundamentally means to be a bank. It’s no longer enough to be a trusted custodian of consumer transactions and the traditional bank position…

Daniela Sarti

22 May 2017

News

Icon Expands its Payments Expertise to the American…

  London, 23 May 2017, Icon Solutions, the independent IT payment specialist technology provider and consultancy, has today announced the appointment of a strategic senior hire in the US.  James Methe, previously Capgemini’s Senior Director,…

Cindy Heidebluth

22 May 2017

Whitepapers

Global Payments: Spotlight on Mexico

Author: Lauren Jones Date: 18th May, 2017 Lauren Jones, Icon’s International Payments Ambassador has created a country profile on the Mexican payments market. This shares key facts and figures for this country including the names of…

Lauren Jones

18 May 2017

News

Financial IT magazine features Icon’s “The PSD2 final…

  London, 15 May 2017,  Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of instant payments technology has been published in the April issue of Financial IT’s magazine.  This international publication is renowned for providing cutting edge FinTech…

Cindy Heidebluth

15 May 2017

News

PYMNTS.COM interviews Icon’s Head of Payments on US…

 London, 09 May 2017, PYMNTS.COM Past Lessons May Prove Invaluable For US Real-Time Payments Rollout Real-time payments initiatives are under way all across the globe, but there is little consistency across jurisdictions…

Cindy Heidebluth

9 May 2017

Blogs

How real is the US on real-time payments?

  With real-time payments on the horizon for the US, NACHA’s Faster Payments 2017  was a key conference for payments professionals. But how close is real-time payments to becoming the norm there…

Daniela Sarti

9 May 2017

News

Icon to speak at Open Banking Summit

Tom Hay, Icon Solutions’ Head of Payments will be a panellist at ECN’s Open Banking Summit, where experts from banks, fintechs and government bodies will gather to discuss the huge potential of the…

Cindy Heidebluth

25 April 2017

News

Webinar: Is Europe Ready for SCT Inst?

  Icon Solutions is delighted to be participating in the InstaPay webinar: Is Europe ready for SCT Inst? How ready are organisations for SCT Inst? Webinar: Wednesday 3rd May 2017 12pm BST/…

Cindy Heidebluth

20 April 2017

Blogs

Preventing fraud in real-time payments

  What insights can the U.S. take from early real-time payments adopters?    Change is constant in the banking and payments industry – and organizations that can keep pace with this change…

Kate Nelson

19 April 2017

Blogs

Real-time payments – it’s not always about the…

  Real time means ‘now’, like boom – you have it, just like receiving a WhatsApp message. And if we think of what ‘now’ means for e-commerce, the first things that come…

Kate Nelson

18 April 2017

News

Why Icon’s IPF should be on your radar…

London, 13 April 2017,  Ovum releases: On the Radar – Icon Solutions adds real-time capability to existing systems, which evaluates Icon’s Instant Payments Framework (IPF).This is the latest release in their series…

Kate Nelson

13 April 2017

News

Icon Solutions’ Instant Payments Helps Keep Banks PSD2…

London, 12 April 2017,  Richard Dear is interviewed by Julie Muhn at Finovate on Icon’s Instant Payments Framework (IPF) that will help keep banks PSD2 compliant. IT payment consultancy Icon Solutions is tackling…

Kate Nelson

11 April 2017

Blogs

Mexico: Cash is king, but not if it’s…

  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…

Kate Nelson

10 April 2017

News

Icon Solutions to exhibit at NACHA Faster Payments…

  Icon Solutions is delighted to be an exhibitor at NACHA’s prestigious Faster Payments 2017 event in Austin, Texas. Taking place in April, Faster Payments 2017 brings together those who are driving and…

Kate Nelson

28 March 2017

News

Icon Solutions confirms sponsorship of EBAday

  London, 23 March 2017 Icon Solutions, the specialist provider of European payment and technology solutions confirms sponsorship of EBAday, 2017 in Dublin Tom Kelleher, Icon’s Commercial Director has confirmed that Icon…

Cindy Heidebluth

23 March 2017

Whitepapers

PSD2 Final RTS: The Good, the Bad and…

  The EBA’s new final RTS on Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) and Secure Communications is an acceptable offering that seems cover a lot of ground and will satisfy most, but ultimately leaves…

Cindy Heidebluth

10 March 2017

Whitepapers

Fast track to PDS2

Author: Tom Hay Date: 13th July 2016 Until now financial institutions (FI’s) have been in control of their digital presence, offering their own branded services to customers via tablets, mobiles and wearable…

Cindy Heidebluth

9 March 2017

News

Fintech Finance interview Tom Hay and Richard Dear…

London, 6 March 2017,  Fintech Finance      Fintech Finance interview Richard Dear and Tom Hay at Finovate 2017,  on Icon’s Instant Payments Framework (IPF), a real-time payments orchestration engine, built from the ground…

Cindy Heidebluth

6 March 2017

Blogs

Payments, the internet of things, and the end…

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

6 March 2017

News

Webinar: PSD2 RTS on SCA and Secure Communication

  Following the success of our whitepaper PSD2 Draft RTS: Ten Key Points, we will be holding an exclusive webinar on the key insights from the recently published PSD2 RTS. Final PSD2 RTS…

Cindy Heidebluth

1 March 2017

News

Payments Cards & Mobile publish Icon’s blog on…

  London, 27 February 2017,   Payments Card & Mobile publish Tom Hay, Head of Payment and Mark Burlison, Senior Consultant at Icon Solutions blog on SEPA: Is the ECB stifling competition…

Cindy Heidebluth

27 February 2017

Blogs

7 Minutes of Fame at Finovate

  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…

Daniela Sarti

27 February 2017

News

International Business Times interviews Tom Hay and Richard…

 London, 13 February 2017, International Business Times   Apple, Facebook and Amazon primed for PSD2 demolition of the card networks     Quite often people talk about the fabulous opportunities that open…

Cindy Heidebluth

13 February 2017

News

Financial IT report on Icon Solutions’ partnership with…

  London, 8 February 2017,  Icon Solutions the specialist provider of instant payments technology, has today announced that it is partnering with Featurespace, the world’s leading supplier of Adaptive Behavioural Analytics technology. ARIC™, Featurespace’s advanced…

Cindy Heidebluth

9 February 2017

Blogs

Instant Payments and the Reactive Manifesto

  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…

Cindy Heidebluth

8 February 2017

News

Icon Solutions partners with Featurespace to provide instant…

  London, 6 February 2017, Icon Solutions the specialist provider of instant payments technology, has today announced that it is partnering with Featurespace, the world’s leading supplier of Adaptive Behavioural Analytics technology….

Cindy Heidebluth

5 February 2017

Blogs

Post-PSD2: What Will Banking Look Like?

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

31 January 2017

News

Icon selected to present at Finovate Europe 2017

  London, 17 January 2017. After a competitive application process, Icon Solutions have been selected to showcase their innovative response to the need for global Instant Payment solutions, Instant Payment Framework (IPF),…

Cindy Heidebluth

17 January 2017

Blogs

Hungary marches towards Instant Payments

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

17 January 2017

News

New survey on the real demand for instant…

  A recent survey conducted by InstaPay.today highlighted that key stakeholders within the instant payments industry overwhelmingly believe that it is consumer demand driving instant payments, and not new regulations. The survey was…

Cindy Heidebluth

16 January 2017

Blogs

PSD2, RTS and SDC: confusion reigns

Over the last couple of weeks the media agenda has been dominated by Payment Services Directive Two (PSD2), and unfortunately not for the right reasons. PSD2 has always been a controversial regulation,…

Cindy Heidebluth

6 January 2017

News

Countdown to SEPA inst

  SEPA instant payments (SCT inst) is the first instant payment scheme to be inter-operable in a region as large as SEPA and is a response to European customer needs for faster…

Cindy Heidebluth

30 November 2016

News

Instant Payments research in key publications

New research from Lipis Advisors, commission by Icon Solutions, has hit the headlines with a number of payments focused publications. The research “Instant Payments: Insights from Early Adopters” dispels the myths that migrating…

Cindy Heidebluth

24 November 2016

News

Icon hosts instant payments roundtable in Amsterdam

Icon Solutions was delighted to host its first Payments Breakfast roundtable in Amsterdam, in association with EBA and Finextra on Tuesday 22nd November 2016. The topic of this exclusive roundtable was ‘Instant payments –…

Cindy Heidebluth

24 November 2016

News

Research reveals lower cost of Instant Payments implementation…

 Average five year cumulative costs for small and medium-sized banks as low as €500,000 By year five, maintenance fees can make up over 50% of total costs Modular, highly configurable systems remove…

Cindy Heidebluth

21 November 2016

Blogs

Push towards “less cash” society

While the world was waiting with bated breath and crossed fingers for the outcome of the American Presidential race and Election Night events being organised around the world, on other side of…

Cindy Heidebluth

11 November 2016

Blogs

PSD2 – Lessons From India

While reading through the second payments service directive and trying to decipher the recently published RTS draft, I have been trying hard (without much success) not to draw parallels between the soon…

Cindy Heidebluth

24 October 2016

Whitepapers

Moving Towards Immediate Payments

The world is moving towards Immediate Payments (also called Faster Payments and Real-time Payments). In fact a recent survey identified around 30 systems globally that might be classed as immediate payments, with…

Cindy Heidebluth

22 October 2016

Blogs

NextGen Banking: From Start to Finnish

Icon’s Payments team have just returned from the FinExtra’s  NextGen Banking conference in Helsinki, Finland and thought we’d share some highlights from the event. To open the event, Erkki Poutiainen summed up…

Cindy Heidebluth

14 October 2016

Blogs

PSD2 – Powered By Pixie Dust

I was recently on a panel at NextGen Banking Nordics, discussing PSD2 (of course) where I was pretty critical of the draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on Secure Customer Authentication. After the discussion, a…

Cindy Heidebluth

13 October 2016

News

Icon’s Head of Payments to speak at Fintech…

Tom Hay, Icon’s Head of Payments has been invited to speak at this year’s Fintech Innovation on the 27th October in Budapest, Hungary. The Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) expects to establish an instant payment…

Cindy Heidebluth

12 October 2016

News

Icon joins Euro Banking Association (EBA)

Icon Solutions has recently been announced as an Associate Member of the Euro Banking Association (EBA). The EBA is a practitioners’ body for banks and other service providers supporting a pan-European vision…

Cindy Heidebluth

6 October 2016

News

Icon’s Head Of Payments is invited to speak…

Tom Hay, Icon’s Head of Payments has been invited to speak at this year’s NextGen Banking conference, 11th October in Helsinki. Tom will take to the stage alongside other payment industry experts to…

Cindy Heidebluth

28 September 2016

Whitepapers

PSD2 Draft RTS: Ten Key Points

Following the recent publication of the European Banking Association (EBA) draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS), covering Secure Customer Authentication (SCA) and secure communication, Icon’s Tom Hay takes a closer look at ten…

Marketing Icon

2 September 2016

News

Icon up for major payments award

Payment consultant Icon Solutions has been shortlisted in the ‘Most Disruptive Payments Technology’ category at this year’s Payment Awards. The Payments Awards recognise cards and payments excellence and innovation – and are organised…

Cindy Heidebluth

26 July 2016

News

Faster Payments 101: Podcast with Tom Hay

Hear an Icon podcast with PaymentEye – Faster Payments 101 with Tom Hay, Head of Payments at Icon Solutions, discussing the real costs of implementing faster payment solutions and the dangers to…

Cindy Heidebluth

13 July 2016

Blogs

Beyond Babel: A New Blueprint for Global Instant…

Following on from the topic of fragmentation in Part 1, we have much to discuss. Techno-genies, the value chain and realism Rather than lamenting the lack of international interoperability, we should consider whether…

Cindy Heidebluth

27 June 2016

Blogs

Beyond Babel: A New Blueprint for Global Instant…

Fragmentation has become a very real challenge for the industry as instant payment schemes are being implemented on a country by country basis, and each country is doing it differently. Like the…

Cindy Heidebluth

22 June 2016

News

Icon’s Head of Payments, Tom Hay appointed to…

Tom Hay, heads up Icon’s payment team and has a wealth of experience in aiding financial institutions move to faster payments. With two decades of payments experience as Head of Architecture with…

Cindy Heidebluth

10 June 2016

Blogs

Fast forward – The landscape of faster payments

The landscape of faster payments has been changing rapidly over the past 12 months, with more change to come. This article tries to capture some of the key debates that have been…

Tom Hay

20 May 2016

Blogs

Watch out EBA, SWIFT & VISA..here comes Masterlink!

Mastercard’s planned acquisition of Vocalink has the potential to create a new payments powerhouse in Europe and beyond. The news of the planned acquisition broke a few days after the Payment Systems…

Cindy Heidebluth

16 May 2016

Blogs

What does clearXchange tell us about the battle…

Seven major US banks – including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America Corp, Wells Fargo & Co and Bancorp – are collaborating on a jointly owned system that will speed up and simplify…

Cindy Heidebluth

9 May 2016

News

Icon launches ‘Instant Payments Framework’ to open up…

Icon Solutions, the independent IT payment consultancy and specialist technology provider, today announced the worldwide launch of its Instant Payments Framework (IPF). IPF is an agile yet robust software product that expedites…

Cindy Heidebluth

29 April 2016

News

Icon launches ‘instant payments framework’

Icon Solutions, the independent IT payment consultancy and specialist technology provider, today announced the worldwide launch of its Instant Payments Framework (IPF). IPF is an agile yet robust software product that expedites…

Cindy Heidebluth

29 April 2016

News

Icon launches ‘Instant Payments Framework’ to open up…

Icon Solutions, the independent IT payment consultancy and specialist technology provider, today announced the worldwide launch of its Instant Payments Framework (IPF). Read More

Cindy Heidebluth

29 April 2016

News

Icon launches ‘Instant Payments Framework’ to open up…

Icon Solutions, the independent IT payment consultancy and specialist technology provider, today announced the worldwide launch of its Instant Payments Framework (IPF). IPF is an agile yet robust software product that expedites…

Cindy Heidebluth

29 April 2016

News

Icon Solutions readies Instant Payments Framework

Icon Solutions is gearing up to launch a technology framework that enables banks to connect to instant payment schemes. Read More

Cindy Heidebluth

27 April 2016

News

Icon’s IPF solution offers financial institutions flexibility, lower…

Icon Launches Instant Payments Framework To Facilitate Real Time Payments. Icon’s IPF solution offers financial institutions flexibility, lower cost of ownership and faster time to market. Icon Solutions, an independent IT payment…

Cindy Heidebluth

27 April 2016

News

Instant Payments Framework launched by Icon Solutions

The new framework – available worldwide – is set to open up access to real-time payments for banks. UK-based Icon Solutions, an IT payment consultancy and specialist technology provider, describes its Instant…

Cindy Heidebluth

27 April 2016

News

Moving Banks, Big And Small, To Real-Time Payments

The term “instant payments” conjures up effortless fund flows from one place to another, between individuals, from consumers to companies and between firms themselves. But the latticework and infrastructure behind such speed…

Cindy Heidebluth

24 April 2016

News

Icon’s Head Of Payments is invited to speak…

Tom Hay, Icon’s Head of Payments has been invited to speak at this year’s Money 20/20 Europe, 4-7 April in Copenhagen, the World’s Largest FinTech event. Tom will take to the stage…

Cindy Heidebluth

15 March 2016

News

Icon invited to speak at Taylor Wessing‘s Payment…

Sahana Hussain, a senior member of the API Banking practice within Icon Solutions has been asked to speak at Thursday’s Payment Services Seminar, where the focus will be on PSD2 as the market opens…

Cindy Heidebluth

8 March 2016

Blogs

How to capitalise on the API banking revolution

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…

Cindy Heidebluth

2 February 2016

News

PSD2 – a view from Financial Institutions

Yesterday, saw the second of our well received payment roundtables with the topical discussion on PSD2: The Payments World Turned Upside Down? – the second iteration of the Payments Services Directive, which…

Cindy Heidebluth

18 July 2015

News

Icon launches Payments At Breakfast series

Icon Solutions was delighted to host our first Payments Breakfast roundtable, in association with Finextra, this morning. The topic of this exclusive roundtable was ‘The new access model to Faster Payments: Will…

Cindy Heidebluth

7 May 2015

News

What you may have missed at today’s Payment…

An eclectic group of payment professionals attended this morning’s Payment Services Seminar to discuss PSD2 and its profound impact on the payments industry. Joining the speaker panel was Icon’s Sahana Hussain, a…

Cindy Heidebluth

10 March 2015

News

Head of Payments to speak at Payments Conference…

Tom Hay, our Head of Payments, was recently invited to speak at the prestigious Payments Conference in Trondheim, Norway. Tom’s presentation “PSD2 – will bureaucracy bury the banks?” looks at one of…

Cindy Heidebluth

10 March 2015

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