UBS Invests in Icon’s Payment Modernization Efforts

Payments technology FinTech Icon Solutions has landed an equity investment from UBS.

This investment, announced in a news release Wednesday (June 18), comes on top of additional funding from existing investors Citi and NatWest.

“Icon, an important partner of UBS, plays a crucial role in modernizing payment platforms with innovative infrastructure solutions,” said Pieter Brouwer, head of group operations and technology office for personal and corporate banking and GWM Switzerland and international at UBS.

“This investment reinforces our partnership with Icon and confirms our commitment to deliver faster to market, future-ready payment solutions for our clients,” Brouwer added. “The collaboration helps us drive innovation at scale and enhances our capabilities for seamless instant payments and advanced transaction processing.”

According to the release, UBS will join Citi and NatWest in using Icon’s Payments Framework (IPF) to accelerate their payments modernization programs.

IPF, the release noted, is a “payment development framework” that lets banks more quickly develop, test and deploy payment processing solutions, while remaining in complete control of costs and timelines.

“This investment round is further endorsement of our founding belief that banks should be empowered to lead their own payments transformation,” said Tom Kelleher, Icon Solution’s director and co-founder.

“With IPF now internationally proven and increasingly adopted by major financial institutions, we look forward to continuing our close partnerships with Citi, NatWest and UBS to build on this global momentum and deliver truly innovative and ground-breaking payments solutions,” Kelleher said.

PYMNTS wrote recently about the need for banks to modernize amid the rise of virtual accounts, arguing that this “full-stack capability isn’t optional, it’s the foundation for turning disbursements into lasting value.”

The demand, that report added, is already here, with consumers overwhelmingly preferring instant payments and small businesses willing to pay for speedier access to cash.

“And digital-first competitors are setting new expectations. Virtual accounts meet these needs — while giving banks a new place to compete and win,” PYMNTS wrote.

Research by PYMNTS Intelligence shows that 41% of consumers use instant methods most often for disbursements, up from 11% in 2018. And 90% of consumers said they would rather get money instantly if offered that option.

“Virtual accounts as a strategy give banks a path to transform disbursements from cost centers into customer engines,” PYMNTS wrote. “By delivering not just speed but utility, insight and connection, banks can move beyond moving money — and start owning the relationship that comes with it.”

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