Tier 1 FX dealer JP Morgan invests heavily in payments business
If genuine payment providers for ecommerce which already work with several banks are the target of direct equity investment from the Tier 1 institutions, this should bode well for the FX industry and resolve its payments conundrum
British payments technology outfit Icon Solutions has secured an equity investment of undisclosed value from JPMorgan, demonstrating that electronic payments, a matter critical to the FX industry, is very much on the radar of Tier 1 banks.
The firm, which counts institutions such as BNP Paribas, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group among its client base, helps banks to re-engineer their payments architecture to take advantage of new innovations from real-time payments.
With the banks looking to bolster the payments sector, there is no excuse for the use of low end, back street money launderers by FX firms to process client withdrawals and deposits.
Sara Castelhano, Emea head of payments, digital and solutions, JPMorgan Wholesale Payments, says of the investment: “We’re excited to support Icon with this strategic investment as they look to continually build a simplified, collaborative payments ecosystem, driving emerging payments rails and innovation.”
Icon says it will use the funds to invest in its technology and geographic reach and to accelerate development of its new cloud native, open source-based payments platform IPF.
Tom Kelleher, co-Founder and commercial director at Icon, says: “The payments industry has woken up and realised that the money is in value-added services, not payments processing. The right approach to transforming technology estates reduces costs, increases resilience and supports innovation to deliver more value, while staying in full control.
“The investment with JPMorgan enables Icon to accelerate our plans and be perfectly positioned to help banks leverage this opportunity to drive new revenues and further develop existing business lines.”
