NatWest has taken a minority stake in British payments technology firm Icon Solutions.
The undisclosed investment follows the news last September that NatWest had selected Icon Solutions Payments Framework (IPF) as part of a payment platform modernisation plan.
Launched in 2020, IPF is a low code payment framework that enables banks to create new payment workflows and create customisable integrations into existing bank systems.
Tom Kelleher, co-founder and director of Icon Solutions comments: “NatWest and Icon have been on a journey together since 2019 to modernise payments at the bank. Overcoming vendor lock in and powering in-house builds with the Icon Payments Framework (IPF), NatWest can now drive change from within. Building new revenue streams, anticipating regulatory change, responding to market changes or competitive pressures.”
The investment from NatWest follows a growing trend among large incumbent players to stake out fintechs that help to deliver more agile and innovative ways of tackling critical business delivery services.
Mark Brant, chief payments officer at NatWest says: “Our relationship with Icon Solutions has already helped us to bring our payments estate to life. This investment is fundamental to the delivery of our modernisation in payments technology, which will enable us to better serve our customers and to remain at the forefront of the payments industry.
“Combining the scale and resilience of a bank with the speed and innovation of a fintech like Icon Solutions means we can bring new payment services to our customers quickly and safely.”
NatWest's investment follows an equity investment from US banking giant Citi in December.