Delivering robust, flexible solutions that meet rigorous demands ...

'Payments' (or money transmission) is probably one of the most complex areas of IT, and the one under the greatest pressure to deliver.

On the one hand it needs to react to a growing list of functional requirements, either from the business to provide competitive advantage or from the authorities to satisfy regulatory demands. On the other hand, the payments systems also need to be architected and developed to meet the most stringent non-functional requirements seen in Banking, or indeed any industry sector.

Some of these non-functional requirements are obvious - payment systems must be robust, secure and, in a real-time world with high volumes, highly performant. But undervaluing the importance of the other non-functional requirements can result in throw-away solutions and/or an escalating long-term cost of ownership.

For example, the payments landscape is going through constant change, so solutions must be flexible. Mergers and acquisitions dictate that systems should be inherently scalable. And the increasing use of integrated third party solutions will dilute the availability of subject matter experts, so solutions must be intrinsically supportable

But all of this costs time and money in an era when budgets are constrained and the business often has to deliver the functional requirements by a mandated deadline. So where do banks draw the line between the essentials of a Payments solution and the 'bells and whistles'?

While the team at Icon Solutions does not have a crystal ball to predict what the future of Payments may bring, we do have a growing reputation for helping customers understand and evaluate the debate. We do this by drawing together our payments industry insight and unparalleled technical capabilities - see below for more information.