1970
The CEOs of the commercial banks and the Central Bank of Iceland decide to establish an electronic calculations committee. Its purpose was to prepare the foundation of a shared calculation centre for the Icelandic banks. The committee submitted a report in 1971, and the following year, a preparatory committee for the establishment of Reiknistofa bankanna was created.
1973
On 23 March, Reiknistofa bankanna (RB) was established as a joint venture company. Earlier that same month, Pink Floyd released the masterpiece Dark Side of the Moon, and less than two weeks later, the first telephone call from a mobile phone was made. Icelandic society was at a crossroads, as business practices and financial services had advanced by leaps and bounds.
1974
An agreement for the first IBM computer for RB was signed in Landsbanki Íslands in February. The picture shows Einar Pálsson, CEO of RB; Helgi Bergs, Bank Manager and Chairman of the Board of RB; Ottó A. Michelsen, CEO of IBM in Iceland; and Jón Vignir Karlsson, employee of IBM in Iceland.
1975
RB moves its headquarters to Digranesvegur in Kópavogur. In October that same year, the first bank project was designed and adopted. This was the Cheque system which made it possible to mechanise all processing of cheques and, at the same time, process daily settlement between banks.
1985
This year saw the direct line development of RB’s systems, and two years later, the company was able to offer a real-time payment system. This was the first of its kind in the world. This made it possible to ensure that payments were processed in real-time between banks in Reykjavík.
1986
RB relocates its operations to the premises of the Central Bank of Iceland.
1989
Icelandic banks are linked directly to the SWIFT system. This made it possible for users to electronically engage in business transactions with overseas banks. Prior to this, the banks had been using telex-technology to engage in overseas transactions. This required a great deal of manual work, which was, as a result of computerisation, a thing of the past.
1993
Debit cards were the next great leap forward. These slowly replaced cheque books. The debit card system was composed of different programmes that shops, service providers, self-service equipment, banks, savings banks, card companies and RB could use.
2000
The year 2000 problem (Y2K problem) was a fault in computer systems caused by the fact that some programs defined years solely based on the final two digits of the year. As a result, efforts had to be spent to make sure that global computers did not read the change-over as if 1900 was beginning instead of the year 2000. Preparations were made at RB before the end of the year, and a number of employees were on watch at midnight. Everything went well, however, and there were no major problems.
1988
The RB service phone number was launched. This made it possible for users to obtain information on the status of their different banking accounts through the telephone.
2008
International financial crises causes Icelandic banks to fail. Despite the Emergency Act and numerous difficulties in the economy, RB was able to maintain active payment processing activities in Iceland.
2010
In January, the operating form of RB was changed and the public limited company Reiknistofa bankanna hf. was established to manage the co-operation. The largest owners of the company were the three large retail banks: Íslandsbanki, Landsbankinn and Arion banki.
2012
RB purchased part of Tölvumiðstöð sparisjóðanna (Teris), and its employees became part of the dynamic team working for RB. At the same time, the company sold off the operation of printing services and services responsible for placing account statements into envelopes. RB had, for a number of years, sent out account statements, card transaction statements, etc. for the Icelandic financial market.
2013
RB relocated its headquarters to Höfðatorg with working facilities for over 160 employees.
2015
At the beginning of the year, RB reached an agreement with Sopra Banking Software for the renewal of the company’s basic systems. All financial institutions in Iceland will rely on the systems.
2017
RB connected the first commercial bank to the new basic system from Sopra Banking Software. The last bank is expected to adopt the system by the end of 2021.
2020
New interbank system adopted in collaboration with the Central Bank of Iceland.
