ICON Serves the Community
The afternoon sun gleams on the manmade lake with the fountain outside the headquarters of ICON Business Bank at the Hutton Centre in Santa Ana. The bank’s name on the building is visible from the SR-55 freeway. Its suite on the first floor is a large, welcoming space with the latest electronic equipment. The venue is the fulfillment of a dream and a harbinger of things to come.
Ten years ago, Benny Mor had a vision for creating a real community bank. It would build relationships with small and large businesses, as well as individuals and organizations.
“We wanted to change people’s concept of just being a number,” explained Benny Mor, chairman of the advisory board of ICON Business Bank. Mor, who is also CEO of Vasco Assets and a longtime entrepreneur in financial services and jewelry businesses since coming to California from Israel in the 1980s. “We wanted to provide flexibility while being pragmatic and following the rules. We also wanted to reach out to underserved communities.”
In January 2025 Mor decided to renew the process of establishing the bank. He had the investors, but he realized that it would take two years to open the bank and two more years to become profitable. He decided to join an existing bank, and ICON Business Bank was born.
Jonathan Sigal, who serves as senior vice president of the bank, has more than 30 years of banking experience, having served at Deutsche Bank, small and large institutions, and credit unions.
“I know what it’s like to work with a community,” he said.
Early in 2026, the bank signed a deal with the Israel America Council (IAC) to serve the Israeli and Jewish community. “We provide personal service to the community with a Hebrew-speaking officer in the bank,” Mor said.
Small businesses are underbanked and underserved, Mor said. “Here they get a high-touch experience.”
Mor said the bank also helps elderly communities with their banking needs. ICON Business Bank advertises on the cable television system in Laguna Woods. It provides concierge service to Heritage Pointe, offering a “bank on wheels” in which the bank comes to the people.
“We also help small businesses with small lines of credit,” Mor added. “We hope to assist them with their extra needs and grow with one another.
“We’re a relationship bank, and I’m the relationship manager,” he explained. “The relationship is what’s important. We provide one-on-one contact. People think of us as a trusted adviser, a sphere of influence in the client’s business life, and an alternative bank.”
What separates ICON Business Bank from other banks, according to Mor, is that it gives clients full benefits. For instance, there are collective depository accounts with more interest for smaller deposits. There are also group deposits. If one member of the group drops out, the group has to replace it.
“By showing versatility and diversity and catching a niche market, we will distinguish ourselves from other banks,” Mor said.
The bank also has a branch in Riverside. There are online and digital banking products and an embedded app on the bank’s website. While ICON Business Bank is privately held, it could become publicly held in the next few years, Mor said.
The minority-run bank is in the process of creating visibility by networking with the Jewish community at synagogues and organizations to get its name and products known. “The community needs to stand together,” Mor said.
For more information, contact ICON Business Bank,
3 Hutton Centre Drive 150, Santa Ana, CA 92707;
https://www.iconbusinessbank.com; (888) 383-1954.
Ilene Schneider has been chronicling Jewish life in Orange County for five publications since 1978. She has served as a communications consultant for a number of Jewish organizations. She is a contributing writer to Jlife Magazine.