If you want to know how to build a quality fintech app and choose the best development firm with reasonable prices, as well as other details about how to create an app, this article will be valuable for you.
How to Build a Fintech App: Useful Tips
In today's world, plenty of financial transactions are performed online. Digital banking, websites, and apps for investment, credit, and other types of financial operations are vigorously developing. For the time being, fintech app creation is an extremely critical direction for agencies rendering financial services and an attractive option for startups.
In this article, we will cover the following issues:
- What is a fintech app?
- How much does it cost to start such a solution?
- Fintech app revenue share model. What is it?
- How to handle fintech app integration?
- How can you prevent an app from hacking?
These and other important questions have to be considered to guarantee the profitable creation of a quality solution.
What Does a Fintech Application Stand For?
It refers to any kind of software related to financial operations. A digital format provides 24/7 access to the financial service, increasing the speed of transactions, and helping the provider cut costs by reducing employee inclusion.
The predominant part of banks, investment projects, and credit unions in America consider partnering with fintech app developers an essential aspect of a thriving business.
That said, let's take a look at the main types of such tools.
Digital Payments
Personalized fintech app development for digital payments allows users to make digital payments promptly and securely. These can be electronic wallets, digital currency systems, payment gateways, and so forth.
Digital Banking
Banking software helps customers deal with their accounts and receive a full range of banking services online. Customers can open their transaction history, transfer funds, open accounts, automate recurring payments, request and receive loans, etc.
Unfortunately, so far fintech app creation in banking is far from satisfying clients' needs. Financial institutions that create user-friendly apps are more successful in attracting a new audience, compared to banks, which still offer their main services only in their branches.
Digital Lending
Digital lending solutions are used by credit firms and startups alike to facilitate connection and settlement between borrowers and lenders. They are for banks, large credit unions, and startups.
Investments & Financial Analytics
Investor apps have been especially widespread since the coronavirus pandemic and related financial instability. They can be a good fit for investment novices and seasoned brokers alike.
If you're interested in how to build fintech software for investing, it's important to ensure the following aspects:
- Convenient and safe methods of investing in your chosen field;
- Quality analytics: statistical reports, forecasts, accurate online quotes, etc.
Consumer Financial Apps
Consumer financial tools help people control their assets, manage their personal funds, save and track their expenses. Such software products do not process payments and transfer funds. They coordinate with banking apps, payment gateways, Google Pay, PayPal, and Apple Pay.
If you are a startup thinking about designing a fintech app, this direction can be especially interesting due to its simplicity and relatively low budget.
How to Make a Fintech App: Preparation
First, you need to define the type of solution you intend to get. You should clearly understand what direction you are interested in and what tasks the future app will solve. Without correctly set goals, objectives, and a clear vision/plan of how you will make a profit with it, it's impossible to make a high-quality tool.
Study the Market
You should study your clients, both existing and potential ones, and understand their needs. For this, research your target audience and study similar solutions that already exist.
In addition, studying your competitors helps understand what you can offer to people. It can be complex solutions, unique ideas, advanced services, or other competitive advantages.
Fintech Mobile App Development and Legal Requirements
Before you set up your project, make sure you research the legal requirements your app has to meet. They vary markedly from country to country, and often even from state to state and region to region. Your tool has to satisfy data privacy laws, including GDPR, ePrivacy, CCPA, and others that govern financial apps in the country your product is developed for.
Today's solutions should meet the following regulations and frameworks:
- PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard);
- AML (Anti-Money Laundering) Regulations;
- KYC (Know Your Customer) Compliance;
- Digital Signature Certificates (DSC), etc.
There are also many other requirements, varying from country to country.
How to Create a Fintech App: Technical Solutions
Once your intentions and objectives are clear, and you realize the specifics of the legislation in the country, you can start working with a fintech app development firm. Specialists will help you decide on a technology stack and the best technical solutions.
Mobile Application Types
You can opt for one of the app types, depending on the features of the solution:
- Native. Such applications are developed considering all the peculiarities and UX recommendations of the chosen OS. Such solutions provide maximum security, have access to phone cameras, GPS, contacts, etc. Fintech software creation cost of this type is the highest because, for each operating system, you will have to build a product from scratch;
- Cross-platform. A universal solution that can be installed on any operating system. Profitable in terms of cost and development time but has a minimal set of features. Most often, it's just a user-friendly interface, and all the actions are performed on the server;
- Progressive web apps are the simplest and cheapest solutions and are an extension of a certain web service. There is no need to buy licenses for application stores, they can be quickly and easily downloaded. With such tools, every action is done on the website, the app is a shortcut and a device-adapted interface. It will not be able to access Bluetooth, NFC, and many other features.
Operating System for Native Apps
The vast majority of mobile devices run on iOS and Android. In the U.S., Apple devices are more common, and in Europe, different types of Android devices mostly prevail. Moreover, in custom fintech app development, the choice of the priority OS often depends on other factors. You can find out about the preferences of users by studying the market and target audience.
Ideally, your product has to work on all devices, but when your budget is limited, you have to choose where to start.
Technology Stack
When looking for an agency that really knows how to set up a fintech app, a lot of software development firms will offer you several solutions in terms of the technology stack. Here, a lot depends on the objectives and functionality you need.
Choose the most advanced solutions, which fit your type of app and the implementation of the required functions. With the proper technology stack, you can cut the cost of work, development time, and ensure that your product will work reliably on every modern device. The most prevalent technologies used for Fintech applications are C#, C++, Python, Kotlin, Java, and Ruby. Many other solutions will be needed as well.
Blockchain Fintech App Development
Blockchain is a distributed transaction data storage technology that has become popular due to the creation of cryptocurrencies. The technology greatly increases data security, minimizes the risk of hacker attacks, and provides maximum privacy. These days, it is increasingly being used in the financial sphere. In many countries, however, these solutions can only be used in a limited way because cryptocurrencies are not legal payment tools. Plus, financial institutions are obliged to keep much of their data accessible to tax and law enforcement agencies.
How to Design a Fintech App: Development Process
Cooperation with any company starts with market research, deciding on the technology stack, and writing tech requirements spec documents. After agreeing on the basic solutions, deadlines, cost, the work on the project starts.
Prototype
It is a schematic representation of the future user interface (UI) of any app. It can be created in any convenient form, including paper. At this stage, the basic ideas of UI/UX interfaces are defined and coordinated. Once everything is completely agreed upon, the developers get to the true programming and design.
UI/UX Design
Prestigious fintech app development firms implement UI design solutions on their own, unlike small agencies or freelancers who often outsource the work. In financial apps, UI design should be stylish, bright, and intuitive for every user, without any unnecessary elements. Remember that you are not creating a game or an entertainment product but an application for working with finances.
It's also essential to pay maximum attention to the interface and design of the administrative part. Employees of your venture should also feel comfortable in administering the app to quickly provide support.
Fintech App Development Services: MVP Version
When building a new app, most often a minimum viable product (MVP) version is created first, which implements a basic set of functions. An MVP helps test the tool, get customer feedback, define the plan for improvements and enhancements accordingly. This is one of the best ways to reduce the time and cost of project implementation, as well as get feedback and attract more investors. Startups are much more likely to get investments at the MVP stage than before the business idea is realized.
How to Make a Fintech Tool: Basic Functionality
Modern users increasingly impose strict requirements on new applications. You can define the functionality of your product yourself, however, studying successful competitors is key.
The following functions/aspects should be part of every quality app today:
- Simple registration and login. On the one hand, it should be handy for users, on the other - it is necessary to ensure the security of access to financial tools. Provide two-factor identification, the possibility of password recovery, and limit of the number of erroneous access attempts;
- Fintech app security solutions. When it comes to financial services, the security of your customers is of paramount importance. Apart from common sense, security measures are also required by governments of all countries where digital tools and applications are used;
- Transaction history. If you are looking into how to design a fintech app for banking, lending, and investing, it's important to provide users with convenient financial reports;
- QR code. These days, many purchases are done via QR codes, which help save a lot of transaction time and reduce the chance of making a mistake;
- Push notifications. People like to be notified of promotions, news, mandatory payments, fund receipts, etc.;
- API integration. It's handy if the app can share data with other tools. API enables interaction between apps and devices, delivering data and facilitating connectivity between various programs.
We recommend considering the following popular fintech app features for your solution:
- Chatbots. If a fintech app developer uses AI technologies. They help people get the assistance they need 24/7 and help business owners reduce the burden on employees;
- Electronic signature. If your app's target country uses e-signatures, a big benefit would be connecting the latter to your solution for additional data and transaction security;
- Data visualization. Provide summary reports not only as documents but also as summary tables, visual charts, and graphs;
- Gamification. Increasingly, even banking apps are introducing game elements, through which users themselves share their experience with the app and help attract more customers;
- Automation tools. The fewer company employees are involved in the process, the faster clients receive services, and the influence of the human factor is reduced.
How Much Does It Cost to Build a Fintech App?
We have touched upon the main factors that should be taken into account when making a financial app. Each of them has an impact on the final development cost.
The final budget of the app is influenced by the following factors:
- Set of features;
- Platform choice (App type and OS);
- Complexity;
- Development team rate;
- Legal regulations, and more.
The average hourly fintech app development cost in different countries is as follows:
- US and Canada: $130-150;
- Western Europe: $60-100;
- India and Asia: $30-40;
- Eastern Europe: $45-55.
For example, in America, the final cost will be between $50,000 and $100,000. The most elaborate apps may turn out to be even more expensive.
How to Choose the Right Fintech App Development Companies
When looking for a developer, you need to focus not only on the proposed budget but also on a number of other parameters.
Pricing
Of course, everyone wants to save money. Nevertheless, offering a clearly underpriced proposal, considering the region of the organization, implies many risks.
Perhaps you will work with a small startup agency consisting of real professionals. However, more often than not, a lower-than-average price indicates a high probability of poor quality services, delayed deadlines, or the unscrupulousness of the contractor.
Case Studies and Track Record
Any fintech app development firm is ready to show examples of their finished work. Study examples of solutions close to the one you want to evaluate their design, usability of their interfaces, etc. If possible, download and check their speed, reliability, and convenience to know everything from personal experience. If you do not like how this or that company implements its projects, it's worth looking for another partner to handle your project.
Customer Reviews
Study not only the company's website but also independent customer reviews. You can read them on reputable review/rating websites, review services, and social networks. You can also assess how users feel about apps created by these developers. In some cases, there's a sense to meet with heads of client companies in person to find out all the peculiarities and pitfalls of your potential collaboration.
Response Speed
If your potential contractor does not reply to your initial requests for a long time, this can (and should) be a cause for your concern. Perhaps the provider is not interested in your project at all. Or the team is too busy, which means not only the negotiations but also the development process itself will be delayed. This will definitely result in a loss of revenue since your project launch will be delayed.
Mutual Understanding
To successfully make a fintech app, apart from studying the level of the development agency, you also want to make sure that you have the same values and understand each other clearly.
Talk to the project manager to know who will work on your program. Find out which communication channels will be used, how often you will receive reports, and what approach will be used to implement your project. If your values and priorities do not match, you might want to look for another service provider.
How to Start a Fintech App
Creating an app is only a part of the equation, you also want to make sure it will launch successfully. This is a challenging process, which requires cooperation with you, as a software owner, and promotional specialists.
Legal Issues
If your app does not have at least one of the security certificates or approvals according to the laws of the country, there's no point in launching it - the app stores won't accept such products. And if you still plan to release the product in violation of such laws, you will face heavy fines or even more serious penalties.
Submitting to App Stores
These actions are most often performed by a fintech software developer. The app is checked for compliance with all the rules and regulations. The descriptions and screenshots are created. Then, after the payment is complete, the app is sent to moderators of the store for approval.
Experienced developers know the requirements of each app store and, therefore, tend to comply with them during the development procedure.
Promotion
At this stage, various kinds of work are used:
- Promotion on the company website (essential for existing banks and financial organizations);
- Notification of clients;
- Promotion in the app store(s);
- Promotion in social networks;
- Promotion via contextual ads;
- Offline advertising.
Even at the stage of choosing fintech app development services, you can find a provider that will also help you promote your future app. However, such services are often provided by digital marketing agencies.
Maintenance & Support
When looking for an answer to our main question - how to build a fintech app - basically, we are talking about achieving success. This is where it's important not just to develop and launch the app but also constantly support and update it, identify/fix bugs, etc.
This is why most often the cooperation with your software development firm continues on a permanent basis, even after the implementation of the product. Alas, even the strictest QA testing will not guarantee 100% error-free development and seamless performance of the app. Most often, these are not critical errors, which are usually detected during mass usage and can be quickly fixed via updates. Also, if you plan to effectively scale your app by expanding its functionality, you will need the help of specialists.
Tech support of the app users is very important. Some types of support will be provided by consultants of the financial company while others will require the participation of a technical expert.
As you can see, custom fintech app development is a long and complicated process. However, without such software solutions, it is virtually impossible to succeed in financial services these days.
FAQ
What to know before starting fintech development?
Decide on the type of app you want to get, as well as its functions and features. Study what tools are vital for your potential clients, the legislation of the country, state, region, where your app will work. In other words, find out what permissions and certificates you need to get and what rules to follow for your app's legal status.
How to find a fintech app development firm?
You can explore review websites or contact reputable software development services on social networks. The main thing is to be guided by customer reviews, ratings, portfolios, and personal impressions. If your budget is limited, apply to the regions with low price plans but avoid the cheapest offers.
How long does it take to develop a fintech app?
Fintech application development is a complicated and time-consuming process. It can take from 4-5 months (for simple solutions) to 8-12 months (complex projects), sometimes even longer. To increase the speed of development, the agency must first create an MVP version. The functionality can then be extended and improved on the basis of users' feedback.
How much does it cost to launch a fintech app?
The cost of fintech depends on many factors - starting from the complexity of the project itself and ending with law specifics of the country where the app will run. If we talk about the U.S., on average, it will cost from $50,000 to $100,000. In individual cases, though, the development process and the launch of a fintech app will cost much more.
