Case Study — Creating a pre-dicounted fintech application
User App:
Fintech is a massive sector with numerous verticals and business models that are constantly changing and convergent. The most well-known and in-demand online services that have replaced the slow and rigid banks of the pre-digital era are online payments and money transfers. The use of contactless payments and QR code payments is growing exponentially.
# Problem Statement: Despite having a sizable user base today, digital payment apps do not always provide customers with satisfactory returns.
# Challenges: Even the best fintech concepts can be derailed by endless laws, competitive markets, dangerous new technologies, and an unfamiliar industry. Challenges include:
1. Identifying a gap in the market(finding a great and unique idea to hedge on)
2. Picking the correct tech stack(figuring out how to flesh your idea)
3. Planning different complexities for the app(Identifying the potential problems your app can solve)
4. Designing great User Experience(simplifying complex financial processes and terms)
5. Protecting sensitive user data(should comply with major data protection regulations and standards)
Fortunately, there are no impassable mountains in the fintech world. So even though they will require your abilities, persistence, and hard work, it is feasible to overcome these obstacles.
# Solution: By proactively encouraging consumers to take advantage of pre-discounted offerings, businesses can encourage clients to close more profitable deals and increase their profit margin. Additional bounties in the form of reward coins will help keep users on the platform.
# Product vision:
“Genius mixed with goodness and growth.”
Seeking to be the top online payment service provider, offering benefits on payments at local businesses such as grocery stores, salons, etc. by paying less on the bill for the service and increasing revenues for both businesses and customers.
The value of each transaction and the ease with which digital payments are accepted in each category of businesses could be used to classify them.
# Product Strategy: A prospect, localized business which aims to convert potential customer to current customer.
-Short term goal: The app’s short-term objective is to increase client confidence by assuring them of no payment fraud or danger and of discounts that are always assured. To assess the efficiency of our transactions, we first employed a single connector (Paytm) gateway.
-Non consumable subscription Model: The app uses a non-consumable subscription model and offers access to payment savings for a set period of time. The user must buy a new membership after the current one expires in order to continue having access because it does not automatically renew.
# MVP(Minimum Viable Product): Defined the main values and user stories that would make up the fundamental functional scope of the first release. Kept it lean and avoided letting the scope grow and add needless delays. On the basis of consumer feedback, A/B testing, and changing vision for the product, we would later be able to increase the functionality of the app.
1. User Registration:
User verifies itself with mobile number followed by OTP verification -> Enter personal information -> Navigate to the dashboard -> And the registration is done!!
2. Subscription:
Registration for green card membership:
Select suitable subscription plan(monthly/quarterly/annually) -> Directed to payment gateway(Paytm) -> Becomes a green card member after successful payment.!!
Refer your friends and earn rewards..
3. In-Shop payment:
-Turn on the GPS to view nearby shops -> View the lost of nearby shops with detail page -> Proceed to make payment in that shop and view the desired discounts applicable -> Transfer money with webview Payment integration -> Receive the payment response (success/failure/processing) -> Payment is done..!!.
-Scan the in shop QR code -> View the desired discounts the shop shall offer for the desired payment range -> Direct to the Payment Gateway -> Get the confirmation on the payment(failed/processing/success) -> Payment Done/Rewards earned..!!
# Feature list:
1. Fast self-registration
2. Payments through contactless technology
3. In shop payments with rewards
4. Success registration of green card membership
5. Management of reward coins
# Feature Prioritization:
The early implementation of numerous consumer features can result in a perplexed user experience, which hinders the mobile app’s ability to serve its intended goal.
Since customers are consistently paying a price, they would anticipate that we would constantly add new features or material to the app.
We used prioritisation method known as the MosCoW Matrix. The method aids in work prioritisation when a development team has other constraints besides just a restricted amount of time.
The acronym MoSCoW represents four categories of initiatives: must-have, should-have, could-have, and won’t-have, or will not have right now.
-Must-have : OTP verification for authentication, User details, Green card membership to avail benefits on payments, GPS permission for identifying nearby shops, Efficient payment gateway and confirmation on API response.
-Should-have: About, User agreement, FAQ, Rewards coins earned.
-Could have: Top sellers(shops) of the week, Self UPI Payment gateway.
-Will not have(this time): Shop promotional banners, Shop Advertisements using Whatsapp, Phone messaging.
Approach: Our top aim was not to add features to the app just because they are cool. It was intended to address the issue of gaining users’ trust by providing pre-discounted payments on each transaction.
#How would we achieve this?
> Providing variety in options for nearby shops by detecting the location of the user.
> Observing Consumer behaviour: User segmentation, Purchasing behaviour(using scanner or direct money transfer) etc.
> Research on Emerging market and technologies that can accommodate customers.
> Developing a database of potential customers and then systematically communicate with them by customer service management or FAQ.
> Beholding the success in receipt of every payment made.
Subscription model:
It is the most well-known design for everyone who has ever used an internet service or mobile application of any kind. In most cases, users are given a trial period of between a few days and a few weeks to examine the features and determine whether they are relevant to their needs. When that runs out, consumers are then periodically charged for the specified subscription’s price (weekly, monthly or yearly).
It has added bonus of being even more predictable and generate reliable income, thereby offering discounts for longer subscription periods.
The benefit of knowing that at least a portion of your user base will be paying you for the next 6 or 12 months overrides any money lost through the discounted rate.
UPI vs Wallet payment:
# UPI transaction is a direct bank to bank transfer whereas digital wallets act like intermediaries between bank accounts.
# UPI transactions occurs between any two banks whereas digital wallets transactions happen between two accounts in the same digital wallet app.
# UPI allows future transactions while digital wallets are for instant transactions.
# The UPI platform has witnessed a leap in adoption at a phenomenal growth rate as a payments product across the country.
With substantial increase in adoption of UPI payment by users, we aimed to provide UPI payment benefit to the user in near future with our own secure UPI platform.
# Customer service insights:
-Demographics: Google Pay ranks as the most popular online payment app, with 38% of users, followed by Amazon Pay (37%), Paytm (36%), and Freecharge (32%). Male consumers favour Amazon Pay, Paytm, and Google Pay while female users favour Google Pay.
-In-Market Behaviour: Given their enormous size and expanding earning (and inheritance) potential, millennials are actually the primary intended target of consumer-focused fintech. Because elder consumers don't solve their issues, fintech doesn’t offer anything to offer them.
The Covid-19 outbreak accelerated the growth and adoption of online transactions in India, despite the country’s digital payments business having had outstanding growth since demonetisation in 2016. Users switched to using net banking and other digital payment methods during the pandemic to purchase products like groceries, retail, medical supplies, and educational materials. The country anticipates a seven-fold increase in UPI transaction volume by 2025.
-Market Reasearch:
Source: NPCI.org
- P2P — These are the transactions done from person to person i.e. Peer to Peer Payments.
- P2M — These are the transactions done by a customer to a merchant i.e. Peer to Merchant Payments
Low MDR (Merchant Discount Rate: fee paid by the merchants to the banks for processing each card payment) mobile P2M payments are quickly becoming the preferred method of payment in this expanding market.
Interoperable QR-codes have gained popularity among small and medium-sized businesses as a low-cost acceptance option, which has accelerated merchant adoption.
# Value proposition:
1. Pre-discounted cashless transactions
2. Green card membership with reward points for further discounts and benefits
3. Non green card members will not get discounts on reward points but can earn them.
# Tech-stack:
- The app was made compatible with both Android and iOS device.
- UI/UX Tool: Figma design tool for wireframing the prototype.
- Software: XCode IDE and SwiftUI programming language with Combine framework for iOS application and Java programming for Android application.
- Backend Services: Firebase for storing the user data, user notifications, FCM, OTP verification.
- Payment gateway: Paytm(used for initial phase for testing the app performance) gateway with webview integration for reading the payment api response.
Key points that might effect the business:
- Business Decline (BD) — Transaction decline can be due to
-Customer entering an invalid pin
-Incorrect beneficiary account
-Exceeding per transaction limit
-Exceeding permitted count of transactions per day
-Exceeding amount limit for the day etc.
Such declines which is not because of a technical reason of the bank or NPCI is termed as business Decline.
2. Technical Decline (TD) — Transaction decline due to technical reasons
-Unavailability of systems
-Network issues on bank or NPCI side.
-PSP — Payment Service Provider(Paytm in our case)
# KPI (Key Performance Indicator):
FinTech is a very diversified industry with many different sub-sectors. Digital payments, financial inclusion and other essential categories are included in the broad spectrum of fintech. The benchmark and Key Performance Indicators vary depending on the segment (KPIs).
- ARPU(Average Revenue Per User):
For the startup to grow in revenue over time, each user should be contributing more in monetary value.
The method to calculate ARPU involves two variables- the total revenue (in the preferred unit of time) and the total number of customers. If we consider a monthly period, then the formula is:
ARPU = Total revenue generated in a month / Total number of customers - Average Time Per User
Tracking engagement metrics and seeing the users interaction with their mobile based platform.
This measures the time from the start of the session, when the individual comes on the application, to the time they exit the session or remains inactive for a predetermined period. Depending on the type of content on your platforms, the average duration varies. - Customer Retention Rate:
It shows how well we have fulfilled the customers needs and if the service quality was satisfactory. Research says a 5% increase in the customer retention rate can boost revenue upto 95%.
The customer retention rate can be calculated in the following way:
Retention Rate = (Customers at the end of a period — New customers added / Customers at the start of the period) x 100 - Cost of Customer Acquisition (COCA)
Getting a new customer on board is termed as the cost of customer acquisition.
Cost of Customer Acquisition = Total marketing and sales expenses / Number of customers acquired
Unit economics must be tracked consistently because that is where profitability arises. - Burn Rate: Since resources are scarce, burning through money quickly can be a big problem. Spending and costs should not go unchecked.
Burn Rate = Total cash inflow in a period — Total cash outflow in a period
A positive burn rate means that you have spent more than what you earned, while a negative burn rate implies that earnings were more than the spending.
# My responsibility:
Following the STAR methodology:
Situation: A simple and user-centric payment based application with subtle design interface had to be developed that could stand out with innovation and inclusivity. As a lead developer to a short staffed team of 3 ios developers, I was supposed to develop the desired fintech app for iOS platform in a short span of time.
Task: I divided the tasks in the first level and second-level priority keeping in mind the urgency, time it will consume with desired software, code reusability and the shipshape quality of work.
Action:
- Provided the Product Requirements Document (PRD) and test plans for the product to be built.
- Carried out market research to identify the audience, competitors and economic challenges.
- Set an agile architectural vision, technical strategy and defined development methodology for the project.
- Held regular team meetings to discuss the progress and addressed the blockers faced by the team members.
Result: The prototype was ready to be launched and I aimed to get the market feedback about Product Breadth, Product Awareness, Efficiency, Frequency of Use (How frequently does the user return) ,Customer Satisfaction metrics for further development.
Qualities I possess as a developer come Aspiring Product Manager:
- Technical expertise in iOS development(Swift, SwiftUI).
- Maintain an end user focus with emphasis on customer feedbacks.
- Self starter and self learner.
- Follows strict delivery timelines and efficient task management.
- Good team player who is a good listener and focusses on employee strengths.
- Great leadership quality of doing work with integrity, hardworking, perseverant, with ability to communicate the job to peers with clarity.
- ‘Never say die’ attitude.
# Conclusion: Creating a ground-breaking financial app is now more feasible with the appropriate concept and the aid of a capable technological partner. The fintech market is expanding at a previously unheard-of rate, and the process is speeding up as more customers choose essentially digital neobanks, online insurance providers, clever budgeting software, electronic wallets, and online trading platforms.
Check out the key code highlights of this app in the below link. It shows my approach to implement the QR code generation and scanning code techniques etc, I followed in the project.
Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn…
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