Digital Banking Platform: A Fintech Software Development Case Study

Published in

RUBICON Stories

6 min readMay 25, 2023

Using state-of-the-art mobile development techniques, the app brings you curated brands and experiences, all while helping manage your spending

“The project was executed with super precision and high quality. The finished product had very few issues to report which the team resolved well in advance, before the release date. The product appeared like an improvement over its iOS version. The team took care of the full Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC), including documentation and release notes for the final release.

The RUBICON staff was self-motivated and result-oriented. The sense of ownership and accountability gives a lot of confidence to the clients. We never had to worry about whether the project could be completed on time.”

- VP & Head of Engineering, Cogni Inc.

Mobile Banking App: The New Frontier in Mobile Development

Mobile banking apps have become the pinnacle of technology innovation, and have taken the industry to a whole new level. The skill of translating complicated banking procedures into simple user-friendly interactions is highly valued, as well as the ability to implement cutting-edge UX/UI design. Having that skillset, we joined forces with a Fintech startup Cogni, to develop an Android application since they already had an iOS version on the market. They intended to offer the product to Android users in the USA, with all compliance and security measures in place. RUBICON stepped in to deliver a world-class app.

Who is Cogni?

Cogni is a leading lifestyle-focused digital banking platform founded in 2018. They give members zero-fee banking, access to 55,000 free ATMs worldwide, single-use cards, and access to discounted gift cards. Cogni also allows users to track carbon emissions on each transaction. This Fintech company is built on a single mission — to provide easy, transparent, and accessible virtual banking and lifestyle services on a single platform.

Cogni’s Journey from iOS to Android

After releasing the iOS app on the market, Cogni wanted to present its app to Android users as well. The idea was to improve the existing iOS app and give our client and their users a native Android experience with upgraded UX. This was a great opportunity to show our expertise, help our client achieve their goal, and launch their app as planned.

The Cogni Android App: A Project Brief

The Problem

As the business operates in the US market, our clients need to ensure that they are in line with their competition and that they offer a secure, compliant, customer-centric, and easy-to-use mobile app which their users trust.

We had an iOS app that was our foundation, and the basic list of requirements. This helped us propose a lean execution with a clear estimate. The next step was establishing a detailed requirements list through continuous communication with the Cogni Business team.

Their industry and customer knowledge combined with our expertise resulted in an efficient and collaborative environment. In a discussion with the client, we agreed that there were going to be two iterations of the project that lead to two separate releases. Our first focus was developing MVP, where we needed to cover all features currently developed on iOS. In the second release, new features were developed on both platforms simultaneously. The project timeline was established and we developed a project plan with clear steps, to achieve our objective and successfully launch the app.

The Solution

The solution involves an Android app that enables users to seamlessly access core online banking features and checking accounts, funds transfers, and P2P payments. In addition, ATM location search, digital cards, transaction history, as well as spending analytics, are part of MVP. On the other hand, digital gift card purchases, carbon footprint, and referrals are part of the second release. Throughout the development process, we took care of the full Secure Software Development Lifecycle (SSDLC) including the documentation.

Project Objectives

Create an Android digital banking app that will enhance financial services through an easy-to-use interface
Secure smooth and timely execution
Follow compliance and security standards and implement SSDLC
Focus on app stability and scalability
Provide effortless and contemporary user experience
Support core virtual banking functionalities and different payment types
Implement features for deposits and ATMs, with a map location overview
Include statistics, spending overview, and monthly reports for trouble-free spending tracking
Implement carbon footprint statistics so that users can track their carbon emission
Enable physical and digital card usage e.g. activating, freezing, etc.
Allow gift card sending and receiving with a glanceable overview of available gift cards
Add detailed transaction overview

The Complexities in the Android App Development Journey

Communicating among various teams in 6 different time zones
Efficient planning while taking into account potential vulnerabilities and risks that may be exploited by end-users
Ensuring a secure environment for users to interact with sensitive data and money transfer
Utilizing biometric single-sign-on, while keeping user interaction simple
Creating an intuitive user interface for the end-users by porting already existing iOS UI to accommodate Google’s Material guidelines
Designing an easily maintainable and scalable architecture
A lot of third-party services integration

Our Approach to Mobile App Development

Before the project started, we decided on the most suitable development process and established a deadline and a clear project plan. Our goal was to stay on track, finish the app development on time, and not compromise on quality. In order to achieve the goals above, we decided to follow the Scrum framework. Work was organized in two-week sprints with all Scrum ceremonies, including refinement, planning, review & demo, daily standup, and retrospective.

Initially, only the UX/UI designer was active on the project. The main idea behind this was to have a lot of the design drafted before the team of developers and PO joined. Since the app was up and running, and the delivered design documents were incomplete, most design works went into taking screenshots of the existing iOS app and then “translating” them into Android design. We used native components wherever possible to facilitate the development.

On quite a few occasions we made UX/UI improvements in the current flow of the app and then delivered them to the iOS team so that they can make the same changes on their end. The design of this project was approximately 2 months ahead of development. This gave the UX/UI designer the opportunity to go back to the design, make cohesive changes, and have fewer regrets.

During the development process, our team required ongoing communication with the other teams within Cogni, such as the backend team and the iOS team. Cogni teams were set in several different time zones, which sometimes posed a challenge in communication, so planning ahead was crucial. All the potential issues were communicated well in advance so that we could course-correct without impacting the planned timeline

Due to the app’s complexity, our team needed to have a strong QA mindset and focus on the SSDLC throughout releases, as it is an essential aspect of mobile banking app development. Research on Fintech and mobile banking apps from a security standpoint was crucial. We utilized OWASP to track security concerns of popular frameworks and libraries and have taken additional steps to ensure app stability like obfuscating the code using R8/ProGuard tools and encrypting the local database using AES-256 key cipher.

The final project team consisted of

Product Owner
Mobile developers
UX/UI designer
QA

The Successful Outcome

At the end of the project, we created an Android app that offered all features required by the client in the designated time frame. Our goal to create a stable, fast, secure, and user-friendly app, was successfully achieved. With the launch of the Android app, Cogni has expanded its user base by making its services accessible to Android users, who make up a significant percentage of the smartphone market. This could consequently increase their competitive edge, market share, and potential for revenue growth.

Technology Stack

Kotlin
-The programming language used for developing the Android part
Android Studio
-IDE used for development
Android SDK
-Set of development tools used to create the Android application
Firebase (Distribution, Crashlyticis, Performance, Cloud Messaging)
-A platform that helps you build and grow an app
Circle CI/CD
-Brings automation to the code
Plaid
-3rd party library
Pinwheel
-3rd party library
Zendesk
-Chatbot, 3rd party library
Fastlane
-Used for simplified app deployment
Twilio Notify
-Allows for real-time notifications