How to build a successful FinTech application in 2023
Chase, a major American bank, has discovered that 80% of its clients favor handling their finances via smartphones rather than physically visiting a bank. With the continued digitization of the world, novel avenues are arising to improve revenue within the financial industry.
Nevertheless, creating a thriving FinTech app needs meticulous planning, strategic deliberation, & a track record in creating payment products. This article delves into the pivotal attributes of payment apps & suggests an extensive roadmap for crafting a triumphant FinTech application.
Expansion of the FinTech Industry: Noteworthy Growth
The global FinTech sector has undergone great expansion, & the next statistics vividly portray its substantial evolution:
As indicated by the Deloitte report, the revenue of the global FinTech industry has almost doubled since 2017. In 2017, the FinTech industry’s worldwide revenue stood at about $90.5 billion. This figure has surged by more than 100% since that time.
Among the sectors, digital commerce takes the lead with a projected total transaction value of $6.03 billion in 2023. According to Statista, the global transaction value for digital payments is poised to exceed $8 trillion by 2024. This underscores the escalating reliance on digital payment solutions.
These statistics vividly highlight the vigorous growth and immense prospects within the FinTech realm. The surge is fueled by technological advancements, evolving customer preferences, & a shift toward digital financial services.
Catalysts Driving the Surge in the Digital Payments Market
The digital payments market is experiencing a great surge, propelled by several compelling dynamics.
Foremost, the unparalleled convenience & swiftness of digital payments have elevated them to the preferred mode of payment, especially among the digitally adept younger generation. The capability to perform swift, hassle-free transactions has greatly reshaped client behaviors & expectations.
Additionally, the escalating digitization of businesses has spurred a need for streamlined, cost-efficient digital payment solutions. Enterprises across scales identify the merits of optimized transactions, diminished administrative overhead, & improved cash flow that digital payments facilitate.
Moreover, the exponential rise of e-commerce & virtual marketplaces has made an urgent necessity for secure, seamless payment systems. Both clients & businesses need dependable solutions that facilitate frictionless cross-border transactions & align with the global nature of modern commerce.
As these driving forces continue to sculpt the digital payments panorama, a sustained growth trajectory is anticipated. This growth will be coupled with innovations that revolutionize how modern transactions & financial interactions unfold.
Essential Elements of a Fintech Mobile Application
The cost of developing a financial app hinges on a multitude of factors, including the array of elements it encompasses. Before launching on fintech application development, it is imperative to dissect the basic functionalities:
Secure Authentication
Authorization stands as a pivotal facet in any fintech application. The inception of an application necessitates a streamlined yet highly secure registration process. Infuse layers of security with two-factor authentication, integration of facial, fingerprint, or voice recognition, unique code generation, & instant email alerts upon consumer login.
Core Financial Operations
Tailor your fintech app development to your sector’s requirements. Features encompass account management, balance checking, fund transfers, ticket purchases, recurring payments, & more.
QR Code & Scanning
A user-friendly innovation, QR code, & scanning functionality eliminates the need for manual card entry. Consumers simply scan QR codes through their smartphone cameras, obtaining notifications for confirmation. This improves client experience, affording a competitive edge.
Notifications
At the forefront of fintech application design & development, notifications serve as a direct communication channel. These customizable messages relay finance news, bill payments, transactions, fraud alerts, & more, improving consumer engagement.
Data Analytics
Empower consumers with efficient tracking of their financial undertakings. Transaction histories, savings goals, financial tracking, & report generation facilitate announced financial management.
AI-Powered Chatbot
Incorporating AI chatbots is quintessential. These virtual helpers bolster client service, resolving queries autonomously. This decreases the need for comprehensive human intervention, providing round-the-clock assistance.
Integrations
API integrations expand application functionality. Seamless incorporation with different applications introduces features like mobile payments, geolocation for finding ATMs, asset management, & more. Integrating payment services like Stripe or PayPal broadens global purchasing abilities, augmenting income streams.
These fundamentals constitute the MVP version of a mobile financial application, providing seamless functionality & catering to primary user requirements. The next step entails exploring the imperative techs requisite for fintech application development.
Essential Techs for Mobile Fintech Application Development
The selection of relevant techs holds paramount significance in the successful development of a fintech application. The chosen technology stack profoundly affects scalability, application maintainability, development timelines, & overall cost. Below, we delve into three prevalent fintech application development processes & the corresponding techs pertinent to crafting a fintech mobile application:
Native Application Development:
Ideal for platform-specific applications (Android or iOS), native application development entails using platform-specific techs & tools. If your goal is to make a native application, consider the following mobile application tech stack:
- For iOS: Xcode (IDE), Swift or Objective-C (programming languages), UIKit (UI framework).
- For Android: Java or Kotlin (programming languages), Android SDK (software development kit), Android Studio (IDE).
Web Application Development:
Web application development entails preparing apps that operate through remote servers & run across mobile and desktop devices. This method transcends application stores, suggesting versatility. In your quest for fintech application development, web application development emerges as an appropriate choice.
Hybrid Application Development:
Hybrid application development amalgamates native & web features. The application’s core is created utilizing web techs, enveloped in a native container. Hybrid applications operate akin to websites but harness the fintech application abilities of mobile devices. Below is the required technology stack for constructing a hybrid fintech application:
- Flutter or React Native (frameworks for hybrid application development).
- HTML, CSS, JavaScript (web techs for core application development).
Backend Development:
Backend development, often imperceptible to consumers, forms the server side of fintech application development. It facilitates communication between your app, website, & storage of data. Backend development is necessary for payment processing, data synchronization across devices, user data access, data preservation, & notifications.
A plethora of techs & tools exist for fintech application development. To make the apt choice, factors such as application type, scalability, time-to-market, & security must be meticulously evaluated. Speaking of security, it is imperative to transition into the realm of legal compliance.
Remember, legal compliance is a cornerstone in the fintech application arena, underpinning consumer trust & regulatory adherence.
Top 8 Steps to Develop a Fintech Application: From Idea to Reality
If you are intrigued about the process of fintech development service, permit us to guide you via the journey of developing a simple fintech application. Imagine you are making a rental management application, crafted to facilitate credit score checks for potential tenants, handle leasing security deposits, manage escrow placement, & oversee lease contract releases for eligible customers. This application also streamlines the tenant contract renewal process, suggesting a win-win scenario for both applicants & landlords, epitomizing the essence of fintech. At first, there is a need for Project Discovery Phase.
The project’s discovery phase constitutes a key process for collecting fundamental info, & fostering a profound understanding of the industry, the customer’s enterprise, & the intended audience. Its core aim is to compile an exhaustive dossier of requisites & assemble a reliable document to furnish the client with an exact quotation. This phase stands as the bedrock for delineating & strategizing the project, providing the delivery of a sophisticated bespoke software solution. Underestimating the importance of the discovery phase could impede the progression of pioneering fintech application development.
To bring this concept to life, several functions must be incorporated:
User Authentication with Encryption
Implement robust security for user authentication via encryption strategies, providing data integrity & privacy.
Secure Hosting with Failover Redundancy
Provide a resilient & secure hosting infrastructure, leveraging cloud-based solutions with multiple failover mechanisms.
Credit Score Checking
Integrate APIs like Experian, ACS, or Universal Credit Services to fetch comprehensive credit scores & reports from relevant credit bureaus.
Access to Banking Data & Escrow
Use platforms like Plaid to connect with consumers’ bank accounts, allowing real-time transfers to escrow accounts for seamless financial operations.
Payment Gateway Setup
Incorporate payment gateway solutions such as Stripe to process payments efficiently, while adhering to security & compliance standards.
Chat Integration with Artificial Inteligant
Deploy chatbots powered by natural language processing & machine learning, suggesting automated client service & handling complex tasks.
Additional Plugins for Enhanced Functionality
Leverage APIs like Intuit for financial management or D3.js for data visualization, improving the application’s features & user experience.
Legal Compliance & Data Security
Understand the legal implications of accessing sensitive financial data. Develop data privacy policies, secure insurance coverage, & establish disaster recovery & continuity plans to safeguard user trust & data integrity.
Keep in mind, that the journey goes beyond merely suggesting a service; you are entrusted with safeguarding consumers’ financial well-being. By adhering to these steps & extra precautions, you will foster a sense of reliability, improving both consumer trust & the application’s credibility.
Legal Compliance for Fintech Applications
If you’re launching on fintech application development, a vital stride is understanding & adhering to local legal stipulations. The Onix team boasts comprehensive expertise in fintech development & is well-versed in guiding your application to meet the legal requirements stipulated by the local policies it will operate. Let’s delve into the array of regulations & governing bodies across various fintech markets that demand your attention.
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stands as a cornerstone of EU law, providing the secure processing of customer data & overseeing critical data transfers beyond the bounds of EU & EEA territories.
- Anti-money laundering (AML) laws, enshrined in US legislation, counteract illicit endeavors to acquire funds via money laundering, securities fraud, terrorist financing, & related activities.
- The Fintech Action Plan (FAP) establishes universal protocols to bolster the cybersecurity of the financial realm while fostering the assimilation of novel techs within the financial sector.
- The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) safeguards secure electronic money transfers via ATMs, debit & credit cards, & smartphones.
- The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) acts as a bulwark against fraudulent & deceptive practices within the marketplace.
- The Electronic Identification & Trust Services (eIDAS) framework governs the domain of electronic identification & trust services for both individuals & businesses.
- The Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), a governmental body, vigilantly guards against market manipulation & exercises regulatory authority over the securities markets to shield investors.
- The Payment Services Directive (PSD) issued by the European Union (EU) is crafted to regulate payment service providers & payment services across the expansive domain of the EU & the EEA.
As you chart the course of fintech application development, it’s paramount to ascertain the exact requisites applicable to your country, thus providing that your product stays impeccably aligned with the realms of legality.
Undoubtedly, the legal landscape is an integral facet in your quest to realize a fintech application. With these legal considerations in mind, and having navigated via the technical intricacies, we can now proceed to delve into the estimations of the cost to construct your fintech application.
The Cost of Fintech Application Development
The financial outlay for creating your application hinges entirely upon the scope of envisioned features, the choice between a mobile web or mobile application, & whether blockchain development will be involved. The extent of integration needed also plays a key role, impacting both the development timeline & the projected cost.
At Stfalcon, we have engaged in the creation of fintech applications with costs ranging up to $100,000, encompassing comprehensive Android & iOS platforms from inception to completion. However, we have also crafted ingenious MVPs tailored to exact requirements.
Our recommendation consistently emphasizes commencing with the building of a prototype. This practice not only validates your application concept before proceeding to full-fledged development but also lets the replacement of certain features based on real client feedback garnered from the prototype’s utilization. This method empowers you to gain control over the development budget & strategic decisions.
Our Experience
SDK for a cryptocurrency wallet
The assignment given to Stfalcon.com involved the development of an SDK for both iOS & Android mobile platforms, using Kotlin Multiplatform, tailored for a crypto wallet. Among the objectives was the amalgamation of business logic while employing a unified code base across diverse platforms. To accomplish this, we harnessed the power of Kotlin Multiplatform tech. Read the full case study
This innovative method allowed us to leverage identical business models, processes, queries, internal data handling, & encryption mechanisms across all designated platforms.
Credit Agricole
Our team was entrusted with the duty of crafting an interface design for Credit Agricole’s payment kiosks. The prior objective of these kiosks is to streamline bank office operations by decreasing queues & lightening the workload for cashiers. Therefore, the kiosk interface must be created for effortless operation, catering even to consumers with minimal technological familiarity. Read the full case study
In Summary
Here’s a concise overview of what you should take into account as you launch your finance application development journey. The most important to validate your fintech concept, & a product discovery stage serves this purpose well. For example, at Stfalcon — a fintech application development company, we undertake this phase to guarantee the viability of our customer’s product ideas, gauge project complexity for cost assessment, & identify potential risks. This phase allows both you & your development team to streamline the product development process & maintain alignment with all stakeholders.
Security is of utmost importance, especially in the fintech sector, where sensitive consumer data is involved. If you’re interested in making a secure fintech application, contact us, a complimentary consultation is available.
Originally published at https://stfalcon.com.
