Mobile banking app development has brought revolutionary change to banking services, as technologies are constantly being upgraded in response to emerging challenges and trends in the market and to meet customer expectations.

If you were waiting for the ideal moment to invest in Fintech app development services, now is it. COVID-19's global impact has created a digital revolution, and today's market is ready and eager to tackle new challenges; tools and resources are easily accessible.

No more will you lose sleep worrying about bank queues - mobile technology business is booming, and banking app developers are enjoying great success with no more queues! People are willing to pay more for convenience - according to PR Newswire, the Global Fintech Market is expected to reach $305 Billion by 2025!

What is a FinTech App?

Fintech mobile applications provide financial services like online banking, investment management, budgeting tools, and digital payments utilizing cutting-edge technology and innovation for individuals and business owners to manage their finances conveniently.

Fintech apps can be accessed via smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices and typically offer features like real-time account balances, transaction history, and financial insights. Their user-friendly interfaces, low fees, and ability to save time and money for users have made them increasingly popular.

Reasons to Create a Fintech App

Now is an opportune moment to develop a fintech app, and here are three compelling arguments why building mobile applications for fintech may be worthwhile before discussing how to do it.

Financial Illiteracy on the Rise

With student loan debt becoming increasingly severe and economic war between nations intensifying, people would become better educated about managing their funds. However, this is far from true. Instead, financial illiteracy has increased.

A 2015 Survey indicated that 57% of American adults were financially illiterate. As evidenced in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority report issued in 2019, this problem is worsening. Some shocking findings from this report included

Financial literacy among Americans has declined from 42% in 2009 to 34% today
Nearly eight out of ten Americans are in some form of debt, while 37% feel overwhelmed by it
55% view personal finances as being the source of anxiety and stress in their lives.
76% of Millennials lack basic financial education
54% are concerned they won't be able to pay back their student loans
Of Americans aged 18 - 26, only 16% reported being optimistic about their financial future

Yet, it is this generation who will soon lead our economy. Add to this the rising distrust in human financial managers; even though they have yet to be fully informed, people want to take control of their finances quickly and learn faster than ever.

You could strike it big if you could develop a fintech app to assist ordinary people in managing their finances without the need to understand all the technical terminology because demand is high for such solutions.

Mobile Phone Penetration

There are currently 5.13 billion unique mobile phone users globally, accounting for 66% of the planet's total population. Ericsson estimates there to be approximately 5.5 billion smartphones in use around the world in 2019.

Apps are at the core of every smartphone experience, and many rely on having access to an internet connection. Therefore, we can safely assume that many smartphone users have internet access. There is an increasing appetite for automation due to mobile solutions for almost everything; people no longer need to visit malls, banks, or libraries directly, as there are apps for that!

Fintech apps still need to catch up to other categories regarding functionality, typically limited to managing bank accounts, making payments, transfers, and budgeting. With just a little creativity, this could become much more efficient - representing an obvious market gap.

Home rental management, in particular, remains predominantly offline. A fintech app solution that integrates tenant screening, rent collection, and other aspects of rental administration could prove highly successful in making home rental management simpler and more effective.

Open Banking

Since ancient civilizations began, people seeking banking services had to travel directly to a bank to access it. Now, banks are taking banking closer to people by going digital - driving open banking as part of this new approach.

Banks recognize the significance of interconnectivity. By incentivizing their data, they remain relevant and valued customers in this digital era. Many have invested millions into APIs, which enable third-party entities to develop value-added banking services such as mobile credit score monitoring, loan processing, real-time capital management, and treasury management - providing value-added banking solutions that improve customers' experience with them.

Open banking makes it possible to quickly build and deploy complex fintech solutions without years of development and certification - you have virtually limitless possibilities to manage financial data yourself directly! The sky's the limit.

Step-By-Step Guide to Construct Your Fintech App

Developing a modern fintech app with an edge over its competition may be challenging. Still, with the step-by-step guide we have put together, building such an application should be a manageable task.

Step 1: Conduct Your Research

Financial software developers must conduct extensive research before beginning development on an app. An initial map needs to be drawn out to define its appearance and the features that it will offer; also, MVP development services must be detailed.

Step 2: Establish Your Budget

Fintech app development costs between $50,000-$300,000. Where your project falls in this staggering range depends heavily upon its type and complexity - hiring an outside development agency with specialist capabilities may prove expensive but often necessary for creating advanced features.

Just consider the potential ramifications of hiring an inexperienced developer to manage your app's security: even one simple mistake can expose users to potential security breaches - and since 65% of consumers rank security as their number-one factor when assessing banks and financial institutions, fintech apps cannot afford to skimp when it comes to security.

Step 3: Form a Team

To build a Fintech mobile app successfully, you need an experienced team. Either hire outsourced facilities or create in-house teams; ensure all members understand the purpose and process behind developing it and are familiar with its basic workings. When building an in-house team, you'll also require experience people in the following niche areas to get it all underway successfully:

UX/UI Designing
Web development (Node.js skills)
Android development (Java skills)
iOS app development (Swift language)
Software testing
DevOps Engineering

Step 4: Establish MVP Scope

Its scope must be clearly established to ensure that your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and overall app meet customer needs. By outlining its requirements, you can more accurately understand which features must be prioritized to meet customer expectations. Follow these steps for this to happen:

Conduct market research regarding your product's field
Have meetings with your development team and identify which features must be in your application
Utilize tools like Prioritization matrix, etc., to highlight specific features

Specific product requirements depend on the nature and purpose of your app, its customers, and how they will use it. These factors will impact a range of details, from the interface's color to the required storage space on user devices. Still, regardless of its form or purpose, most custom finance software solutions must meet certain basic feature and capability criteria such as

data encryption
user authentication
credit score checking
payment integration
AI learning capabilities
dashboards and reports.
Push Notifications

To ensure the best user experience, all features should be laid out. Ensure your basic idea can be realized by seeing if all necessary elements are available to create it, and consider developing versions for both iOS and Android operating systems as soon as possible.

Step 5: Choose Your Tech Stack

There are various languages used for building and designing apps, from Java and Kotlin on Android devices, Objective C for iOS development, or Swift for Apple platforms - you may choose basic technologies (Java/Kotlin on Android phones; Objective C or Swift on iOS platforms) as these typically require two separate app developments at more expense.

There's another approach called Progressive Web App (PWA), although it won't let you use some inbuilt features such as biometry on mobiles.

Before beginning, it is crucial that you carefully consider which technologies and elements will form part of your tech stack to meet all of its responsibilities.

Programming Language: Python and JavaScript are among the two most frequently used programming languages, though JavaScript might be simpler for novice users to navigate. Python offers more complex development capabilities, making it a superior option when developing fintech apps.
Frameworks: Regarding mobile and web development, frameworks will be integral. Ensure they're compatible with your chosen programming language and development skill set before selecting one for use.
Database: Relational and ledger databases are among the most frequently utilized for fintech apps.

Cross-platform app development can help you design an app. In this way, only one codebase needs to be written for iOS and Android - saving up to 60% in cost with this approach.

Your tech stack choice will depend on your skillset and app type. Look at another mobile app development company and competitors as a source for inspiration on which tools might make up an optimal stack for you.

Step 6: APIs for Basic Functionalities

A financial technology app must cover various functions like bill tracking and budgeting. Existing businesses offering these services may already use these basic functionalities; start-ups must develop their own.

No matter your chosen approach to website development, APIs are vital to facilitate seamless navigation across it. REST (Representational State Transfer) APIs offer seamless and effortless access across any website - this should include

Tools like Swagger for recording the API
Postman for testing/development purposes.
When developing APIs, ensure that strong database solutions such as MongoDB or PostgreSQL are being utilized
Ensure all rules and regulations regarding API responses and requests remain intact
Use authentication and data encryption technology for secure APIs.

Step 7: Design User Interface and Experience

Choose vibrant colors for your app, incorporate user-friendly functions, and avoid overloading it with unnecessary features. All essential functions should be available without lengthy searches; read a comprehensive guide for further guidance in UX/UI design.

Step 8: Formulate and Implement a Launch Strategy

Devising a launch timeline before finishing building your app will give you plenty of time to ensure it meets all applicable regulatory standards, and should any issues arise, any needed corrections can be addressed quickly without delaying its launch date.

For instance, to create a personal finance app, you will require a banking license before any app users can make deposits, withdrawals, or transfers through it. Unfortunately, licensing agencies often move slowly, and there's no guarantee you'll receive it; thus, before beginning work toward launch, you should focus on getting the appropriate license(s).

Once the development of your fintech app has concluded, planning a soft launch can set it up for success by allowing you to make improvements that drive product adoption. Soft launches provide an invaluable opportunity to test for bugs, gather data that improves marketing spend, and make enhancements that result in app downloads.

Before officially releasing your app, a beta version must be made available for testing by only local customers or people at work. Feedback from this test group will enable you to spot and address irregularities before the official launch. Once all issues and problems have been addressed successfully, your app should be ready for release!

Step 9: Update Your App

Unlike earlier steps, updating your application is an ongoing process that extends far into the future. With exciting developments occurring constantly within IT, updates should be implemented frequently for an app to remain up-to-date and competitive.

Your fintech app development process shouldn't end once your app has been released; rather, make continuous enhancements and upgrades as you gather valuable feedback. Adopt new technologies and trends as needed. Subsequent support matters, too - providing quick responses and improving customers' problem-solving will yield great benefits in both ways.

Core Fintech App Features

A balance between technology and design is vital when creating financial products, so we have curated some trending features in many fintech apps as a starting point for building them yourself.

Privacy and Security

Security compliance should always be top of mind when creating any fintech app, particularly given that financial sector data breaches have skyrocketed along with rising data leak costs. To meet compliance, your app should integrate strong authentication and authorization systems such as biometric and two-factor authentication to provide maximum protection from hackers; thorough testing, API security, and payment-blocking measures will also help safeguard its safety.

Payment Gateway Integration

Your solution must utilize some form of payment mechanism to enable cashless transactions. There are ready-made payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, or Braintree that enable your app to process transactions securely without the hassle of having a banking license. Bank APIs provide additional financial services without the need for any banking license.

Alerts and Notifications

Push notification is a crucial application feature, enabling businesses to connect directly with customers and inform them about current services. In addition, alerts enable brands to engage users through highly customized content creation, which increases revenues while strengthening customer relationships.

Notifications provide the opportunity to stay informed on transactional updates and security alerts, financial planning tips, and financial planning tips.

Dashboards and Reporting

A great app should welcome users with all important data conveniently organized on one screen, providing a complete understanding of assets, spending, incoming transactions, and reporting features designed with usability.

AI-Powered Chatbots

AI-fueled voice assistants can alleviate customer service agents while mapping user journeys more accurately. Furthermore, in-app chat bots may up-sell or cross-sell financial services to users as they interact with them directly - helping your app stand out from its competition while increasing user engagement and making it memorable!

API integration

Application programming interfaces offer many benefits to both developers and companies alike. These mechanisms enable two software components to share data without needing to build additional features for an app; for instance, users could utilize an API integration mechanism like PayPal payment systems to gain access to their checking account information or make purchases more efficiently.

QR Code and Card Number Scanning

Optical character recognition technology adds another great feature to any app, enabling users to scan credit and debit cards without manually keying. Card number scanning connects customers' payment details with app functionality, encouraging more purchases.

QR codes enable faster payments—scan codes to move money between accounts quickly.

How Much Does Fintech App Development Cost?

The costs associated with fintech app development depend on various factors, including its complexity, features and functional requirements, development platform used, team location, and design process complexity.

Cost estimates for developing a fintech app range from $50,000 to over $500,000. Simple apps with basic features may cost less, while more complex ones with advanced capabilities could incur significantly greater expenses.

Development costs can also depend on the development team's location; North American or European developers may charge higher rates than developers in Asia or other regions.

Remember to consider all costs of creating a fintech app beyond development costs, including ongoing maintenance and updates, marketing, and customer support expenses.

To obtain an accurate cost estimate of fintech app development, we should meet with one of our experienced developers and receive a project proposal outlining the scope, timeline, and costs involved in building an app.

Conclusion

The fintech market is expanding at an unprecedented pace, and this trend appears to accelerate as more consumers opt for inherently digital neobanks, online insurance companies, intelligent budgeting apps, electronic wallets, and online trading platforms supporting both conventional assets and cryptocurrency tokens.

Now is an opportune moment to join the ranks of companies creating mobile apps for fintech and shape the future landscape of an all-digital economy. With an innovative concept and support from an expert technology partner, creating an influential fintech app has never been closer.

Building a fintech app can be an arduous process that involves developing multiple functions and capabilities within an extremely regulated space. FinTech APIs can simplify this process while offering users the best user experience by giving them the tools necessary to build the perfect application.