The Secret of Creating a Successful FinTech App

Developing a mobile app has always been a challenging task for all the domains, however, complexities intensify even more in case of developing the financial apps. While you need to provide the essential features, which your users are looking for, you also need to suffice the basic features like responsive yet seamless UI-UX, cybersecurity measures, and a few offline features, etc. Creating a mobile app is the first step towards digitalization as well as to get transformed into a Fintech. Hence it is equally significant for companies too. Developers need to keep certain points in mind while developing a financial app.

Let’s take a look at the few significant ones.

Safety Must Not Get Sidelined.

1. The word ‘security’ strikes first in our minds, whenever we get ourselves involved in any financial transaction either online or offline. Any compromise in security can have disastrous consequences. As a developer, secure your app from the very beginning through a security code.
2. Add multi-factor authentication like biometrics, fingerprints, and one-time password on the registered number, etc., with strong password protection.
3. Users can be well informed against unauthorized transactions with real-time notifications of transactions either through messages or emails.
4. Ensure security of APIs twice and apply a transport layer security (TLS). Activate automatic logouts after a certain duration of inactivity.
5. Use a secure sockets layer (SSL) for the interactions between app and servers. Avoid storing sensitive data on the mobile devices of users.
6. Properly ensure the mechanisms of obfuscation, minification, containerization, API encryption, and make sure the app is duly tested. Deploy AI and machine learning for analyzing transaction behavior and abnormal account activities.

Embrace The Competition With Differentiation.

1. The finance industry has become extensively competitive these days with thousands of companies fighting for its market share. In such a scenario, apart from providing the known features, you need to provide something more valuable to users. Probably, powerful features which haven’t been introduced by your competitors yet.
2. If you want your app to stand-out, you need to ascertain and adopt the emerging technologies with an attempt to revolutionize the user experience. Even a single outstanding feature can give you a superior competitive advantage.
3. You can involve features, which can help the users in setting a specific budget, help in money management, expense locator, advice on investment, tax calculation by automatically collecting all the necessary data, geofencing and so on.
4. Turn on the auto-filling feature to reduce unnecessary typing, taps, and swipes. Minimize the clutter to make it more personalized.
5. Gather your clients’ preferences, critically scrutinize their feedbacks and update the app regularly to make it a highly functional app.
6. The app features need to be synced with real-time customer support services, otherwise, it will be like an aversion to the brand altogether.

A Perfect Blend Of Online And Offline Features.

1. As a part of digital strategy, financial organizations are adopting a hybrid structure lately. Along with all the online features, features which can be accessed offline are acting as an added advantage.
2. Fintech apps take the pace of digitalization to a whole new level by making everything online. Allowing depositing cheques through clicking a picture, users can update their documents online for KYC, and so on.
3. Developing an app which works offline too is a bit of a critical task. As ultimately it calls for more data storage directly on your users’ phone, which can put security at stake and make it vulnerable to threats.
4. With offline features, users can use your app even when the network is poor. It a great tool for your users’ residing in rural areas, and transactions can be done more speedily.

Dynamism And Assistance.

1. We have various platforms today like iOS, Android, and Windows, etc. The users of these platforms have different expectations from the same app. This is the main reason behind the idea, why your app should not be platform specific.
2. You can resort to cross-platform application development tools like PhoneGap, Appcelerator, and RhoMobile suit, etc.
3. Your users might come across certain issues or encounter problems while making transactions, as financial transactions are more critical and worrisome among all. Customer care department needs to be equally robust and swift for solving user queries and issues by equally focusing on delivering quality solutions.
4. Automated assistance with minimalist efforts is a buzzing topic doing round among the financial startups and smaller companies.

Testing Always Occupies An Important Position.

1. Fintech apps require more rigorous and continuous testing compared to other apps. All the efforts should be directed towards the assurance of data privacy and security.
2. Such apps have to simultaneously support all the users, integrate with various third parties, maintain a huge database, and perform a wide range of functions. Hence there should be no room for any error or undiscovered bugs.
3. Developers and testers need to jointly integrate their efforts in order to make sure no test phase has been skipped in the entire underlying process. There should be no glitches in the communication mechanism.
4. In a nutshell, testing plays a significant role in enhancing the overall essence of a fintech mobile app.

(Read more about how software testing practices have evolved in the era of IoT, The ever-evolving software testing practices in the Internet of Things (IoT) driven world)

Finally, a Step Ahead Of Malicious Intents.

1. You need to stay agile, resilient and be quick towards technology adoption i.e., artificial intelligence, blockchain, cloud computing, and augmented reality, to enhance your app functionality.
2. Thousands of security breaches take place every day. Hackers are getting lured towards financial apps as they cumulatively share around gazillion terabytes of confidential data.
3. Nefarious users with sophisticated attempts are eagerly trying to find loopholes in the emerging technologies and using them for malpractices.
4. Apps should be prepared as per the industry standards. Its features can at least withstand intrusion and obsolescence for some time without a single updation.
5. Millennials prefer to indulge in apps for banking, investments, mutual funds, insurance, stocks, credit rather than making transactions through the traditional setup. Effectively deploying chatbots and messenger bots in an app can be an added advantage for them.

The financial apps have certainly occupied an important position in our day to day lives. It is not due to the hype regarding the mobile-first approach or waves of digitalization but because of the comfort, swiftness and smooth user experience which they provide anytime, anywhere. Financial app developers need to keep their users’ requirements and expectations on the top priority. After all, what’s the goal of creating an app no one’s interested in?

The fintech app hence needs to be both functional as well as competitive. Top management of companies has realized how important it is to have their own mobile app. CEOs are strategically getting involved in this subject matter. In this digitalized world, an ideal combination of design, simplicity, and speed can make your fintech app outshine and outperform over your peers. A flawless app will strengthen your relationship with the customers, enhance their loyalty, cultivate trust, and amplify brand equity.

Still curious to know more about creating an outstanding fintech mobile app, We, at zymr, are having a niche focus on Fintech and mobile app development. Contact our team today!