September 15, 2023

How to Create a Successful FinTech App in 2023

Chase, a prominent American bank, has discovered that 80% of its customers favor handling their finances through smartphones rather than physically visiting a bank. With the ongoing digitization of the world, novel avenues are arising to enhance revenue within the financial industry.

Nevertheless, creating a thriving FinTech app requires meticulous planning, strategic deliberation, and a track record in developing payment products. This article delves into the pivotal attributes of payment applications and offers an extensive roadmap for crafting a triumphant FinTech app.

Expansion of the FinTech Industry: Noteworthy Growth

The global FinTech sector has undergone remarkable expansion, and the following statistics vividly portray its substantial evolution:

As indicated by the Deloitte report, the revenue of the global FinTech industry has nearly doubled since 2017. In 2017, the FinTech industry's worldwide revenue stood at approximately $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 consumer preferences, and a shift toward digital financial services.

Catalysts Driving the Surge in the Digital Payments Market

The digital payments market is undergoing a remarkable surge, propelled by several compelling dynamics.

Foremost, the unparalleled convenience and swiftness of digital payments have elevated them to the preferred mode of payment, particularly among the digitally adept younger generation. The ability to execute swift, hassle-free transactions has significantly reshaped consumer behaviors and expectations.

Additionally, the escalating digitization of businesses has spurred a demand for streamlined, cost-efficient digital payment solutions. Enterprises across scales recognize the merits of optimized transactions, diminished administrative overhead, and enhanced cash flow that digital payments facilitate.

Moreover, the exponential rise of e-commerce and virtual marketplaces has created an urgent necessity for secure, seamless payment systems. Both consumers and businesses require dependable solutions that facilitate frictionless cross-border transactions and align with the global nature of contemporary 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 and financial interactions unfold.

Essential Elements of a Fintech Mobile App

The cost of developing a financial app hinges on a multitude of factors, including the array of features it encompasses. Before embarking on fintech app development, it's imperative to dissect the essential functionalities:

Secure Authentication

Authorization stands as a pivotal facet in any fintech app. The inception of an app 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, and instant email alerts upon user login.

Core Financial Operations

Tailor your fintech app development to your sector's needs. Features encompass account management, balance checking, fund transfers, ticket purchases, recurring payments, and more.

QR Code and Scanning

A user-friendly innovation, QR code, and scanning functionality eliminates the need for manual card entry. Users simply scan QR codes via their smartphone cameras, receiving notifications for confirmation. This enhances customer experience, affording a competitive edge.

Notifications

At the forefront of fintech app design and development, notifications serve as a direct communication channel. These customizable messages relay finance news, bill payments, transactions, fraud alerts, and more, enhancing user engagement.

Data Analytics

Empower users with efficient tracking of their financial undertakings. Transaction histories, savings goals, financial tracking, and report generation facilitate informed financial management.

AI-Powered Chatbot

Incorporating AI chatbots is quintessential. These virtual assistants bolster customer service, resolving queries autonomously. This reduces the need for extensive human intervention, ensuring round-the-clock assistance.

Integrations

API integrations expand app functionality. Seamless incorporation with various apps introduces features like mobile payments, geolocation for finding ATMs, asset management, and more. Integrating payment services like Stripe or PayPal broadens global purchasing capabilities, augmenting income streams.

These fundamentals constitute the MVP version of a mobile financial app, ensuring seamless functionality and catering to primary user requirements. The next step entails exploring the imperative technologies requisite for fintech app development.

Essential Technologies for Mobile Fintech App Development

The selection of appropriate technologies holds paramount importance in the successful development of a fintech app. The chosen tech stack profoundly impacts scalability, app maintainability, development timelines, and overall cost. Below, we delve into three prevalent fintech app development approaches and the corresponding technologies pertinent to crafting a fintech mobile app:

Native App Development:

Ideal for platform-specific apps (iOS or Android), native app development entails utilizing platform-specific technologies and tools. If your goal is to create a native app, consider the following mobile app technology stack:

• For iOS: Swift or Objective-C (programming languages), Xcode (IDE), UIKit (UI framework).
• For Android: Java or Kotlin (programming languages), Android Studio (IDE), Android SDK (software development kit).

Web App Development:

Web app development entails crafting applications that operate via remote servers and run across mobile and desktop devices. This approach transcends app stores, offering versatility. In your quest for fintech app development, web app development emerges as a suitable choice.

Hybrid App Development:

Hybrid app development amalgamates native and web features. The app's core is built using web technologies, enveloped in a native container. Hybrid apps operate akin to websites but harness the fintech app capabilities of mobile devices. Below is the required tech stack for constructing a hybrid fintech app:

• React Native or Flutter (frameworks for hybrid app development).
• HTML, CSS, JavaScript (web technologies for core app development).

Backend Development:

Backend development, often imperceptible to users, forms the server side of fintech app development. It facilitates communication between your application, website, and storage of data. Backend development is crucial for payment processing, data synchronization across devices, user data access, data preservation, and notifications.

A plethora of technologies and tools exist for fintech app development. To make the apt choice, factors such as app type, scalability, time-to-market, and security must be meticulously evaluated. Speaking of security, it's imperative to transition into the realm of legal compliance.

Remember, legal compliance is a cornerstone in the fintech app arena, underpinning user trust and regulatory adherence.

8 Steps to Develop a Fintech App: From Idea to Reality

If you're intrigued about the process of fintech development service, allow us to guide you through the journey of developing a simple fintech app. Imagine you're creating a rental management app, designed to facilitate credit score checks for potential tenants, handle leasing security deposits, manage escrow placement, and oversee lease contract releases for eligible clients. This app also streamlines the tenant contract renewal process, offering a win-win scenario for both applicants and landlords, epitomizing the essence of fintech. At first, there is a need for Project Discovery Phase.

The project's discovery phase constitutes a pivotal process for gathering essential information, and fostering a profound comprehension of the industry, the client's enterprise, and the intended audience. Its core aim is to compile an exhaustive dossier of requisites and assemble a dedicated document to furnish the customer with an accurate quotation. This phase stands as the bedrock for delineating and strategizing the project, ensuring the delivery of a sophisticated bespoke software solution. Underestimating the significance of the discovery phase could impede the progression of pioneering fintech app development.

To bring this concept to life, several functions must be incorporated:

User Authentication with Encryption

Implement robust security for user authentication through encryption methods, ensuring data integrity and privacy.

Secure Hosting with Failover Redundancy

Ensure a resilient and 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 and reports from relevant credit bureaus.

Access to Banking Data and Escrow

Utilize platforms like Plaid to connect with users' bank accounts, enabling 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 and compliance standards.

Chat Integration with AI

Deploy chatbots powered by natural language processing and machine learning, offering automated customer service and handling complex tasks.

Additional Plugins for Enhanced Functionality

Leverage APIs like Intuit for financial management or D3.js for data visualization, enhancing the app's features and user experience.

Legal Compliance and Data Security

Understand the legal implications of accessing sensitive financial data. Develop data privacy policies, secure insurance coverage, and establish disaster recovery and continuity plans to safeguard user trust and data integrity.

Remember, the journey goes beyond merely offering a service; you're entrusted with safeguarding users' financial well-being. By adhering to these steps and extra precautions, you'll foster a sense of reliability, enhancing both user trust and the app's credibility.

Legal Compliance for Fintech Apps

If you're embarking on fintech app development, a crucial stride is understanding and adhering to local legal stipulations. The Onix team boasts extensive expertise in fintech development and is well-versed in guiding your app to meet the legal requirements stipulated by the local policies it will operate. Let's delve into the array of regulations and governing bodies across different fintech markets that demand your attention.

• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) stands as a cornerstone of EU law, ensuring the secure processing of client data and overseeing vital data transfers beyond the bounds of EU and EEA territories.
• Anti-money laundering (AML) laws, enshrined in US legislation, counteract illicit endeavors to acquire funds through money laundering, securities fraud, terrorist financing, and related activities.
• The Fintech Action Plan (FAP) establishes universal protocols to bolster the cybersecurity of the financial realm while fostering the assimilation of novel technologies within the financial sector.
• The Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA) safeguards secure electronic money transfers via ATMs, debit and credit cards, and smartphones.
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) acts as a bulwark against fraudulent and deceptive practices within the marketplace.
• The Electronic Identification and Trust Services (eIDAS) framework governs the domain of electronic identification and trust services for both individuals and businesses.
• The Securities And Exchange Commission (SEC), a governmental body, vigilantly guards against market manipulation and exercises regulatory authority over the securities markets to shield investors.
• The Payment Services Directive (PSD) issued by the European Union (EU) is designed to regulate payment service providers and payment services across the expansive domain of the EU and the EEA.

As you chart the course of fintech app development, it's paramount to ascertain the specific requisites applicable to your country, thus ensuring that your product remains impeccably aligned with the realms of legality.

Undoubtedly, the legal landscape is an integral facet in your quest to realize a fintech app. With these legal considerations in mind, and having navigated through the technical intricacies, we can now proceed to delve into the estimations of the cost to construct your fintech app.

The Cost of Fintech App Development

The financial outlay for developing your app hinges entirely upon the scope of envisioned features, the choice between a mobile web or mobile app, and whether blockchain development will be involved. The extent of integration required also plays a pivotal role, influencing both the development timeline and the projected cost.

At Stfalcon, we have engaged in the creation of fintech apps with costs ranging up to $100,000, encompassing comprehensive iOS and Android platforms from inception to completion. However, we have also crafted ingenious MVPs tailored to specific needs.

Our recommendation consistently emphasizes commencing with the construction of a prototype. This practice not only validates your app concept before proceeding to full-fledged development but also permits the replacement of certain features based on real customer feedback garnered from the prototype's utilization. This approach empowers you to gain control over the development budget and strategic decisions.

Our Experience

SDK for a crypto wallet

This innovative approach enabled us to leverage identical business models, processes, queries, internal data handling, and encryption mechanisms across all designated platforms.

Credit Agricole

Bottom Line

Here's a concise overview of what you should take into account as you embark on your finance app development journey. The most important to validate your fintech concept, and a product discovery stage serves this purpose well. For instance, at Stfalcon - a fintech app development company, we undertake this phase to confirm the viability of our client's product ideas, gauge project complexity for cost assessment, and identify potential risks. This phase enables both you and your development team to streamline the product development process and maintain alignment with all stakeholders.

Security is of utmost importance, particularly in the fintech sector, where sensitive user data is involved. If you are interested in creating a secure fintech app, contact us, a complimentary consultation is available.