A mobile banking app is a fintech customer service support software that allows a customer to conduct a variety of banking transactions. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to build a mobile banking app.
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| Mobile Banking App |
Banking App Creation: Advantages, Challenges, Functionality to Implement, and More
The FinTech industry is a promising one these days, and mobile banking app building takes not the last place in it. According to Bloomberg, more than 80% of deposits in the Bank of America are performed digitally today. Moreover, the latest research mentions that over 80% of interviewed respondents use mobile devices as the primary method to connect their bank accounts.
This post is prepared for you to consider the fundamentals of banking app building, its benefits, and critical challenges to solve, as well as other necessities.
The Advantages of a Banking App Building
Banking solutions are advantageous both for customers and businesses because of their simplicity in use, security, lower operating costs, and a bunch of other vital benefits that’ll be described below.
Lowering expenses. Because of their accuracy, banking apps can effectively decrease operational risks and human errors, which runs to a lot of money for financial institutions. Furthermore, software solutions for banking reduce costs for staff hiring and maintenance.
Excellent return on investment (ROI). Mobile banking products offer their clients to return assets by making more financial transactions. As a result, people become more engaged.
Improved customer experience. Banking apps give their clients more security and comfort in use. That’s why many businesses appreciating convenience choose solutions for banking.
Supplementary marketing channel. You may use your banking solution to notify consumers about new insurance packages or enhanced credit limits. To connect with users, most applications employ a customized dashboard or push notifications.
The Most Important Development Challenges
The most challenging aspect of building a mobile banking application is ensuring security. Your app should be convenient for users to utilize, and at the same time, compliant with different regulations (such as Europe’s GDPR or California’s CCPA, etc.), requiring highly extensive verifications of user interactions and making businesses less vulnerable to hacker attacks.
It is crucial because many businesses suffer from data leakage caused by malware, and the number of victims just grows. This way, the total profit loss of companies caused by hacker attacks is predicted to be equal to $10.5 trillion annually from 2021 to 2025.
To protect themselves from such a loss, companies have to essentially implement secure back-end architecture, end-to-end encryption, and so on. How do they do it? Let’s consider that in the below example.
A famous British banking solution, Revolut, uses a Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol that encrypts the data, verifies the transferred data integrity, and checks the identity of all parties. As to card info, Revolut saves it following PCI DSS guidelines.
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| TLS-protection in Revolut banking app |
Moreover, biometric login and two-factor authentication (2FA) are must-have security features. Every financial transaction—money transfers, payments, and purchases—should be double-confirmed by the user.
You may also care about integrating:
- Data encryption/double encryption
- App infrastructure resistant to DDoS attacks
- Instant info recovery from unexpected failures
- QR-codes for transactions and payments, etc.
Regulations. When you start creating an app, you should obligatory check your destination country's regulations to follow them in order to make your upcoming software secure and avoid fines for non-compliance.
According to your target country, your app may comply with the following regulations as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Know Your Customer (KYC), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), and so on.
In case you decide to create a Revolut-similar app, it would be better to consult a FinTech software development company that can help you properly build in such a complex app functionality.
The Basic Mobile Banking App Functionality
Before creating a mobile banking solution, you should initially communicate with your target users to learn more about their operational needs and objectives. Then decide on basic features you need to implement at t, but don’t overburden your app with unnecessary ones.
The examples of the primary mobile banking app functionality you have to include are listed below to consider.
Account creation/signing up should be secure. For this purpose, you may integrate a biometric login, two-factor authentification, or just a four-digit password like the Revolut developers did.
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| Signing in feature of Revolut |
Financial transactions. Sending and receiving money should be safe and straightforward since customers reveal a lot of personal information. A biometric verification or a password entering may also help protect users’ data in this case.
Push notifications should help you promote your services to clients by reminding them about events or discounts. They even may spot a fraud if it happens.
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| The Revolut push notifications |
Account management. The more features a banking software has, the easier it should be to operate with, and the UI/UX design is vital in this case.
Your customers may also be provided with bill payment, online user support, and other necessary functionality.
Additional Features For Banking Software
The banking app’s additional functionality may include a currency converter, QR-code scanner, spending trackers, or cashback service. Let’s learn more about some of them.
Smartwatch software. Despite the fact that smartwatches continue to be the most popular wearable device, not all banks provide wearable app building. You may consider it to have a competitive advantage.
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| Banking software sample for smartwatches |
Spending trackers. Developing a banking app, think about incorporating budgeting, saving, and cost-tracking options.
Money converter. Some banking applications include an in-app converter and displaying in-app currency rates. By the way, Revolut became popular by combining multi-currency shopping and money transfers into a single app.
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| The money converter in Revolut |
QR-code scanners enable you to perform quick and safe transactions. You'll need a code to read and a scanner that's integrated into your app.
Where to Start With?
Having chosen to work with an outsourcing IT service provider, you may act upon the following consequence as described below.
Planning and Research as a Cornerstone
Research and planning would be the first step of the building process. It helps you save money in the long run and protects you from unforeseen circumstances. You must do a market analysis, which includes researching your rivals, core audience, and their expectations for a future product, among other things.
Some of the questions you should reply to during this stage performance are:
- Who are your main competitors?
- Who’s your core audience, and where they’re located?
- What banking software is widespread in your target region and why?
UI/UX Design
Most IT companies begin the design creation with low-fidelity wireframes illustrating how the upcoming software may be used by customers. Then, the designers create the app UI screen by screen after gathering your feedback or gaining authorization. After all, graphics, icons, buttons, and other UI elements are applied.
Building an app interface, consider the following tips:
- Your solution should comply with the iOS and Android guidelines.
- The UI components should be comprehensive and clear.
- The palettes, buttons, and typography should match your corporate brand and style.
- The cultural differences should also be thought out if you decide to work with various world regions.
Technology Stack to Use
The technological stack you need (e.g., programming languages, libraries, or APIs) is selected according to project scope, complexity, and scalability. For example, when the task is to make the app secure, the devs choose programming languages like Swift for iOS banking apps and Kotlin for Android ones.
Minimum Viable Product Creation
Minimum Viable Product (MVP) development means integrating only the basic features essential for the app’s proper functioning and gathering feedback from the path-breakers. In other words, it lets you check the solution’s viability before spending large sums of money on its further development.
Releasing and Collecting Feedback
All apps launched in app stores must meet specific guidelines (App Store Review Guidelines for iOS-based solutions and Launch Checklist or Developer Program Policy for Android-based apps). After the app starts being used, you can gather feedback. Once you have it, make a list of the app's weak and strong sides, and discuss with your tech vendor to determine how to improve it.
Wrapping Up
Building mobile banking solutions is a complex thing where many components should be regarded. We’ve enlightened only a few of them in this post. But if you want to know a complete picture, you need to apply to a software development team with profound expertise in creating software products for the banking sphere. The experts will help you build a flawless, modern, and competitive solution.
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