In the last few years, the adoption of the latest tech into the Finance sector has been quite staggering, which has given rise to the term Fintech (financial technology).

The Fintech sector has had a lot of new emerging apps such as Stripe, Ripple, and Opensea. And, they all became multimillion-dollar companies quite rapidly. But, how to build one? 

In this blog, we’re going to discuss all the things you need to know to build a fintech app in detail!

Types of Fintech Apps

1.1 Mobile Banking Applications

Mobile banking apps have seen tremendous growth, with the onset of Gpay. This type of application handles all the functions related to your typical bank. This ranges from carrying out a transaction, watching your savings account over and over, seeing how much money you’ve got and so on. 

Some applications which have made their mark in the Fintech banking sector are Revolut, Gpay, and Monzo

1.2 Budgeting Applications

With the growing number of businesses and startups, there always will be a requirement for budgeting applications.

These apps take care of your money-handling tasks such as managing your big bucks, suggesting investing opportunities, and helping you leave the Matrix!

Most of the apps can also be directly connected to the bank account of the users.

Some budgeting apps you can try out are Mint, YNAB, and Goodbudget.

1.3 Insurance Applications

Currently, every other person has some kind of insurance for themselves, and with the growing demand, business owners have coined the term Insurtech. 

For example, if an individual goes through a car accident, having car insurance will help him recover the damages from the insurance company. 

Some established companies in this field are Coverfox, RenewBuy, and PolicyBazaar. 

1.4 Stock Trading Applications

Many individuals are also interested in trading and like to get an idea about the upcoming market pumps. 

There are various apps in the market which can give a unique experience in trading stocks, buying shares and keeping track of investment portfolios. 

Some of the popular stock trading apps are Upstock, Groww and Robinhood.

What are the Features of a Fintech App?

2.1 Security

As these apps might be dealing with a lot of sensitive user information, and in some cases, there will be an inflow of loads of money from the users, security becomes paramount!

Fintech apps should have features like two-way authentication, a way to encrypt all the data, integrated blockchain tech, and various other security stuff to keep intruders away.  

2.2 Personalization

The users prefer a personalized experience, especially while handling their money.

Nowadays many data analysts have started using those AI friends, to help them figure out their customer behavior, provide updates, and automatically suggest new adaptations in the policies to make the experience better for the users. 

2.3 Push Notifications

Say a Fintech business puts out a great update, which makes it stand out from the competitors. However, the user doesn’t know about it and decides to move to a different app even before checking that out. 

So, to avoid these scenarios, push notifications are also a must. Apart from showing updates, it also helps to make communication between the user and the bank much easier.

2.4 Support

While running a fintech company, businesses have to deal with thousands of sensitive information. And, quite evidently, users can have some doubts before they hand in their sensitive info to your application.

To mitigate these doubts, businesses should have a team of support staff, which can answer these queries 24*7.

Steps to Build Your Fintech App

Here are some essential steps you should follow to build a Fintech app,

3.1 Choose a Fintech Niche

Before moving on with any niche, make sure that you’re bringing something new to the table, and that you have a good USP to set you apart!

As with the current state of competition in the fintech market, a lot of big players have already set their foot. So, if you have something very similar to the competition, users will not make that transition that very easily. 

3.2 Deal With Compliance

After deciding on a niche, it’s time to work on the legalities. 

For starters, there’s always a requirement for KYC(Know Your Customer) verification features, and setting in AML(Anti Money Laundering policies. 

Apart from this, if your fintech app has to do anything with handling other businesses, there are a lot of privacy laws such as PIA, CCPA, LGPD, and GDPR. 

After that, there might also be variations of laws related to the personal privacies of the user depending on the region you’re operating. 

3.3 Shape the Concept and Define Feature Set

Any fintech app will have a specific approach behind its way of handling things. You will also need to define your concept and features for your applications, to make it straight from the get-go!

These requirements will set the base of your app, and your developers can work on your app, keeping the target audience in mind. 

Remember not to focus on loads of features from the very beginning, it’s a gradual process.  

Here are some must-have features for your fintech app:

Savings and budget tracking 

• Push Notifications
• Highly Secure Login
• Financial operations like viewing balance, and money transactions along with digital payments.
• AI Chatbots and if possible a Virtual Assistant
• QR Code Scanning 
• Card Number Scanning
• Cool discounts offer, Cashbacks and Better Deals

3.4 Create or Hire a Development Team

This is one of the most important parts – building your start team. Most of the success of your app will depend on the competencies of your developers. As a wise man once said, 

“Great things in business are never done by one person; they’re done by a team of people.” – Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Inc.

No matter how revolutionary your idea is, if the representation isn’t up to the mark, your app might end up looking like some scammy app from the dark web.

First, you’ll need experts in the fields of,

• Web Developers
• UI Designers
• Quality Assurance 
• Project Managers
• Business Analyst
• Android/iOS Developers
• Back-End Developers
• Front-End Developers 

Try focusing on the depths of their knowledge, as this will help them come up with new ideas and breakthroughs during the development process. 

3.5 Choose the Right Managed Cloud Services Platforms

To start your fintech wonder, you’ll require a PaaS (platform As a Service) platform. Some popular kids in the PaaS sector are Google Cloud, Engine Yard and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

• Firstly, any PaaS platform will make your API integration a breeze, and your developers will also be able to add some additional services to the platform. 
• Any PaaS provider will also have some additional features, such as handling operating systems, networking, managing cloud infrastructure and so on.

3.6 Focus on UI/UX Design

The success of any app depends on how easily the end user can interact with it! And, the interaction should be fun and addictive enough for them to come back.

For example, to this date, no one has come close to the addictive reel scrolling feature. Even the big players, like Instagram, and Facebook have used this feature in their apps.

What does a good UI/UX design entail?

• UI/UX must be very straightforward.
• The features should be easy to use.
• Don’t keep introducing needless features.
• App colors shouldn’t come out and hit you in the eye. Keep it subtle!
• There should always be a search feature in your application.

3.7 Refine and Support Your App

The last part of the development process is to provide post-deployment support. 

As you might know, fintech tends to attract hackers – a lot of them. And, with NASA being hacked in the interval of a few years, it’s needless to say, your support teams should be available 24*7 to deal with any mishaps.

But, apart from this, if your app needs some new features, this team can help you deploy them while checking the legal compliance

Conclusion

With the onset of new technologies and AI, the fintech industry is getting a much-needed boost. And, it’s showing no signs of slowing down any time soon.

So, if you also build your own Fintech revolution, make sure to follow these steps to make your dream Fintech app.