How to build a FinTech App in 2022: The Ultimate Guide
Financial technology, or “FinTech,” is one of the world’s fastest growing industries with an estimated global value of $59 billion. As the fintech market continues to grow, many fintech co-founders are focused on keeping up with the market and implementing all of the market’s tech solutions. However, this approach can be harmful to your business because it does not consider what users want. So how to build a successful FinTech app? This article will provide you with the best tactics to begin. Let’s get started!
1. What Is Fintech?
Fintech is the glamorous new-age term for anything related to finance and technology, from money transfer platforms to budgeting apps. This definition seems to be abstract but the thing is the fintech domain includes various types of finance-related apps and it is difficult to cover the entire scale of fintech development in one definition.
Digitalization is the driving force behind the creation of Fintech apps. Because technology has improved the financial industry, all the technologies related to the financial domain are part of the fintech industry. It encompasses a wide range of industries, such as online banking, trading platforms, NFT, blockchain, and so on.
2. How to build a FinTech App: Types of Fintech Apps
Before learning how to build a FinTech App, first let’s take a look at the most common types of Fintech applications:
2.1. Digital Banking
Digital banking apps are a go-to option for customers who want to manage their bank accounts and make financial transactions quickly without the assistance of a third party. Banks create fintech solutions to make it easier for customers to access their accounts. It also benefits banks by allowing them to manage their customers’ data.
Example:
- Chime: Chime is a market leader in fintech in the United States. As a standard banking app, it allows users to manage their accounts and transact money quickly. Compared to banking transactions, Chime stands out because it does not charge users anything.
2.2. Digital Investment
These fintech apps allow investors to explore and invest in multiple financial assets successfully. Moreover, investment apps are an excellent way to get started in the stock market because it provides users with relevant analytics and data.
Example:
- Robinhood: Robinhood is probably the most widely used investment and trading app in the United States. Its remarkable features are zero transaction fees and increased security level. Furthermore, Robinhood also includes real-time market analysis and asset management tools.
2.3. P2P Lending
P2P Lending apps function as peer-to-peer platforms, where one user can lend another user as equal parties on the platform. As a result, these apps make the interaction between the borrower and the lender smoother and easier.
Example:
- Prosper: This San Francisco-based startup gains revenue by charging small fees on each loan.
2.4. Digital Payments
Digital payments are the biggest sector in the fintech development industry. According to Grand View Research, the size of the global digital payment industry was estimated to be USD 68.61 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 20.5% from 2022 to 2030.
Example:
- PayPal, a digital payment platform that enables users to secure transactions without disclosing their information. PayPal accepts a variety of credit and debit cards, which you can register with your account.
- Payoneer is another digital payment system that allows users to transfer money domestically and internationally. It is popular among freelancers because it is integrated with a lot of freelance platforms.
3. How to build a FinTech App: 5 Must-Have Features
Below I’ve listed some of the basic features that any fintech app should have. Let’s take a look!
# 1. Sign-In And Onboarding
The sign-in process should be simple but secure. Your app should provide security by incorporating face/voice or fingerprint recognition authentication. Biometrics will soon become an obligation. For example, since iOS 13 came out, Apple requires all apps that use social login services to support the Sign in process with Apple feature, which makes use of the in-built iOS biometric capabilities.
# 2. Financial Operations
Your app should provide fundamental financial operations that are relevant to your app. Some common features you can consider are digital payments, mobile depositing, money transfers and balance checking. Your users should be able to complete as many tasks as possible without relying on a physical location or a web application.
# 3. Alert and Notification
When it comes to integrating features in the FinTech app, alerts and notifications are crucial. Users should not be flooded with hundreds of alerts and notifications. You should only notify users with important information such as: important financial payment, transactions, auto-debit notifications and bank account balance updates.
# 4. Cashback
Your user will enjoy the app even better if they know they can benefit from purchases through it. Loyalty programs like this are an effective way to generate higher retention rates. You can give users a higher percentage of cash back if they spend more money through your app.
# 5. Personal Spending Analytics
Above all, when you create a fintech app, you create much more than just an online payment service. What should be aimed for is a financial assistant to help them in making better financial decisions by providing diagrams or graphics of the spending analytics.
When developing a fintech app, you create much more than just a service for online payments. What should be aimed for is creating a financial assistant that can help users make better financial decisions.
4. How to build a FinTech App: 9 Steps to build a FinTech App
Let’s go over the in-depth guide on how to build a FinTech App in 9 steps.
# Step 1: Brainstorm Your Fintech App Idea
Firstly, brainstorming is a very important step because to become successful for an extended period of time, your app must be unique and scalable. So take out a pen and jot down some ideas on paper.
# Step 2: Research Market
FinTech is a large market with a lot of subsets emerging. This market is not only diverse but also competitive with many key players. The target audience is determined primarily by age, income, gender, geographical location, lifestyle, and preferences. By utilizing these factors you can establish and maintain your market position.
# Step 3: Identify the Gap in the Market
To identify the gap, you must first understand what requirements your app will fulfill or the impact it will have on your market. The table below shows the five methods for identifying gaps in the FinTech market. Here are some advice to identify the gap in the market:
- Collect the feedback from users and make a list of the features you’ll include in your next product based on their feedback.
- Research competitors on the market to see what they are missing.
- Concentrate on adapting to new technologies and improving your product.
# Step 4: Ensure Legal Compliance
It is critical to use security protocols when developing mobile banking apps to protect your app from illicit activities. Because it is a FinTech app, users will send mobile payments to others, which will involve sensitive information that must be kept secure. If security precautions are not taken, hackers may steal personal data from users. Here are some legal security regulations you must take before creating a FinTech app:
- Comprehend the legal regulations related to users’ financial data by using APIs
- Introduce a data privacy and management policy
- Provide insurance coverage for any unintentional breach.
- Create a backup in case of disaster recovery and business continuity
- Prepare a backup for disaster recovery and business continuity.
# Step 5: Choose the Right Tech Stack
Tech stack is an important part of FinTech app development so if you choose the unsuitable ones, you will waste your money, time and resources.
- Tech Stack to Create an Android-Based FinTech App
| Type | Tools |
| Android App Development Tool | Android Studio |
| UI/UX | Adobe XD Adobe Illustrator Figma |
| Frontend Tech Stack | React Native Angular Vue.js |
| Backend Tech Stack | Python JavaScript Java C/C++ Ruby |
| Frameworks | React Node.js Django ROR Spring |
| Databases | PostgreSQL MySQL MongoDB Redis |
- Tech Stack to Create iOS-based FinTech App
| Type | Tools |
| iOS App Development Tool | Xcode AppCode |
| UI/UX | UIKit SwiftUI |
| Programming Language | Objective-C Swift |
- Tech Stack to Develop Cross-platform FinTech Mobile Application
| Type | Tools |
| Android App Development Tool | Android Studio |
| UI/UX | Adobe XD Adobe Illustrator Figma |
| Programming Language | React Native Flutter Xamarin |
| Backend Tech Stack | Python JavaScript Java C/C++ Ruby |
| Frameworks | React Node.js Django ROR Spring |
# Step 6: Build MVP
For FinTech startups, creating an MVP version will help gaining early user traction. It also saves money and time by allowing you to receive constructive feedback before releasing the final product.
After your MVP is released, you’ll need to collect and analyze data and learn about user behavior. New data and app store reviews can help you decide which features to add next.
# Step 7: Ongoing Development and Releases
The development process does not end once your app is released. It is time for you to receive valuable feedback and continue improving and upgrading.
# Step 8: Test Your App
During the testing process, It is essential to check its compatibility with multiple devices. Moreover, u should make an excel spreadsheet in which you list both outdated and latest devices. Network connectivity is also important because the app requires an active internet connection to fetch the data from the server.
# Step 9: Continuously Enhance Your App
Throughout the development process, it is important for you to consistently improve your app. Only by improving the mobile app, will you be able to scale your business.
5. How to build a FinTech App: Technology Stack
Tech stack is the collection of programming tools required to create your fintech app including the front end, back end, API integrations, databases, etc. Here are some general tech stack recommendations for developing a fintech app:
- Back end: Java, C++, Python, Ruby, Node.js, Kotlin, Laravel
- Front end: React Native, Angular, Swift, SpringNuxt.js, Ember.js, Vue.js
- Server: AWS
- Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, MySQL
- Payment gateway: Stripe, Braintree, PayPal
- API integrations: Syncfy Connect API, Twilio API, Plaid API, Apex ShuftiPro.
6. Tips On How To Build A Fintech App
Here are some tips from our IT experts on how to build your FinTech app more effective and attractive for users.
6.1. Personalize the UI Design
Your users are just normal human beings with or without a financial background. Therefore, you should add some human behavioral patterns and design a user interface that will match them. For example, users frequently forget where some documents and numbers are (Security Number). You can help them by adding an informational note indicating where the user can find the number.
6.2. Use Gamification
To engage your users, you can apply some cutting-edge solutions like gamification to improve the user experience. For example, give users status labels for financial achievements so they feel challenged to get more of them.
6.3. Define A Specific Market
Targeting the whole number of users is the most common mistake made by start-ups. The more generic and vague your target audience are, the more difficult it is to reach users’ hearts so you should define a specific niche before creating it. Knowing your user will assist you in clarifying the requirements for your future product and creating a fintech that meets the needs of your target audience.
Wrapping Up:
In this blog, we have answered the question of How to build a FinTech App with step-by-step methods, important features and advice from our AgileTech‘s experts. FinTech indeed has a bright future because of its rapid growth and innovations. If you have a fintech project that you would like to discuss, feel free to contact us here.
Last but not least, we also offer 30-minute free consultations online from our IT experts in case you have any questions about mobile app development service. Please fill in this form if you are interested!