How to Develop a FinTech App: Key Features and a Step-by-Step Strategy

FinTech is one of the hottest topics in the tech industry. We see billion-dollar investments in this sector and a growing number of companies engaged in FinTech development.

In 2021, the FinTech market size was $112.5 billion. Given all the attention this industry receives, it will expand to $332.5 billion by 2028 at an average annual growth rate of nearly 20%.

More than 66% of bank executives worldwide believe FinTech will help rethink wallets and mobile payments, making the financial sector even more accessible to its customers. Financial institutions’ clients appreciate FinTech solutions as well. Only in the USA, over 65% of the population uses one or another finance software.

Demand for FinTech creates supply. Thus, there are numerous banking and finance apps available on the market. Yet, it doesn’t mean there is no place for your product. But developing a FinTech application requires a lot of effort. Which efforts exactly? We’ll tell you in today’s article.

Arounda will share the main features of financial apps and illustrate the process of their development step by step. With this knowledge, you can create a product that will make you stand out from the crowd.

This post will draw on our five-year extensive experience developing FinTech solutions. During this time, our experts have created more than 20 financial products. Dojimatech, which we will discuss in more detail today, is also among them.

Main Types of FinTech Products

There is a lot of room for creativity in the FinTech business. You can choose from numerous financial apps, from wealth management platforms to digital banking solutions. Consider your requirements and your target audience’s needs, and start developing.

Here are the main types of FinTech applications you can build:

Digital Banking App

Digital banking apps bring interaction with a banking institution online. Customers may virtually carry out any banking-related tasks, such as opening an account, transferring funds, or making loans, using this software.

Payment App

Payment applications enable transactions and money transfers online. An example of such software is PayPal, which is incredibly popular because of its convenience.

Peer-to-peer payment apps are especially noticeable in this regard. Such applications do not require intermediaries. Transfers in them take place exclusively between two participants and usually show a high speed.

Investment and Trading App

Such applications enable investment and trade directly from smartphones without intermediaries like brokers. This FinTech software usually works on stock, forex, and capital markets.

Personal Finance Management App

Personal finance apps allow users to track their income and expenses by recording them in convenient categories such as transportation, utilities, etc. With this software, you no longer need to write down costs in a notebook or use Excel sheets. These solutions typically offer user-friendly tools and a gamified experience.

Insurance App

Applications that enable digital insurance are intended to facilitate and speed up the issuance of insurance policies. Such software also helps handle customer claims and reduces the associated fraud rate. As a result, they make the interaction between customers and insurance agents more efficient.

Digital Wallet

A digital wallet is software that allows users to store their funds online, make transfers, and receive payments. An example of such an application is the well-known Apple Wallet.

Fundamental Features of FinTech Apps

As you can see, the variety of financial applications is impressive. Yet, all these FinTech products have common features, which we will discuss in more detail.

So, what are the features that no FinTech application can do without?

Sign Up and Sign In

No FinTech application can work properly without account registration, be it a digital bank or a money transfer solution. Protect registration and login from the customer side, for example, with two-factor authentication or touch/face ID.

Dashboard

Financial apps offer a large number of tools to their users. Therefore, keeping all these tools on a convenient dashboard would be good. One must also display all information necessary for the user here.

Payment Gateway

How can a financial app exist without a payment function? Integrate one or more payment gateways so users can conveniently make transfers on your platform.

Security

Security in a FinTech application is critical as users trust you with sensitive information about themselves and their finances. To provide a high level of security, you can use encryption methods, biometric and two-factor authentication, or even blockchain technology.

Push Notifications

Push notifications are a valuable feature to have in a financial app. It will notify your users of any payment changes, or you can send special offers this way.

QR Code Scanning

This feature will make it easier for your users to interact with the application. Nowadays, many transfers work through QR codes, so adding a scanner to your software is a good idea.

Personalization

Allow your users to customize the financial app according to their needs. Personalization options can include various dashboard settings, changing the font size in the application, switching from a light to a dark theme, etc.

Tips and Explanations

The financial industry offers many tools that require specific knowledge from the average user. Thus, since customers of different age groups are likely to use your app, make it intuitive. Adding a feature that provides tips and explanations for each tool in the application is also necessary.

A Step-By-Step Strategy of FinTech Product Development

Creating any FinTech app requires effort and close attention to regulatory requirements and platform security. Additionally, your goal is to build a solution that resonates with your users. We have prepared a step-by-step strategy for developing a thriving financial app.

1. Choose Your App Type

First, you must decide on the niche for which you are creating software. Will it be an online banking solution, personal finance, investment, or payment app? You will search for your target audience and analyze your direct competitors according to the application’s type.

2. Gather a Dedicated Team

Once you’ve decided on a FinTech app idea, you need experts to turn it into reality. You can choose any model of cooperation that suits you. It can be an in-house team, outsourcing, or hiring individual freelancers.

3. Research the Market

At this stage, your business analysts should identify the market for your FinTech product. They should study your competitors, determine the target audience, form a vision for your application, and highlight its strengths.

4. Ensure Regulatory Compliance

You also need to take care of the legality of your app. Many regulatory and legal requirements in the financial sector are related to data protection or anti-fraud. Make sure your app complies with all lawful regulations.

5. Define Your App’s Features

In this step, your team should consider the features needed to run your app. We advise you to start with the most important ones and add them to your minimum viable product. And after your MVP begins to be in demand, you can add other, more advanced functionality.

6. Start Your UX/UI Design Process

At this stage, your designers can start creating the visual part of your finance app. First, they should conduct UX research and think through the navigation on your platform. And only then can they create a user-friendly interface.

7. Develop Your App

Once the app design is ready, your developers can move on to the technical part of the process. As a result, you will receive a working minimum viable product.

8. Test Your App

Before launching a FinTech app on the market, you need to ensure that it works properly and does not contain bugs. It is when your QA specialists will test it to fix any issues.

9. Launch Your App

When your app is fine-tuned, you can launch it to the market. At this stage, your team ensures users are happy with the product and studies their feedback for future improvements.

Arounda’s Experience with FinTech Products

Arounda has significant experience in the financial technology niche. We’ve already created more than 20 FinTech products over five years of fruitful work.

We have a background in cooperating with large financial companies and FinTech startups. Therefore, stay assured that we know how to satisfy the needs of our customers.

Our experts offer full-cycle FinTech product development. We can pick up your product at the idea formation stage and accompany its development until launch.

Our team is experienced in creating different types of financial platforms. We are skilled in developing bank apps, wealth management products, payment applications, and more.

One such product is Dojimatech. It is a platform that offers a multi-currency bank account for small and medium-sized businesses. Our team made a special effort to adapt the standard UX of online business banking to a multi-currency environment. As a result, our users can send and receive payments quickly and efficiently.

Final Thoughts

FinTech is a new step towards the transformation of the traditional financial system. Creating an innovative financial solution will bring this system closer to perfection.

We hope that our guide on developing FinTech apps will be useful to you. Now you know exactly what to consider when creating innovative financial products.

Our services are open to you if you need a dedicated team to take on this time-consuming process. With our many years of experience in FinTech and dozens of successful projects, we will bring any of your ideas to life. Got interested? Then drop us a line.