A Complete Guide To Fintech Mobile App Development

With the dynamic financial needs of modern customers, traditional banking systems were lagging. Acknowledging this as an opportunity, varied fintech startups emerged with collaboration offers for banking institutions to let them aim at improving customer experiences by leveraging the latest financial technology.

In no time, numerous fintech companies launched worldwide, with 134+ fintech unicorns reported in the US itself in 2023. As reported in Q1 2024, there were approximately 5,886 fintechs in the Asia Pacific region and 10,969 in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). 

Eyeing such figures, increasing financial institutions are arising and setting in the vast crowd. Here, fintech mobile app development can be a turning point. Yes, besides reaching a broader customer base, easing risk management, and offering access to innovative features, fintech apps reduce operational costs, expand product offerings, boost customer engagement, and help FIs stay competitive in a transforming financial landscape. 

As you are here, you are also likely to enter this growing fintech industry, which has an anticipated 15% revenue growth yearly between 2022 and 2028. 

Before you jump in, you need to be all set with every relevant information to leave no loophole in your successful fintech app development. In this post, we will unveil reasons to invest, how to build a fintech app, types of fintech mobile apps, top features to include, monetization strategies, and more. 

Let’s get the ball rolling!

What is A Fintech App?

A fintech application is a mobile app that integrates financial technology with other technologies to automate financial services like online banking, investment management, budgeting tools, and digital payments and attract new customers who prefer mobile-first banking experiences. 

Benefits of a Fintech Mobile App for Banks

• Improve financial operations
• Reach a larger audience
• Improve data management
• Enhance usability and functionality 
• Streamline various processes, like compliance management and fraud detection

The list of benefits doesn’t end here; there are numerous more we will discuss later.

What is Fintech App Development?

Fintech app development involves building mobile apps that offer financial services. Employing the latest technologies, such apps provide an easy and user-friendly way to conduct financial transactions, manage finances, and access relevant products that banks and other financial institutions used to offer. 

The fintech application development process includes several steps for successful app development: ideation, planning, designing, development, testing, deployment, and maintenance. A team of mobile app developers and more professionals is required to create a fintech app.

Tip*: Hire a reliable app development company to build a fully functional mobile app with a user-friendly interface design and seamless navigation.

Why do Businesses Invest in Fintech Mobile App Development?

Most of you might be planning to kickstart with app development, while the rest would be looking for mobile application development for fintech businesses. 

Whatever your objective, investing in fintech mobile app development will be a game changer. Let’s uncover the reasons behind: 

1. Capture Growing Market 

The global fintech market is projected to hit $608.35 billion by 2029 at a CAGR of around 14% and even more from 2024 to 2029. Above that, mobile banking usage is likely to be 4 billion by 2026 worldwide. 

The market seems welcoming to emerging with different fintech solutions to meet modern customers’ needs. 

2. Global Reach & Scalability

A physical FI is limited to a specific geographical location or area. However, developing a fintech app will expand your customer base and hold the potential to handle increasing traffic to your app without hampering performance. 

3. Personalized Recommendations and Service

While using a fintech app, users are required to create profiles and fill out their personal details, preferences, behavior, financial history, credit cards, investment accounts, and more. 

Using this data, you can deliver personalized recommendations and services to improve their financial health and enhance their experience. 

4. Save Resources & Reduce Operational Costs

Fintech mobile apps follow varied practices, such as automated processing, paperless transactions, cloud-based infrastructure, and e-document storage. 

These practices help users save time and money, which can increase downloads and app usage. 

Types Of Fintech Mobile Apps

Varied fintech apps exist in the market that help attain different banking needs. You can choose any per your niche and build one:

1. Insurance Mobile Apps

As the name indicates, these apps are for the insurance industry to speed the claim processes, and policy administration and reduce fraudulent activities. It can even be a basic CRM for an insurance website. Some of the common features of an insurance app should be payment processing, claims filing, quotes, policies, searching policies as per different parameters, etc. A few categories for which you could develop an insurance app are:

• Life Insurance or Personal Insurance
• Auto Insurance
• Home Insurance
• Property Insurance
• Marine Insurance
• Fire Insurance
• Liability Insurance
• Guarantee Insurance
• Disability income insurance
• Health insurance
• Auto insurance
• Renters Insurance
• Identity theft protection

Here Are Some Good References that You Can Consider for Developing an Insurance App:

Geico Mobile

It is an auto insurance app with core features like digital ID cards for assessing insurance policies, a virtual assistant for answering policies or other queries, a parking locator which can find parking for users and allow them to a made reservation.

Lemonade

The Lemonade app is specially curated for homeowners and renters. Its USP is that it takes a maximum fee for running a business over any premiums that get distributed between different charities during a year.

2. Investment Mobile Apps – For Stock Trading, Mutual Funds & Cryptocurrency

These apps are mostly used in the stock market. Using these apps users can’t just research assets and invest in them but it can also increase the efficiency of investments. If you want to create an investment app, then you have to include core features such as multi-currency, savings, credit management, comparison of assets, real-time notifications, and client support. Some ideas for an investment app are:

Robinhood

Robinhood is a trading app with features such as quick access to the stock page, a trading quick start by the instant delivery of the first $1000 deposited into the account, and a news blog channel.

Wealthbase

It is amongst the best games apps on the stock market. It combines stock picking and social media, so you can see a feed of stocks your kith or kin are choosing.

Also Read: How To Develop A Stock Trading App

3. Banking & Money Management Mobile Apps

Banking apps allow users to quickly manage their bank accounts and check financial transactions without going to bank premises. Generally, mobile apps are the first choice of banks as people prefer to use mobile phones for financial transactions.

You can use payment systems such as Google Pay, Apple Pay, or Paypal in a banking app. The best references for ewallet apps are:

Starling

In Starling, customers can open accounts without any fee and without any documents. They can manage overdrafts, and savings, create a budget, and transfer funds to other accounts.

Monese

This UK-based app is for ex-pats who have recently moved to the UK. They can open an account from anywhere within the European continent and the UK, even if they don’t have a UK address, credit history, and fixed income.

4. Regtech Apps

Regtech stands for Regulatory Technology. These apps are used by companies to meet compliance with the laws stated by regulatory bodies. They can monitor tasks, regulatory changes, and transactions, reduce false non-compliance alerts, and build reports. In these types of apps, you must give attention to the ability to identify risk management and financial crime identifications. Here are the best Regtech app examples:

6 Clicks

6 clicks automate and manage risk identification, assessment, and analysis of all stakeholders of the risk management lifecycle.

Passfort

Passfort follows the KYC (Know Your Customer) Principles for automating compliance checks. It allows you to transform CLM (Closed Loop Marketing) processes into digital automated onboarding tasks.

5. Lending Apps – Money Lending Mobile Apps

The lending apps allow you to lend money without the involvement of a traditional bank or credit union. You just can lend money sitting on your armchair. They have become amongst the most trending tech in the Fintech world. There is no participation of intermediaries such as loan brokers, banks, or any other financial institution. As there are no intermediaries, the interest rate is not as high and investors gain more profit. They have features such as credit score, loan application form, billing, payment, etc. The Examples of Popular Money Lending Apps Are:

Earnin

Earnin charges very low fees and that’s why it is a leader in the Fintech industry. This app stands out as it doesn’t charge any fee when you borrow money.

PaySense

On this app, salary professionals can get short-term personal loans within 5 hours of applying for a loan. The interest rates are very affordable with very convenient EMIs.

6. Consumer Finance Apps – Budgeting & Personal Finance Mobile Apps

These apps don’t necessarily come with payment processing services. These apps help users manage their expenses, save money, and forecast future expenses so they will not spend more than planned. The common features in these types of apps are financial goals set, expenses and bills tracking, investments analysis, fraud alerts, etc. Here are some famous examples of consumer finance apps:

Mint

This app is free to use and allows for budgeting, tracking payments, and enrollments. You can make it sync with credit cards, bank accounts, and PayPal.

Money Patrol

This app lets you manage your transactions, savings and will help you to make wise financial decisions, reveal fraudulent transactions, and much more.

7. Budgeting Apps

Budgeting fintech apps are mobile applications designed to help users & small businesses to manage their budgets. These apps typically allow users to track their income and expenses, set spending goals and limits, and receive alerts when they approach or exceed their budget.

Budgeting fintech apps may offer additional features, such as the ability to categorize expenses, view spending trends over time, and generate reports that provide insights into where money is being spent.

 Overall, budgeting fintech apps are designed to help users gain greater control over their finances by providing a clear picture of their income and expenses and helping them to stick to a budget. Some Popular Fintech Budgeting Apps are:

You Need a Budget (YNAB) 

YNAB is a budgeting app that focuses on helping users live within their means by assigning every dollar to a specific category, such as rent or groceries. The app provides real-time updates and goal tracking to help users stay on track.

Personal Capital 

Personal Capital is a comprehensive financial management app that offers budgeting, investment tracking, retirement planning, and more. The app also provides access to financial advisors for a fee.

8. Accounting App

Fintech accounting apps are mobile applications that help small businesses manage their financial accounts and bookkeeping processes. These apps provide a range of features, including invoicing, expense tracking, receipt management, bank reconciliation, and tax preparation.

Fintech accounting apps typically automate many of the manual processes associated with financial management, such as data entry and transaction categorization. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors, allowing small business owners to focus on other aspects of their business. Some Popular Fintech Accounting Apps are:

QuickBooks

QuickBooks is a small business’s most popular accounting app. It provides a range of features, including invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and tax preparation.

Xero 

Xero is a cloud-based accounting app that provides a range of features, including invoicing, expense tracking, bank reconciliation, and payroll processing. It also offers a mobile app for on-the-go financial management.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is a user-friendly accounting app with invoicing, expense tracking, time tracking, and project management features. It also integrates with other financial management tools like payment processing systems.

Must-Have Features of Fintech Applications Development

Now, let’s check out what features you can include in your app to make it user-friendly and useful. We will segregate the features per the panels incorporated in the app:

User Panel

Provider/Merchant Panel 

Admin Panel

These are general but must-have features to consider when building a fintech app development; you can consult a fintech app development company.

Advanced Features of Fintech Applications Development

Besides basic features, you should integrate advanced ones while building a fintech app to let it survive in the transforming digital world. 

Let’s check out some chief features you can consider:

1. Security Token Offerings (STOs) 

Integrating Security Token Offerings can be a perfect fundraising method for leveraging blockchain technology. Such a method provides transparency and investor protection. STOs categorize the published tokens as securities, which states they aim at security laws and regulations. 

2. AI-powered Financial Management Tools

Employing artificial intelligence technology, the users can offer personalized financial advice, automate saving and budgeting plans, and provide real-time insights into investment opportunities and expense habits. 

3. Blockchain Technology

Even in the initial stages of exploration, blockchain technology holds the caliber to transform financial transactions by providing transparent, faster, and secure cross-border payments. 

4. Open Banking Integration

Open Banking API integration lets users easily and securely share their financial data with third-party apps, possibly facilitating their access to personalized financial products or better loan rates. 

5. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants

AI-powered chatbot implementation reverts user queries round-the-clock, offers essential customer support, and troubleshoots issues within the app. 

6. Gamification for Engagement

Integrating gamification elements, such as badges, points, or leaderboards, gives a pathway to positive financial behavior, boosts user engagement, and promotes saving objectives with the app. 

7. Alternative Data Integration 

Explore alternative data sources, such as utility bills, to integrate with the app with user consent, possibly permitting more comprehensive financial services for underbanked folks. 

8. Biometric Authentication

Using fingerprint, voice, and facial recognition for transaction authorization or secure login, you can ease and secure the user experience while they use your app. 

9. Big Data Analytics

You can drive the success of your fintech mobile app development by leveraging big data analytics that includes accumulation, processing, and analysis of massive data volumes to get insights and make data-driven decisions. 

In the changing digital world, matching the steps with the emerging trends and technologies will help your app stay competitive and generate varied revenue streams. Such advanced features can make your app fully functional and stand strong in this competitive market. Ensure these are included to attract a tech-savvy user base. 

How To Develop a Fintech App For iOS and Android: Fintech App Development Process

To develop a Fintech app, you will require a lot of technical knowledge. You must hire a fintech app development company that has expertise in building such apps. Let’s know about the major stages that are involved in the Fintech app development. The stages are:

• Choose a Fintech niche
• Deal with Compliance
• Features Consideration
• Make a project team
• Create the App’s Design
• Develop an MVP
• Build The Full Fledge App
• Quality Analysis
• Code Deployment And Launch

Let’s know about each stage in detail.

1. Choose A Fintech Niche

First, you have to decide in which Fintech niche you want to enter. You can start with analyzing the target market, and then decide whether you want to develop a Fintech solution from scratch or improve an existing Fintech solution such as UX improvement, adding new functionalities etc.

If you want to sustain yourself in the competitive world of Fintech, it would be better to develop a complex Fintech solution. You have to be unique. After deciding the niche, you have to legalize the app.

2. Deal With Compliance

As we mentioned above, there are many Fintech legalities that you have to consider from the first phase of your app.  The financial protection systems such as KYC, AML are designed to track compliance. You should also comply with the privacy laws (CCPA, GDPR, LGPD, PIA) to ensure that users’ financial data is protected and has limited access.

The privacy law choice depends upon your region, even in some countries there are no specialized regulatory bodies. You have to consider the requirements per your target audience’s region. For instance, there isn’t a Fintech regulator in the USA, but you must comply with many state and federal laws. Legal requirements are not something you can take casually, if a breach occurs, you will be liable for questioning.

3. Features Consideration

The features of the Fintech app depend upon its type. Analyze the requirements of your target audience. You can create a Fintech app based on an existing solution and consider how to improve it. Still, some features are common that you can consider:

• Highly Secure Login: Fingerprint, facial or voice recognition
• Push Notifications
• Tracking of budgets and savings
• Financial operations such as transferring money, digital payments, checking balance, etc.
• Card Number and QR code scanning
• Virtual assistant or an AI-powered Chatbot
• Unconventional financial services like buying gift cards, donations, etc.
• Cashbacks, Offers, and Deals

4. Make A Development Team

Generally, the best and most fruitful way of Fintech app development is to outsource because it will not just save your time and money but you will get a team of highly experienced developers. They will be answerable to all your queries and meeting all the defined requirements of the scope.

The size of the team will depend on timing, technology, and project size. For instance, for developing a cross-platform Fintech app for both iOS and Android platforms, you will require Flutter or React Native developers. The development process will take more time but you will get 2 apps for two different platforms at once.

A Fintech app development team comprises of these

• 2 Developers (Frontend and Backend)
• Business Analyst
• Project Manager
• Designer
• QA Specialist

While hiring a team to develop your app, check the company’s experience in the fintech industry, hourly rates, and experience of the developers. Communication with the project manager is equally important, thus language fluency also matters.

5. Designing Of The Fintech App

After the security, the design will play a major in attracting the users and retaining them on your app. Make an appealing yet simple design so users have a smooth usability experience.

E.g., if you want to make a banking app, then don’t make large forms that customers will find strenuous to fill for paying bills. Also, there must be an option by which users don’t need to enter payment details for transferring money or paying the bill.

6. Develop An MVP

Minimum Viable Product or MVP development would be a good decision to identify whether your idea will succeed in the market or not. MVP consists of basic features of the app and development without extra costs and saves money. If it succeeds in the market, you can include advanced features in the app.

7. Build The Full Fledge App

After designing and changing an MVP based on users’ feedback, you should move on to the development stage, where the developers will write codes according to the design and expected features and functionalities

8. Quality Analysis

After the launch of your app, things don’t stop. You have to conduct an A/B testing stage to check your users’ reviews, based on which you will include new advanced features and improve existing ones.

If you want to lag your competitors far behind, then your Fintech app should run smoothly, securely, and easily adaptable for users.

9. Code Deployment And Launch

As you have a full-fledged app, you must deploy the code and submit it to the app store for approval. After that, the app is successfully launched and made up for the end users.

Following the mentioned steps can help you know how to develop a fintech app with a seamless and easy app development process that will lead to a full-fledged app.

How Much Does Fintech App Development Cost?

The cost of fintech app development can vary depending on several factors, such as the app’s complexity, the features and functionality required, the development platform, and the location of the development team.

The cost of developing a fintech app can range from $30,000 to $500,000 or more. Simple apps with basic features may cost less, while more complex apps with advanced features can cost significantly more.

The development cost can also vary depending on the location of the development team. For example, North America or Europe developers may charge higher rates than those in Asia or other regions.

It’s important to remember that the cost of development is just one part of the overall cost of building a fintech app. Other costs, such as ongoing maintenance and updates, marketing, and customer support, should also be considered.

To get a more accurate estimate of the cost of developing an app for fintech, it’s recommended to consult with experienced developers from our team and get a detailed project proposal that outlines the scope, timeline, and costs involved.

Designing Tools and Tech Stack Used To Develop Fintech App

The technology stack for fintech app development includes the tools and technology you can choose for a successful app development process. 

The above-mentioned table should be considered a general recommendation; the tech stack depends on the development team’s project requirements, budget, and expertise. 

Top Fintech App Development Trends in 2024

Here are some of the top fintech app development trends that are expected to shape the industry in 2024:

1. Integration with Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology can be used to improve security and transparency in fintech apps, and more apps are expected to integrate blockchain in the coming years.

2. Personalization and AI-Driven Features

Fintech apps are expected to become more personalized with the help of AI-driven features like chatbots and virtual assistants that can provide personalized financial advice.

3. Expansion of Open Banking

Open banking allows third-party developers to access financial data. More fintech apps are expected to use open banking APIs to provide more value-added services.

4. Increased Use of Biometrics

Biometric authentication methods like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning are becoming more common in fintech apps, providing improved security and convenience for users.

5. Growth of Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Decentralized finance aims to provide financial services without intermediaries, and more fintech apps are expected to embrace DeFi in the coming years.

6. Focus on Sustainability

As environmental concerns continue to grow, more fintech apps are expected to incorporate sustainability into their business models and services.

7. Expansion of Neo-Banks

Neo-banks, which are digital-only banks, are expected to continue to grow in popularity, providing customers with more convenient and accessible banking services.

By following these trends, fintech app developers can stay ahead of the curve and provide innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of users.

Top 5 Monetization Strategies For Fintech Mobile App Development

Undoubtedly, the aim of fintech mobile app development is to expand business and generate various revenue streams. 

Here are some top monetization strategies you can consider to make money through your app.

1. Advertising or Marketing

Advertising is one of the most popular monetization strategies in fintech app development. It allows advertisers to show ads to viewers in exchange for a fee. 

2. Freemium Model

A popular business model provides the app’s core for free with limited features, while the advanced ones are at a cost. Effective for driving new users as there’s no initial cost. 

3. Subscription Model

The monetization model generates revenue by charging customers a recurring fee for accessing products or services monthly or annually. 

4. In-App Purchases

This monetization strategy usually goes unnoticed but is one of the best ways to earn money. The app developers sell virtual services, goods, or bonuses within the app, like extra lives, in-app currency, etc., and perform well for ecommerce brands. 

5. Transaction Fees

In this model, the platform charges a fee for every transaction, and to earn a profit, the volume of transactions needs to be higher. Customers usually cherish this model as they are charged directly only for their transaction volume. 

What Are The Things To Consider While Building A Fintech Application?

Before you build a fintech app, consider the following to ensure user-friendly app development. 

1. Regulatory Compliance

While developing a FinTech app, you should stick to all the applicable financial regulations for anti-money laundering (AML), consumer protection, and data privacy. 

2. Open Banking Integration

This is an optional factor you may look into. Integrating open banking APIs may give users access to improved financial products or services.  

3. Security Measures

By implementing robust security measures, such as multi-factor authentication, secure coding practices, and encryption, you can safeguard financial details and user data. 

4. Future-Proofing

Developing a fintech app that considers scalability and integrates new technologies can support potential growth. 

Considering the discussed parameters, you can build an easy-to-use fintech app to ease users’ financial journey. 

Why Choose EmizenTech To Develop a Fintech Mobile App?

How to build a fintech app? Fintech app development demands guidance and consultation from a leading mobile app development company. Finding one for your project can be time-consuming and challenging. 

Opting for EmizenTech for your app development project can be profitable. How? 

EmizenTech has years of experience building budget-friendly and AI-powered fintech apps within the given timeframe. From start to finish, the experts take care of each development phase and ensure the delivery of feature-rich applications.

Key Takeaways

While wrapping up, we hope you find this blog post helpful for Fintech mobile app development, which can help you stand ahead of the curve. 

Opting for fintech mobile app development services for your business can help you grab a huge market share and ease users’ financial journeys. It will be a win-win situation for both parties. 

So, why waste time when you can start then and now to attain ultimate success? 

For a seamless app development process, you can connect with EmizenTech, a leading mobile app development company with a decade of experience and professionals who can deliver the required outcomes.

FAQs About Fintech App Development