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From a mobile developer’s perspective, the world of fintech is exciting and constantly evolving. With increasing reliance on mobile banking and financial transactions, there are a number of opportunities for developers to create innovative and user-friendly applications. However, working in the fintech industry also comes with its own set of challenges.

## Security

One major challenge is the need to maintain strict security standards. Financial transactions involve sensitive information and any breach of security can have serious consequences for both the company and the users. This requires developers to constantly update their knowledge of security protocols and ensure that their code is secure and compliant. This can be achieved in a number of ways:

1. Implementing strong authentication and access control measures. It means that the application should require a user to use a secure password, as well as offer an option, or require to use two-factor authentication, which prevents unwanted access to their account.
2. Complying with relevant regulations. Developers have to be aware of and comply with regulations such as the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority).
3. Security testing. Developers should test their systems and code for security vulnerabilities and potential weaknesses. When found, developers should take steps to address any issues identified.
4. Encrypting sensitive data. Sensitive financial information such as credit card numbers and bank account details should be encrypted to protect against data breaches.
5. Keeping systems and software up-to-date. Developers should ensure that their systems and software are updated with the latest security updates to protect against known vulnerabilities and threats.

## How to deal with security challenges?

One way to deal with security is to work closely with security experts and stay up-to-date with the latest industry developments. Working with a team composed of developers with diverse skills and expertise can also help to tackle these challenges and create a more robust and secure application. At AppUnite, we foster a culture of learning. We are excited to learn and try new things, we use our curiosity to build a deep understanding of how things really work. When a team is curious, they are proactive. We value partnerships in business, so we form teams that have great product knowledge. We do not want to implement solutions blindly, we want to know that they make business and technological sense. Our job is to build teams, and products and help businesses that are built around them.

## The ever-changing industry

The need to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of the financial industry is another challenge. These changes are driven by a range of factors including technical innovations, regulatory changes and shifts in consumer behavior. With the emergence of new technologies, such as blockchain, and the increasing popularity of cryptocurrency, developers need to constantly learn and adapt to stay relevant in the industry. Coming from a financial background, I have experience in developing banking applications. When I jumped to a blockchain project, the rules of the game seemed familiar at first, yet, the new product required a rapid growth of knowledge in the crypto industry and, thus, hours of studying a new topic. This can be a daunting task, but it is also what makes working in fintech so exciting and rewarding.

## Regulations

The financial industry is heavily regulated and changes to regulatory requirements can have a significant impact on financial institutions and their operations, as well as their systems and applications. As people’s financial needs and preferences change over time, the change can lead to the development of new products and services and the need to adapt the current ones. 

## Be Agile

To be ready for possible changes and adaptations, our team at AppUnite chose to work agilely, emphasizing flexibility. It is designed to help teams quickly respond to changing requirements, often occurring in the development phase of a product lifespan.

## Why you should go native

In addition to facing these challenges, fintech also requires native mobile developers for a number of reasons. Native mobile development allows for more seamless and efficient user experience as it is specifically designed for the platform it is being developed for. This is particularly important in the fintech industry, where users expect a fast and reliable application for handling their finances. 

Native mobile development also allows for better integration with the device's hardware and software, allowing for more advanced features such as facial recognition for added security. At AppUnite, when working on a blockchain exchange platform, we leveraged these advantages by securing the product with biometric authentication and simplifying card payments by using Apple Pay and Google Pay. Implementing Apple Pay was particularly interesting, as it enables a shift in responsibility for fraudulent transactions from a merchant to a card issuer. 

There are also more platform-specific features, such as haptic feedback, which I have experimented with during my work on banking applications. I believe it makes an impression of an application being more responsive and improves user experience in an interesting way. This level of integration is not possible by using only cross-platform development technologies, making native mobile developers an essential part of the fintech industry. 

Native applications offer better performance, as they are designed specifically for a particular platform and are optimized to take advantage of the platform’s capabilities. 

Another advantage of native mobile applications can be improved user experience. Platform-specific features are used to provide a more seamless and intuitive user experience, they are designed to feel like a natural extension of the device. That being said, native applications are also easier to build, test, and maintain. Native technologies also enable developers to quickly adapt to new technological trends, as the newest features are always first available with native technologies.

## Summing up

Overall, the fintech industry presents exciting opportunities for mobile developers, but also comes with its own challenges. By staying up-to-date with the latest industry developments and working closely with security experts, developers can create innovative and secure applications that meet the needs of their users. The importance of native mobile developers in the fintech industry cannot be underestimated, as their expertise allows for a seamless and efficient user experience that is essential for the success of a financial application.



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Unlock the potential of fintech with AppUnite's expert solutions. Our team has the knowledge and experience to tackle the challenges of security and industry changes, ensuring top-notch performance for your mobile financial needs.


Mobile developer's perspective: Fintech

In the era of a galloping digitalization, more and more industries are doing their best to benefit from the digital transformation. The financial and banking industries are not an exception here and fintech companies are constantly developing new, innovative solutions that would address the needs of their increasingly demanding customers.

In this article, we provide you with tips and best practices on how to design, and then develop, a successful mobile banking app that will meet the market demand.

## Trends in Mobile Banking Apps

Why develop a mobile banking app? Well, the reason for this is quite obvious; it’s the dynamic growth of the industry and the increasing potential of mobile banking apps. Let’s take a look at recent statistics:

- The total revenue in the mobile app market is predicted to reach [$437.80 billion by the end of 2022](https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/app/worldwide#:~:text=Total%20revenue%20in%20the%20App,US%24202.90bn%20in%202022.), which is a 6.58% growth compared to 2021. It is also estimated that in-app purchases will grow to [$202.90 billion](https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/app/worldwide#:~:text=Total%20revenue%20in%20the%20App,US%24202.90bn%20in%202022.). The next prediction is that the market will continue growing to [$565 billion by 2026](https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/app/worldwide#:~:text=Total%20revenue%20in%20the%20App,US%24202.90bn%20in%202022.).
- After the COVID-19 pandemic, [71%](https://www.fico.com/blogs/how-pandemic-driving-digital-transformation-account-opening) of U.S. consumers planned to open an online account. [52%](https://www.fico.com/blogs/how-pandemic-driving-digital-transformation-account-opening) of them were more likely to do it than they had been before the pandemic.
- [97%](https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/mobile-banking-market-trends/) of millennials use mobile banking applications and [89%](https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/mobile-banking-market-trends/) of consumers use mobile banking apps for various purposes regarding personal finances. There is also an increase observed in all age groups.
- [6 out of every 10 mobile users](https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/app-and-mobile/finance-app-user-statistics/) prefer to use mobile applications over mobile websites.
- [90%](https://www.statista.com/statistics/934476/reasons-for-using-mobile-banking-apps-usa/) of people use mobile banking apps to check their account balance and [79%](https://www.statista.com/statistics/934476/reasons-for-using-mobile-banking-apps-usa/) to view recent transactions.
- [94%](https://dataprot.net/statistics/mobile-banking-statistics/) of mobile banking customers use online banking platforms at least once a month.

To put it simply, these numbers indicate that trust in mobile banking is constantly increasing, especially after the 2020 pandemic that forced customers to limit offline meetings and switch to digital solutions. Along with the next lockdowns, mobile banking app users started to appreciate the access to online services operating 24/7. This naturally led to the development of new market trends and customer expectations that will determine the shape of modern mobile banking apps in the upcoming years.

## Ideas for great fintech apps

Fintech is an umbrella term for all modern, very often innovative banking and financial apps. There are many areas in which you can search for your great idea for a mobile fintech app. This includes both banking operations management applications and solutions dedicated to casual users – to see that, just explore the potential of:

- data processing apps
- money transfer applications
- splitting costs apps
- chatbots
- voice assistants
- blockchain & cryptocurrency-related applications.

For even more inspiration, check out the [Liv app](https://www.emiratesnbd.com/en/media-centre/media-centre-info/?mcid_en=580) launched by Emirates NBD, the first digital-only bank in the UAE. The target of the app is the Millennials who use it for splitting bills with their friends on social media. This is a great example of a modern app perfectly tailored to the market needs.

## How to build a mobile banking app?

So, what are our top 5 tips on how to develop a successful mobile banking app? As industry experts, we have already developed dozens of mobile fintech applications and we’re able to provide you with the most practical and relevant advice. Let’s catch a glimpse of how to build modern, reliable fintech and banking apps that have a potential to rock the market.

### Focus on easy navigation

Easy and intuitive navigation is one of the critical features of any mobile banking app. That is so because you use this kind of app in a plethora of situations that require quick access to your funds. This means that all its major features should be easily accessible and a user should never need to waste their time searching for them. Intuitive naming plays an important role in the industry as well. Although banking and financial terms might be quite complicated, the names within your app should help a user to easily perform actions of their choice. After all, it’s all about the money they have and how it flows rather than “banking products and services” or account numbers.

### Ensure security

Security is one of the biggest concerns in the modern Internet and one of the places that require a very unique approach to it are privacy and finance related systems. Financial applications must be equipped with relevant safety protection measures against scammers and fraudulent activities. [The research](https://www.insiderintelligence.com/insights/mobile-banking-market-trends/) reveals that 77% of customers who have not yet used mobile banking payment methods list security as the primary concern. If you wish to succeed in creating your mobile banking app, pay attention to this, not only implementing the adequate security measures, but also making user feel sure that their transactions are secure. Note that depending on the market, there are regulations and norms that help you ensure this — just to name a few, PSD2 normalizes the protection standards for payments in Europe, while AML (or: anti-money-laundry) norms and KYS (know-your-customer) regulations limit the fraudulent circulation of money, because they make sure that the other side of transaction is verified.

So, how to ensure the safety of your mobile banking app? There are a few solutions that you can implement to improve it, such as:

- strong passwords
- two-factor authentication
- storing only necessary business data
- limiting payment options
- hiding typed credit card data, such as CVC numbers
- using physical user metrics authentications of fingerprints, voice, appearance, behaviour.

### Provide great UX via amazing UI Design

Although almost every aspect of your app creates user experience, an outstanding UI is the next valor of a successful mobile banking app. An appealing, modern design of the application is simply a must to earn users’ loyalty, limiting the customer drop ratio in the longer term as the utilitarian aspects of the app start playing a more and more important role. When designing your app, remember to provide it with the dark mode option, as the users’ preference to use dark mode over light mode is [50/50](https://medium.com/gumgum-tech/light-vs-dark-mode-debate-prefers-color-scheme-will-answer-d079a5f106aa), so these two modes are equally important.

Also, successively building and implementing a design system from the very beginning of the app development is crucial. It allows not only to ensure a coherent user experience as the complexity increases over time, it also lets you scale up the application while keeping the development pace.

If you wish to learn more about UI/UX and good banking app design, feel free to check out our article: [What is User Experience (UX) and why should it be important to you?](https://appunite.com/blog/what-is-user-experience-ux-and-why-should-it-be-important-to-you).

### Focus on 360 service 

The main purpose of building a mobile banking application is to provide customers with the same (or better!) quality. So, it is a must to deliver a number of functionalities that will compensate for the lack of physical contact with a bank’s customer service.

For example, it is estimated that chatbots can save the banking industry [$7.3 billion in annual customer service costs by 2023](https://dataprot.net/statistics/mobile-banking-statistics/). This is only one of many options for providing online customer service that will be appreciated by customers and cost-efficient for banking institutions. The other ideas are the possibility to order new cards, change limits, or open the account fully online.

### Allow personalization

Last but not least, there are a few ways to spice up your mobile banking app and make it attractive to customers. Personalization and additional functionalities expected by your target audience can significantly boost user satisfaction and your revenue.

The examples of additional features appreciated by modern mobile banking app users are:

- cashback
- push notifications
- expense trackers
- online booking
- bill-splitting
- personalized offers.

As personalization can help to increase your revenue by up to [15%](https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/Marketing%20and%20Sales/Our%20Insights/Perspectives%20on%20personalization%20at%20scale/Perspectives-on-personalization-at-scale.ashx), it’s worth putting some effort into analyzing what your customers actually need and using this potential to the maximum.

## Let’s sum it up!

Are you interested in mobile banking app development? Feel free to contact us. As industry experts who have already delivered a number of successful fintech applications, we will support you in the entire development process - starting with the idea and ending with the market launch and ongoing maintenance.


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In this article, we provide you with tips and best practices on how to design, and then develop, a successful mobile banking app. 

Agnieszka Forajter

Vanlife with a Full-time Job and its Challenges