The number of smartphone users worldwide is forecast to grow from 2.1 billion in 2016 to 2.87 billion by 2020. If you’re keeping track, that’s over a third of the global population now using a smartphone, up from 10% in 2011.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why mobile banking has been in such high demand, and why digital banking software requirements have become so widely discussed.
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A Rapidly Changing Attitude
Previously, banks and financial institutions looked at mobile banking as merely a cost-cutting measure. Their only concern was if more people could access their services online and on-the-move, fewer branches and staff would be required. Meanwhile, others considered mobile banking as a nice-to-have extra, or they felt compelled to “keep up with the Joneses” to avoid being outmaneuvered by competitors. But it wasn’t being placed front and center.
Today, however, banks are waking up to the significance of mobile banking to the overall customer experience. By providing their customers with a simple way to manage their money, they’ve been able to increase loyalty and improve customer satisfaction.
But it’s not just the traditional banks that have realized the game-changing potential of mobile banking. FinTech startups have started to provide some much-needed competition, offering an alternative to conventional banking.
There’s now a technological arms race underway in the world of banking and finance, and in this blog post, I’m going to share what you need to know to come out on top.
First Thing’s First: In-house or Outsourced?
Banks and FinTech organizations have an important decision to make right out of the gate: Do they keep development in-house, or do they outsource to a banking software development company.
Startups will typically opt for white-label solutions, while larger, more established companies can allocate resources to specific vendors to build certain parts of a platform (front-end, back-end, app design, etc.).
Ultimately, the digital banking software requirements will dictate whether or not they can keep things internal, or if they need to look outside for specialist development skills. Particularly if the mobile solution needs to integrate with the rest of the bank’s systems.
Ask Yourself: What Do the Customers Want?
The most effective mobile banking apps all start with the same question: What do the customers want? Apps that fail to meet their users’ expectations are more often than not deleted without so much as a second thought, and a mobile banking app is no different. If customers are not satisfied with your product, your investment will have been in vain.
Of course, customer needs will always differ depending on location and demographics. Those living in remote communities will value speed and efficiency, while millennials will look for interesting features and a slick interface. It’s your development team’s job to strike a balance between these varying expectations and produce something that’s going to resonate with your customers.
As a general rule of thumb, a mobile banking app should be adaptable. As customer tastes evolve, so too must the app be able to evolve at a similar pace. To keep on top of customer demands, take time to examine your target market to better understand what they want from a mobile banking solution.
Features Checklist:
- View statements and transaction history
- View credit card balances, statements and/or transaction history
- Bill payments
- Transfer funds
- ATM or branch locator
- Mobile person-to-person payment
- Mobile remote deposit capture
- Personal financial management
- Cross-border payments
Banking App Design Will Make or Break Success
When designing the app, everything should be as intuitive as possible. Users should understand how to accomplish the most basic of banking tasks from the moment they open the app. Taps and swipes should be kept to a minimum, and the interface should be largely uncluttered.
Once inside the app, the focus should turn to performance. A suitable development framework can help in that regard, with modular software architecture resulting in a robust foundation and efficient code reuse – which in turn can reduce costs and increase turnaround time when releasing new versions.
Where aesthetic is concerned, keep it simple. Fonts should be legible, while your color scheme shouldn’t act as a distraction. You want users to enter the app and get the information they want at-a-glance – fonts and colors should support this.
Design Checklist:
- Focus on usability
- Select legible fonts and a complementary color scheme
- Design an uncluttered interface
And What About the Back-End?
While the design at a customer’s fingertips is important, the back-end of a mobile banking app is absolutely crucial. Design and front-end functionality will change with trends and customer demands, and when it does, the back-end has to keep up.
The back-end needs to be scalable; it must handle an increasing number of users and transactions as the app grows in popularity. Outages must be avoided at all costs. Customers expect instant access, and any sort of downtime will make them question their relationship with the bank.
With that in mind, introducing a microservice architecture is a good option. This structures the application as a collection of highly maintainable, testable, and independently deployable services, which helps speed updates and releases.
Implementing a well-designed and thought out back-end architecture will result in a better integration with the organization’s existing infrastructure, saving time and money.
Development Checklist:
- Scalability is vital
- Microservice architecture is recommended
Finally, Don’t Overlook Compliance and Security
In this day and age, security has never been more vital. Particularly where finance is concerned. At every step in the development process, security must be considered and implemented.
However, there is a balance to be struck.
While providing customers with the utmost protection, functionality, performance, and usability cannot be affected. You must determine when to use certain security features (such as two-factor authentication) and when not to use them. The last thing you want is to present users with obstacles once they’ve established their identity.
The back-end must also be tested vigorously, and free of vulnerabilities prior to launch.
And of course, compliance with relevant rules and regulations is compulsory. For instance, the EU has recently enacted GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and PSD2 (Revised Payment Service Directive) both of which heavily impact mobile banking.
Security Checklist:
- Take all necessary security measures
- Make sure security does not unnecessarily interfere with the usability
- Take steps to comply with the necessary rules and regulations
In Summary: Bank to the Future
FinTech startups and forward-thinking banks are using mobile apps to engage with young people and transform the lives of the unbanked. They’re giving back control and democratizing finance. And they’re transforming our relationship with money.
In an increasingly competitive landscape, only the most efficient, effective, and personalized mobile banking apps will survive and thrive. To further enhance your customer experience (and increase your revenue), you must remain at the forefront of digital banking development and meet user expectations in an innovative and exciting manner. Nothing less will do.
About the author:
Dmytro Ternovyi is an IT enthusiast from Kyiv, assisting Fintech startups in the field of digital marketing and sales. He is currently a part of Metryus, a banking software development company.