Editor’s Note: We are a web app and mobile app development company with expertise in the Fintech and BFSI (Banking, Financial Services and Insurance) domain. The following article is based on experiential work. If you have suggestions, questions, or want to have a discussion, please drop us a message.
Is a Web/Mobile App Useful For a Fintech or BFSI Business?
Consumers desire convenience. The easier it is to avail a premium service, the happier they are. And, there’s nothing more convenient than accessing important products and services from the comfort of their own homes using a mobile phone.
Digitalization has made it easy for companies to take their business online and reach out to a wide audience. The rise in the number of mobile phone users will elucidate the fact that the largest audience today is accessible via mobile devices – According to a report by Statista, the number of mobile phone users in India alone have risen from 524 million users to over 813 users, from 2013 to 2019.
But how does this affect the Fintech and Banking industry? Are these mobile phone users also using banking apps? According to an Economic Times article, the RBI reported that mobile banking services witnessed a growth of 92% in volume and 13% in value terms, in the year 2017-2018.The number of registered banking app users rose by 54% from 163 million users in March 2017 to 251 million users in March 2018.
These numbers are staggering and clearly indicate the changing trend. Consumers are looking for easier ways to handle their money, portfolio and transactions, and Banking and Fintech apps are the answer.
The you are a banking or fintech business, here’s how you can digitize services:
P.S. These are the app development steps we follow. You can emulate this process with your internal dev team, or reach out to us for a digital solution.
1. Define the customer journey
UX plays an incredibly crucial role in web and mobile app development. What use is a service that a user cannot find on your app because it is too complicated to access? The general rule for good UX is, maximum impact in minimum steps (our UX designers speak about this in details in this article: How To Design UX For Increased App User Retention). The idea is to eliminate redundant clicks, simplify the user flow, reduce clutter, and guide the user.
Start by mapping the user flow (basically design the UX) with a wireframe of the app. Highlight all the CTAs and where they lead. At the end of this exercise you should have the user roadmap defined. Once the UX is fixed, your design team can work on the UI, which should complement your brand.
Follow these rules to ensure your fintech or banking app has the perfect UX and UI design: Designing For FinTech | 4 UI/UX Rules.
2. Develop an MVP
Too many times we see companies making the mistake of rushing to release a fully fledged web and/or mobile app. That, in our opinion, is the wrong way to proceed. Develop and release an MVP first.
MVP stands for ‘Minimal Viable Product’, which is essentially a lean version of your final product. It contains key features and a basic UI, and nothing more. The idea is to gauge audience reaction and get live feedback from its use. If you’re not comfortable releasing to actual users, you can create a focus group to test the MVP.
An MVP takes much less time, manpower, resources and money to build. The feedback received from the MVP can lead to massive overhauls in the application (which if you have to do with a fully developed app, god save you). The whole idea is to learn from the MVP and incorporate improvements into the final product.
3. Use the latest technology has to offer
Technology is evolving at a rapid pace. The solutions available today help developers build apps faster, incorporate resource saving features like automation, growth hacking features like analytics, security features like blockchain, and much more. AI and machine learning can be leveraged to build smart apps.
What’s important is to be aware of these solutions, and how and where they fit into your application.Each individual technology is a universe of its own, and implementing them can cost you time and money. Deciding on what’s important (especially when on a constrained budget) now and what can be saved for later is crucial. That’s where technology experts like us come in (just saying).
To understand the benefits of modern technology, especially in Fintech, read this article written by our techxperts: 5 Ways AI is Being Used in Fintech Today [Resulting in Happier Customers].
4. Set budget and time constraints after preliminary planning
It’s imprudent to tell your developers Finish this in X time and your budget is Y before the project starts. This only creates room for sub par results. Always create the roadmap first, and this will give you an understanding of how much work lies ahead. The budget and timeline should be set at this juncture.
If there are limitations to budget and/or time, this is the time to trim down features and calibrate the roadmap. Once hands-on work starts, the blueprint should not change (ideally, but in dire cases it’s alright).
Conclusion
In parting, we’d like to say that the technology team is crucial to building the Fintech or BFSI application. Their credentials and expertise will determine how perfect or imperfect the app turns out.
Best practice dictates that companies without development personnel with core expertise (which is mostly the case with Fintech and BFSI companies) should hire outside experts. And we’re not just saying this because we are outside experts ourselves, we are advising this based on experience fixing products for clients who come to us with poorly developed in-house apps. Rework always costs more time and money than work.
P.S. It’s important to create hype through marketing as the app nears release date. Here’s an interesting article on this topic: 7 Marketing Strategies To Execute Before You Launch Your Mobile App [With Cheat Codes].