Everything You Should Know Before Building Digital-Only Banking App

Cash is becoming obsolete as the traditional financial system actively adopts modern technologies. Users watch how innovative solutions like Apple and Google Pay, smart contracts, cryptocurrency, and contactless payments emerging in recent years. In recent years, cashless payments have been rising. Consequently, banks have no choice but to innovate and digitize their services.

There are an increasing number of convenient banking apps on the market. Statista reports that more than 65% of Americans already use digital banking services. Another study says more than 800 million active users of online banking in the Asian market is the highest adoption level.

Statista

Some people associate FinTech only with payment systems and digital banking. In reality, it encompasses all technological innovations in the financial sector. This article outlines the fundamental steps in how to create an online bank. Also, we will overview popular startups. Moreover, we will determine the global digital banking market size, what benefits you will have from digital banking, and what features you need to include.

How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost?

How to find the right software development company and make the hiring processes as efficient as possible? Let's consider what to look at in the proposals provided by different IT vendors.

Why invest in mobile banking app development?

The calculation methods are important to understand how much it costs to develop a banking app. Any software development budget can be determined by multiplying the estimated time needed for each project stage by the specialists' salaries. Others multiply each planned feature's time (based on experience) by the developer's hourly rate.

In the end, only two variables—the time and the hourly rate—are influenced by several conditions.

It can take up to 10 months for a version of one platform with a basic admin web panel to be ready for market release since even the core banking app functionality can be implemented differently.

For one native mobile banking app, you can find prices ranging from $30K-$60K to $200K-$500K on the web.

Global digital banking market review

According to Facts and Factors, the size of the Global Digital Banking Market will grow from $7.9 trillion in 2021 to $10.3 trillion by 2028. The Research Dive report says the global digital banking market is expected to generate a revenue of $1,610 billion and grow at a CAGR of 8.9% over the forecast timeframe from 2019 to 2027.

Digital banking has boomed over the last few years. According to the comparison site Finder, over a quarter (27%) of British adults have opened an account with an online-only bank as of January 2022.

Recent Celent research stated that 75% of financial institutions globally see the threat of FinTech and challengers increasing, while 58% believe it is harder to win and retain customers.

Consumer interest in digital-only banking services for large organizations.

Levels of interest in using digital-only banking services

The main factors driving the market's expansion are:

the rising number of internet users;
a shift from conventional banking toward online banking;
increased cloud platform adoption, which allows for more scalability.

Digital banking is expanding, but there are security and compliance issues.

In addition, it is anticipated that artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) will be increasingly used in digital banking, as well as advanced banking services and corporate investors. In the next few years, innovative technologies are expected to significantly benefit the digital banking market.

For example, many banks and financial institutions offer better customer service through banking systems based on AI. In addition, many banks are implementing ML to predict fraud even before it happens to enhance security measures. The industry has various opportunities due to these developments, which are always being made.

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, the expansion of digital banking has been particularly notable. As a result of the growing popularity of mobile and online banking among end consumers during the pandemic, there is also room for growth in the digital banking market. To help their customers overcome the challenges they face in their operations, many financial institutions are providing them with new digital tools.

KEY INSIGHTS FROM PRIMARY RESEARCH

As per the analysis, the Digital Banking market is likely to grow above a CAGR of around 4.50% between 2022 and 2028.

The Digital Banking market size was worth around $7.9 trillion in 2021 and is estimated to hit approximately $10.3 trillion by 2028. Due to a variety of driving factors, the market is predicted to rise at a significant rate.

The expanding millennial generation (aged 16 to 34) is pushing banks to offer digital banking services, which drives the growth of the digital banking market.

By services, the digital payments category dominated the market in 2021.

North America dominated the global digital banking market in 2021.

Digital only bank general features

Digital banking software comes in two main types:

Online banking software provides financial services through a web-based platform.
Mobile banking app provides users with access to financial services via a smartphone.

In addition, we would like to highlight neobanks. Neobanks are FinTech companies that only offer mobile or web applications for online banking. This means they don't have physical branches like digital banks. They are also known as digital-only banking platforms that operate solely online. In this article, we will talk about it digital-only banks. These solutions dominate financial technology. Statista predicts that 39.1 million Americans will have at least one open neobank account by 2025.

Based on Insider Intelligence's forecast, US neobanks will claim 39.1 million customers in 2025, or 14.5% of the population. Compared to 2022, that's an increase of 9.5%.

US Neobank Account Holders and Penetration

Let’s start with the core functions of a mobile banking app before creating your digital-only bank because you must also provide features for your mobile application.

Payments. Because your clients want to pay for everything from the mobile phone, developers need to integrate the platform with every possible payment system that will allow clients to pay for everyday expenses, send money, or even pay credits with a few clicks.
Peer-To-Peer Payment Systems. This feature allows you to send money from your account to others` bank accounts or personal cards. There is no need to go to the bank department or look for a terminal to do this operation. Users can independently manage their funds online.
Balance and Transaction Management. The first thing your clients will see opening the app is the balance of the bank account and the history of transactions. Your clients need to have the option of checking the balance 24/7.
Push Notification. The clients must get a notification about every change in their bank accounts. It allows them not to miss any payment or transaction.
Authentication. It is essential for mobile banking to add users to protect the data and ensure safe login into the account. You can add Face ID or fingertips authentication. Also, it can be a two-step authorization with sending the security code.
Managing the Cards and Operations. Banking platform users must be able to block the card or change the PIN code with an app. The asses to those operations must be easy to find, as in some cases, it can be critical.
Geolocation. Banking apps with the geolocation option are made to simplify the search for the nearest ATM or bank office and show directions to it. Also, the apps can include current info about cash availability, hours of operation, currency exchange rates, etc.
AI-Powered Chatbot. Bank clients value financial consultations and would prefer to get one whenever an urgent need arises. With chatbots, this becomes possible and easy. They can answer questions, provide information about banking operations, help clients navigate to necessary manual sections on a website, or else.
Support. This is an integral part of communication with clients. Ideally, you must ensure that users can get permission from digital banking services 24/7.

Nowadays, almost every online banking app has those features. Furthermore, some advanced features can increase your platform's competitiveness.

Take Cash Without a Card. Some apps allow you to withdraw money with an app.
Access to Other Bank Products. It can be a loan or insurance provided by the same bank. Users of the platform can have special access to those products.
Special Alerts. You can develop an option to turn on custom clients notification. For example, some clients want to be notified that the balance is low or when to pay regular monthly payments.
Cashback. Every time your clients use a mobile app to purchase, they can get a cashback on the card or special bonuses depending on how much they spend.

... and anything else your imagination can come up with. Your app can benefit from any of these features and stand out from the crowd.

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Unsurprisingly, most mobile banking users check their account balances using the app. Approximately two-thirds of users transfer money between accounts and pay bills, and roughly four in 10 deposit checks, send money, and view statements.

Banking app security aspect

Mobile banking app development is challenging because of multiple privacy and safety concerns. Financial industry regulations and KYC (Know Your Customer) standards must be met for an app to protect sensitive customer data and money. Starting from the very beginning, this must be the top priority for app developers.

As a result of Positive Technologies' research on mobile solutions for several large banks, we were able to identify the following vulnerabilities and threats:

In 13 out of 14 audited applications, attackers could access user data from the client side;
iOS apps contained fewer vulnerabilities than their Android counterparts;
76% of vulnerabilities can be exploited without manipulating the device.

There are a number of security solutions that bank application developers should be able to integrate, including:

Multi-factor authentication;
Transaction verification through push notifications;
Secure transactions with digital signatures in the mobile app;
User session inactivity timers;
When users switch between apps, the last screen is blurred so that others cannot see it;
Automatic blocking of suspicious payments;
Dynamic CVC2, which is a three-digit code that changes daily or even hourly;
The app's passwords and transaction-related information cannot be stored on mobile devices;
When an app is deleted, all downloaded or received data is erased in memory;
To prevent other devices from accessing app data, the app software and card storage are encrypted at high levels;
Repackaging protection, when a hacker obtains a copy of the app, unpacks it, adds malicious functionality, and then repacks it to use;
Educational content in-app regarding privacy, credentials, and storing sensitive information.

Having learned what users expect and what you should prioritize from the beginning, it's time to build a banking app.

How to develop online banking application

What are the steps to building a mobile banking app? Financial institutions and FinTech startups should follow these steps on their roadmap:

Hire professionals to develop online banking applications;
Plan your budget and timeline after researching the project requirements;
UI/UX design;
Create a minimum viable product (MVP) or full-featured app and test it.

We usually recommend starting with team formation. You need to find experienced software developers who can help with research, planning, documentation, and other critical tasks. If you are looking for such a team, you can fill out the form, and Mad Devs will contact you.

By now, you may be wondering if the journey is affordable, so let's explore the ultimate question: how much does mobile banking app development cost? Read Also: Mad Devs Software Price Estimation Principles.

Create a project team

Your mobile banking application development team requires, but not be limited to:

Back-end developer(s);
Mobile developers to implement the client-side;
UX/UI designer;
Quality assurance (QA) engineers;
Project manager (PM) or Scrum Master.

You can skip this paragraph if you have a cross-functional in-house team ready to develop a banking app now. Otherwise, you would have to hire the necessary specialists. They can be locally or choose between outstaffing and outsourcing.

Learn more about Mad Devs' delivery models that aim to deliver long-term value for our customers and end users. With a dedicated Mad Devs team of IT professionals, you can bring your product idea to life.

Rather than hiring freelancers, consider outsourcing your software development. Often, they have a track record of successful mobile banking product development, effective workflows, and NDAs to protect your intellectual property. Additionally, they have mechanisms to meet your budget and requirements.

Your future technical partner should ensure the security of your banking app and consumer data. Make sure they understand the digital banking environment and the regulations and standards they may have to follow, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, PSD2, ISO/IEC 27001, etc.

As well as advising you, your banking app developers should select the most appropriate technologies for your project. They may also suggest integrating third-party services, a suitable payment processor for easy payments through the app, etc., for an easier development process and shorter time-to-market.

Technology stack for iOS and Andriod native apps

Swift

Apple Xcode

iOS SDK

Kotlin

Android SDK

Android Developer Tools

Technology stack for hybrid and cross-platform apps

Java Script

HTML5

CSS

TypeScript

Dart

C

Ionic

React

Flutter

Xamarin

Apache Cordova

Technology stack for backend development

PHP

Python

Ruby

Node JS

Java

Laravel

Cake PHP

Ruby on Rails

Django

Flask

Express JS

Spring Boot

Plan and discover the project

If you have an online banking service, you may be tempted to replicate it on mobile devices or unconsciously or intentionally make a rival’s product. Mobile banking solutions based on these approaches are risky.

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The first version of your app should be limited to the minimum features that meet the users' primary needs rather than a lengthy and expensive development.

Discovering ways to make the product competitive, prioritizing features, documenting requirements, and even designing the first interface are all part of the discovery stage.

Customers only expect to perform a few habitual tasks on the go and can wait for the bank to expand the app's functionality gradually. Analyzing existing users' interactions with the mobile app on their devices allows you to discover the most popular features.

You can also explore your region's best-rated and most popular banking apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Analyzing the quality of the product, you may list the needed features and think about how to improve your product. To impress the first users and set the app apart from the competition, startups might need to include 1-2 innovative features in the MVP. Following that, it can then modify the features and add new capabilities based on user feedback.

Startups and banks should understand the same things to create a successful app:

Needs, main pain points, preferences, lifestyle, age, and other factors of the target audience
Weaknesses and strengths of your competitors
Mobile banking and FinTech trends at the moment

Also, startups need to determine if a particular market can be profitable and whether the target audience is interested in a new mobile banking product. An end-user prototype can be tested with actual end users through market research, surveys, and interviews.

The benefits of hiring experienced banking application developers early on are obvious because they can help you:

Identify your target audience and future segment end-users;
Professionally analyze competitors' offerings;
Document and visualize the optimal feature set with user flows, diagrams, and wireframes;
Select the preferred platform and approach: native, hybrid, or cross-platform;
Implement everything with the right tech stack.

UI/UX design and prototyping

You need someone with experience in mobile UX/UI design at this stage. The designer must also consider cognition and cultural nuances in addition to the specification and iOS/Android material design guidelines.

UI wireframes are usually created first and improved iteratively until high-fidelity mockups of the main screens are created.

In parallel, they develop a style guide. The designer will likely use the bank's existing logo and color themes if it has a web application. To create a unique brand and give an app a visual identity, startups must pay special attention to this step.

The typeface, colors, other visual elements, and even the 'voice' of your in-app messages should appeal to your target audience.

Using the created wireframes, the designer creates a prototype. After the owner approves a high-fidelity prototype, it can be handed over to the programmers for implementation.

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A quality assurance and development process

This is the stage where the design comes to life. Programmers develop both the interface and the backend of the app. Due to the app's inability to process transactions itself, the developers connect the app with the bank's server.

They will likely integrate several APIs (application programming interfaces) to enable data exchange between different apps. These integrations' benefits are visualization of bank data, cross-bank money transfers, expense tracking, and electronic signatures.

Firebase, CloudKit, and AWS Mobile Hub are off-the-shelf solutions.

QA engineers ensure that the products comply with the specifications and all applicable FinTech industry standards as part of the development process. You should test your MVP or full-scale product at the end of every sprint or after each feature delivery.

It is the tester's responsibility to find all functionality and code errors and vulnerabilities. Small, controlled groups of users can then access the product after its final approval. In addition to their feedback and analytics, stress-testing the servers will increase your chances of success.

The following briefly explains a mobile banking application development process until publication. Monitor your system, fix bugs, perform maintenance, update after OS updates, improve, experiment, do UX/UI audits, etc.

Why Software Projects Fail: Importance of Quality Assurance

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Popular mobile banking startups

Kuda


Native Name	Kuda Microfinance Bank
Founded	2016
Founders	Babs Ogundeyi, Musty Mustapha
Plarform	Android, iOS
Headquarters	London, England, UK‎
Operating	Nigeria
Website	kuda.com

Kuda Microfinance Bank is a fully-licensed bank in Nigeria, also known as Kuda Bank. It is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank and available for residents and citizens of Nigeria who want to transition from traditional banking to convenient and fee-free digital banking. While the Lagos-based company is still a young one, it has earned the trust of over 1.4 million clients.

Kuda Bank’s mobile app is considered one of the best finance platforms available in the Nigerian market. The Kuda Bank used not to charge bank fees, but in July 2022, they began charging 50 nairas for 10,000 nairas and higher deposits.

The bank provides a number of tools to help users track their spending habits, save more money, and make the right money moves. There are no maintenance fees for cards or accounts. The bank offers its customers 25 free transfers to other banks every month. Since 2022 bank has implemented a 50 naira charge on deposits of 10,000 naira and more.

Here is a list of Kuda's features so that you can get a bigger picture:

Free debit cards
Free withdrawals at over 3,000 ATMs across Nigeria
Users can earn up to 15% interest on their savings
No paperwork
Automatic budgeting tools for easier money management
Users can categorize and track their spending habits.

Kuda Bank Tech Stack

Unfortunately, we cannot provide this type of information yet.

Starling Bank


Native Name	Starling Bank
Founded	2014
Founder	Anne Boden
Plarform	Android, iOS
Headquarters	London, England, UK‎
Operating	Users can currently send international payments to 36 countries
Website	starlingbank.com

Starling Bank is a digital challenger bank based in the United Kingdom. Licensed and regulated bank Starling Bank focuses on current and business accounts.

In addition, Starling was the first digital bank account to join the Current Account Switching Service. You can manage your Starling bank account entirely through the app or desktop browser. Customers can receive a contactless Mastercard debit card.

As soon as Starling launched, it set out to innovate. In its mobile app-enabled Apple Pay for the first time in the UK. Before their card arrives through the mail, customers can use their accounts and even make payments. Late in 2017, Android mobile wallets were supported.

A number of features are available in the app, including savings goals, real-time notifications, and spending reports.

Pros of Starling Bank:

Fast and easy to set up
24/7 access
Fee-free is spending abroad
No monthly fee for the services
Desktop version for those that wish to bank using a PC
Safe and secure.

Starlink Bank Tech Stack

Unfortunately, we cannot provide this type of information yet.

Current Bank


Native Name	Current Bank
Founded	2015
Founder	Stuart Sopp
Plarform	Android, iOS
Headquarters	New York, United States
Operating	United States
Website	current.com

Current is a digital-only app that aims to simplify banking in the modern age. A teens-only plan can also help young adults learn about money management.

Currently is a free online banking app. It offers a Visa debit card, free withdrawals from 40,000+ ATMs, and 4% APY on savings up to $6,000.

Currently, Current is a financial technology company. Choice Financial Group provides bank services. As a result, funds are eligible for pass-through deposit insurance coverage of up to $250,000 from the FDIC.

Currently, there are over 4 million users. Since April 2021, the company has raised $402.4M in venture capital funding, including a $220M Series D round.

Pros of Currently Bank:

$0 monthly fee
4% APY on up to $6,000 in savings
Up to 15x cash back at 14,000 participating retailers
Fee-free ATM access at 40,000 locations nationwide
Teenager account with unobtrusive parental monitoring
No overdrafts or hidden fees
Insightful budget categories
Early two-day access to direct paycheck deposit (with Premium).

Current Bank Tech Stack

Unfortunately, we cannot provide this type of information yet.

Tandem Money


Native Name	Tandem Money Limited
Founded	2015
Founders	Ricky Knox, Matt Cooper, and Michael Kent
Plarform	Android, iOS
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Operating	UK
Website	tandem.co.uk

Tandem Bank was founded in 2013 by Ricky Knox, Matt Cooper, and Michael Kent and is owned by Tandem Money. Tandem acquired Harrods Bank in 2018, giving them full bank status and a banking license.

Tandem is a fully-fledged bank account, meaning that up to £85,000 of your money. Tandem became a fully-fledged bank account in 2018 after it acquired Harrods bank, allowing it to operate from the previous license that Harrods Bank held.

As a savings tool, Tandem previously used artificial intelligence to analyze your spending habits and suggest an amount to save. Tandem users could also save money by using its handy round-ups feature. Still, the company announced in January 2021 that it would be discontinuing its autosaving feature to focus on 'green banking' instead.

Since then, Tandem has announced that it is acquiring fast-growing consumer lender Oplo to create the UK's fairest, greenest digital bank.

The company announced plans to expand worldwide in 2019, starting in Hong Kong. Convoy Global, a Hong Kong-based financial adviser, had invested $15 million earlier.

Pros of Tandem bank:

Free and easy to use
Committed to green banking and helping customers reduce their carbon footprint
FSCS protected
Chat to customer services 8 AM-6 PM Monday to Friday.

Tandem Money Tech Stack

Application and Data Used to Tandem Money

Airflow

Amazon Aurora

Amazon Elastic MapReduce

Java Script

TypeScript