Shubham Jha is a Sales & Account Management Professional with experience in various industries including Marketing SaaS Sales, AdTech, MarTech, IT – Sales/ Business Development, Key Account Management, Marketing. He is deft in achieving budgeted sales with the largest and most prominent accounts. Jha is an expert in driving new business, key accounts and establishing strategic partnerships. He is a team player with excellent communication, planning, analytical, organizational, interpersonal and time management skills with an attitude to adapt to evolving business challenges.
Mobile apps are revolutionizing the way we manage our finances, with 90% of mobile users predicted to make a mobile payment with their smartphone in 2020. In 2018, digital transactions in India increased by 55%, compared with 48% in China and 23% in Indonesia, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Moreover, research shows that in India alone, the number of mobile banking payments in 2019 was approximately 6.2 billion. This was a significant increase compared to the previous year, and there is no sign this trend is slowing down. In fact, the Indian digital payments market is estimated to reach the one trillion U.S. dollar mark by 2023.
All of this has been accelerated by COVID-19, as lockdown forced people to rethink how they would complete even the most mundane tasks — including banking. Now more than ever, fintech and banking apps on mobile are integral to daily life, and traditional banks risk becoming irrelevant if they don’t keep up with the competition on this front. Here’s what you need to know about creating a banking app in 2020.
Get to know your audience and competitors
Before you launch any product, it’s crucial to understand the market — and that’s especially true for banking apps. The banking vertical caters to a wide age range and various user types, so it’s essential to identify which features are critical for your target customers. Moreover, if you already have services via desktop and mobile web, your mobile app should offer the same functionality — perhaps with a few extras. (For instance, mobile deposits may not be possible on desktop but are in an app.)
Extensive testing is the best way to identify what works best and ensure your banking app generates optimal results. You should also seek out user feedback from every demographic you are targeting. As you gain a greater understanding of what customers want from your app, you should also gain a clear outline of your various target audience groups, why they will be interested and how you can compete against apps targeting the same audience.
Banking app design
It should go without saying that your user interface should be sleek, easy to use, and address your customers’ needs. What that will look like for each app depends on the audience and the product’s core mission — but that doesn’t mean there aren’t best practices you can follow. For instance, avoid overloading your app with images, text, and icons – keep things simple so users can accomplish their mission quickly and without too many hurdles to jump. You can give your app a visual identity by using your brand’s colour themes and logo when appropriate.
You can also help users make sense of complicated financial matters by including data visualizations. For best results, A/B test these visualizations so you can learn when they are useful and when they are harming your UX.
Messaging is also a key component your team will need to consider. From time to time, you will need to communicate with your users. While interruptive messages that appear on the screen may seem necessary for conveying important financial information, they can also annoy users just trying to complete a task — in which case, non-interruptive messaging may be a better fit.
Secure your app
When it comes to the banking of any type, security is of the utmost importance. Whether it’s a guard at the door or biometric log-in, your customers want to know their money is safe with you. To inspire confidence and keep your users’ data secure, you’ll need to implement these four security features:
- Only allow sophisticated passwords
- Don’t store unnecessary information
- Use two-factor authentication
- Implement payment blocking
Keep in mind that security often impacts the user experience, and you’ll need to balance both concerns to create a seamless but secure experience.
User onboarding
When it comes to retaining users, the onboarding process is incredibly important. Bad user experience can send users running back to the teller — or worse, to the competition. There are many aspects of user onboarding that need to be considered, but the most important for fintech companies is that you establish trust with your audience.
To get started, consider coordinating your onboarding across multiple channels, making sure your messaging is consistent, and the process is seamless. Meanwhile, remember that it’s important to tell users why you’re collecting it and how you will use it whenever you ask for personal information. You can also offer trials, allowing potential customers to try out your services without commitment.
User personas are also a great way to optimize your onboarding. These are fictionalized versions of audience groups that will help you segment your customers by their needs. You can create user personas using your market research and gather data to identify behavioural trends once your app has launched. Having a complete understanding of your user personas will also help you further down the line and ensure you make research-driven decisions.
The bottom line on fintech
Remember, when it comes to fintech apps and banking in general, users are often on a mission to complete a task or get information. Your goal should be to help them do this safely with as little friction as possible. If you do it right, you will succeed against your competitors, continue to grow your business and will be part of shaping the future of mobile finance.