Today’s rapidly growing software development industry has given us solutions for many of our life problems. Industries like medicine, automotive, and banking have already been using technology to automate business processes.
Here, we’ll focus on banking because it is one of the hotpots that startup tech companies are trying to penetrate. This guide will provide you with why the banking industry is very popular and how to succeed in building mobile banking applications.
Banking and financial systems have enjoyed the luxuries that technology has provided in recent years. With the advent of multiple existing innovations, such as the Internet of Things, cryptocurrencies, and digital transformation, it has become easier to elevate banking systems to their optimum potential. Smart solutions have entered the market as banking can now be done by just tapping on mobile phone screens. Thus, mobile banking application development was born.
Mobile Banking Applications
Mobile banking applications have become a very useful tool in transforming today’s dynamics in online banking. The accessibility of banking within arms reach by customers has never been easier and faster. Mobile banking technology also invigorated a new arena in the IT industry involving further research for new tools and innovation in security.
Seeing this massive impact on businesses and bank customers, most banks nowadays have online or web portals which are now slowly being transformed into mobile banking applications. Other financial companies opt for platforms that centralize their transactions in one application. As per research, mobile banking users are expected to catapult to more than 1.75 billion by 2019. This makes up 32% of the entire global population who have seen the great advantages of mobile banking applications.
4 Advantages of Mobile Banking Applications
There are so many reasons why many people are more inclined to use mobile apps nowadays. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s convenient; banking is not an exception. As this industry joins the digital transformation, the trajectory of mobile banking application users is getting higher. Here are some reasons why:
24/7 Access
The 24-hour availability on any day of the week makes mobile banking very advantageous to customers. With 24/7 access, customers can do transactions at any time of the day at their convenience. This is especially very helpful for customers who live in rural areas enabling them to access their online accounts.
Single App for Multiple Transactions
Your mobile banking app is like a “branch” of your branch especially made for customers. The customer can have multiple transactions within the app. These transactions include money transfers, receiving funds, deposit funds, loan applications, and more. You can also partner with bill payment institutions so your clients can use your app as an outlet to pay their bills.
Aside from these, you could also provide in-app customer support for frequently asked questions (FAQs) or direct contact for customers. These activities will provide great advantages and add more value to your relationship with your customers.
Saves Time, Saves Costs
Clearly, mobile banking application is fast. It saves so much time since customers don’t have to go to physical banks for transactions; these can now be done through the mobile app. Additional service charges are also eliminated for the benefit of the customers. Mobile banking applications save customers from a lot of hassle—from braving the traffic on the way up to waiting in line at the bank.
Easier and Faster
FAST, in banking, means Fast And Secure Transactions. It encapsulates the whole goal of having mobile banking applications. This comes with the premise that transactions can now be available to customers in the easiest and most convenient way possible at a shorter duration of time—your needs are made available with a few taps on your phone screen.
More so, security should always be the top priority in developing mobile banking applications. Many customers, especially first-time users, tend to become apprehensive about utilizing mobile apps for their banking needs. In fact, as per Statista, 72.7% of Americans don’t want to use mobile banking applications because they are concerned about security.
However, there are certain measures that you could opt for when dealing with the security of mobile banking applications. Here’s a list of security solutions to implement in your development to ensure that customers can trust it:
- Inspect the activity of data transmission within your system
- Properly evaluate third-party services that you integrate into your app
- Configure the application servers
- Develop terms and conditions and privacy policy statements
- Acknowledge the strength of passwords and encourage unique ones
- Integrate security alerts such as emails and SMS telling users of unusual activities in their accounts (multiple funds transfers in a day, invalid login attempts, new logins from different locations, etc.)
- Make regular application updates with the latest and more secure technologies. Make sure to notify the users about having updates.
To add more to the credibility of your mobile banking app, you should have the necessary features that enable your customers to take advantage of your services seamlessly. These features and services should be modules that should be included when developing your mobile banking app.
Here are 5 necessary services your Mobile Banking App should offer
- Account Profile Creation– This is the primary security detail that your customers are going to provide to secure their accounts and identity. Make sure that each one is unique and has all the needed information possible – name, address, contact details, bank branch, account number, etc.
- Account information – The account information should be in the app. Aside from the personal and contact information, these should also include the statements and checking history.
- Transaction – Transaction history is very important in a mobile banking application. This service should show the cash flow in and out of the account such as funds transfers, bill payments for third-party outlets, and remote deposits to the account.
- Investment – As an added feature, your mobile banking app should also have an investment section showing portfolio management services and the stock exchange with real-time updates.
- Support – One of the main goals of having mobile apps is to lessen face-to-face contact and support. An effective mobile banking application should provide support services to aid customer concerns. These include request updates (for mortgage or insurance), checkbook and card requests, messaging (for complaint submission, tracking, and frequently asked questions (FAQs)), and the locations of the nearest ATMs.
- Content – This part includes additional content that may be helpful to your users such as news updates, exclusive deals with partners, loyalty offers, or just plain old press releases that are relevant to the customer relationship.
- Push Notifications – Alerts on account activity and transactions should also be covered. Sending alert notifications is crucial in case of credit or debit in the account, especially when these are done without the control of the customer.
- Services with Partner Institutions – You can have your customers utilize the app to transact services such as booking flights, paying electricity and water bills, movie tickets, and online shopping among others.
Identifying your Audience & Partners
Along with designing your app, you should be very focused on your target audience; know what they want and what they would likely use. Just note that it’s not only the tech-savvy people who will be using the application. You should also consider the different age groups that bank.
Your partner companies could also add value to your mobile app especially when these partners offer recurring activities to your users. Some of these examples are credit card companies, electricity, and water billing companies among others.
Hire Mobile Banking Application developers
In today’s fast-growing IT industry, there are a lot of options in developing the mobile application that you need. You could either assemble a team to make it, do it on your own, or open up a development department in your company. These options are possible but these are costly in time and money. How about offshoring?
Full Scale is where you can find a team that will do exactly what you need for your business. When you hire a team from Full Scale, you don’t have to do and spend much. We are one of the top development companies in Cebu City, Philippines, and we are continuously growing as we expand our pool of IT talent and clients.
Through our Guided Development process, we will let you have control of the development process while we take care of the recruitment, assessment, and onboarding the top developers that we can find to work on your project. Forming a team of your own is now made easier with Full Scale!
Visit our website or shoot us a message to know more about the services that we offer!
