7 Tips to Build A Banking Application That Will Be User-Friendly

According to Statista, 1.9 billion people globally use online banking services; the number is projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2024. Hence, it is crucial for every bank that wants to succeed and compete in the 21st century to have a user-friendly mobile banking application. According to EPAM Anywhere Business mobile banking app development is similar to other applications. The only significant difference is the extra focus directed at the security stage. So, while security is a huge focus, the same intensity must also be required at how intuitive, and user-friendly the banking app must be. In this article, you will learn seven tips to design a mobile banking application. 

Top Tips To Design a Mobile Banking Application

Do Your Research 

It would be best if you started your research with a market analysis before you create a banking app. You must also carefully study the market conditions and your competitors. Some critical aspects to focus on when doing your research are user habits, mentality and culture. For instance, in the US, 70% of American citizens have at least a credit card. In this case, you know you would have to input a credit option in your application. After successfully conducting your research, you would have a market analysis, share, habits, user persona profile, and value proposition.

Set Up Your Security Base 

This is typically the only thing that separates mobile banking apps from others. When building a banking app, you must never forget that you will work with lots of sensitive user data. The following are some of the security bases you should prioritize when you want to build your own banking app. 

• Auto Logout: this logs out users automatically when they are not active on the app for more than 15 minutes, both on the back-end and front-end.
• Secure Password: this ensures that all users' passwords are hashed before getting stored in a database. 
• Secure Authentication: you set this up by using Apple Keychain for IOS and fingerprint security for Androids.
• Data Privacy: to create mobile banking applications successfully, you must have limited access to users' passwords, tokens, and other sensitive data and information. You must also ensure all data and information are stored in secure platforms such as Okta, 1Password, etc. 

Create A Prototype And Test It 

As an application developer, you must know that the success of an application rests solely on the number of interactions it generates. Creating a prototype is a typical example. A prototype is simply the simplified version of the product you intend to make. It usually includes the app's structure, logic, and design. However, the prototype of the banking application you will create won't function seamlessly as the final product regarding stability, functionality, and aesthetics. After you have completed the prototype, let users utilize it and gather feedback. This will let you know what works in your prototype and doesn't. You will be able to enact these corrections in the final product. Creating a prototype and testing it is one of the best ways to validate your mobile banking app's design, usability, and functionality. 

Design The UI & UX 

Using the information you got from your research, market analysis, prototype feedback, and user interviews, you can now start designing your mobile banking app. When creating the UI of your app, ensure that it is user-friendly. A user-friendly mobile application offers numerous benefits, and the reason is simple. People tend to make mistakes or fear making them whenever they deal with anything connected to their money. A user-friendly mobile application with an intuitive, simple, and friendly design helps them avoid this mistake. When it comes to mobile banking applications, you are not trying to stuff in the most features. What you should prioritize are simple features that are easy to navigate. Your users will thank you for it. 

Choose The Right Development Framework

At the early stage of developing a banking application, you must pick the proper development framework. If you are developing a mobile banking app for IOS or Android, it is better to go for Native App development than React Native because of safety. Regarding tech stacks for mobile banking applications made for IOS, XCode, Swift, and iOS SDK are requirements. On the other hand, Android Studio, Java/Kotlin, and Android SDK are the required tools for developing banking applications in Androids. 

Make Use of Third-Parties

After you have successfully created your mobile banking application, you must integrate third-party services before you launch it. You might be thinking, "why do I need third-party integration"?. The simple answer is adopting third-party services can make your banking application more user-friendly and also help to retain users' attention to the maximum. Some of the most popular third-party services for mobile banking applications include Segment (a powerful customer data analytical software), Onfido (users verification software), Sendbird (in-app messaging software) and Iterable (in-app notifications software). Before choosing any third-party service, you must ensure it is secure, stable, and actively supported. 

Maintain And Improve Even After Launching 

After you have set up your security bases, designed your banking application, integrated third-party services, and added an intuitive and user-friendly interface, you can launch your application. However, many developers make the mistake of leaving their mobile applications after launching because they believe they don't need to add extra features so as not to disrupt the positive reviews and feedback they are getting. However, that's not true. Whenever your mobile banking application hits the market, newer and improved requirements and features will appear. You must ensure you implement these features. So, you always look for what users want in their banking apps and use this feedback to improve your banking application. 

Final Thoughts 

Learning how to design a mobile banking application is a significant step toward meeting users' needs. Customers won't need to go to the bank and queue for hours when they can open their phones to do what they want within minutes. However, when creating mobile banking applications, you must focus on data privacy. If you follow the tips in this article, you will have no issue creating a user-friendly mobile banking application. Click this link to learn how to create a successful mobile banking app.