Steps to Mobile Banking App Development In 2024: Universal Guide

Last Updated: 

November 22, 2024

Mobile banking is now one of the most important segments of online banking services. As reported in Statista, mobile banking applications are used by 2.5 billion individuals in 2024. As the use of mobile devices and networks increases, customers want banks to offer mobile banking services.

graph showing mobile banking users since 2020

This guide is useful for bank or financial institution owners who want to develop a mobile banking application.

Key Takeaways on Mobile Banking App Development

  1. Understand Your Users: Analyse your target audience to tailor the app features and functionalities to their specific needs, ensuring a user-centric design.
  2. Define Core Features: Include essential features such as account information, payments, transfers, user management, and security measures to meet user expectations.
  3. Choose the Right Platform: Decide between native and hybrid app development based on your budget, user base, and business goals to ensure optimal performance.
  4. Design Intuitive UI/UX: Create a clean, easy-to-navigate interface with logical workflows to enhance user experience and drive app adoption.
  5. Ensure Robust Security: Implement multi-factor authentication, biometric logins, and encryption to protect user data and prevent unauthorised access.
  6. Integrate Banking Systems: Use secure API-based integration or middleware solutions to connect the app with core banking systems for real-time data access.
  7. Drive User Adoption: Use in-branch promotions, email/SMS campaigns, social media, and push notifications to encourage users to download and engage with the app.
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Understanding Mobile Banking App Users

Before starting the mobile banking app development process, it's crucial to understand your target users and their needs. This will shape the features and functionality you need to provide in the app.

Some questions to ask:

  • Who will be the primary users - retail banking customers, small business owners, corporate banking clients, etc?
  • What are their main mobile banking needs - check balances, transfer funds, pay bills, etc?
  • What devices and platforms will they likely use - iOS, Android, tablets, wearables?
  • What level of mobile banking functionality do they expect?

Analyse your existing internet/mobile banking usage data and customer demographics. You can also run surveys and user interviews to gather insights or let Mangosoft.tech help you during the banking mobile app development process.

Understanding user expectations and behaviours will allow you to design an app perfectly suited for them and finally answer the question of how to build a banking app. Failing to do so risks creating an app with features they may not want or need.

Defining Features and Functionality

illustration of online banking features

Once you analyse and segment your target users, define what exactly you want to enable them to do through the mobile banking application.

Some common mobile banking features include:

Account Information

  • Check account balances
  • View transaction history - help users track expenses or payments
  • View e-statements - reduce paper waste!
  • Summarise expenses across categories like food, shopping, fuel, etc., to aid personal budgeting

Payments/Transfers

  • Internal transfers between user’s own accounts
  • External domestic transfers to other bank account holders
  • International money transfers - crucial for globetrotters and families abroad!
  • Peer-to-peer payments - reimburse friends easily after group outings
  • Pay utility bills, mobile/broadband bills etc.
  • Schedule future dated or recurring payments

User Management

  • Update personal details in a self-service manner
  • Manage beneficiaries for seamless transfers
  • Set customised usage limits or restrictions for security
  • Report lost debit/credit cards to prevent fraud

Security

  • Multi-factor authentication for login and high-value transactions
  • Biometric login like fingerprint or facial recognition for convenience
  • Instant push notifications for all transactions - vigilance against frauds!

Additional Services

  • Apply for pre-approved loans, overdrafts, etc., in a few clicks
  • Open new fixed deposits more easily
  • Access financial planning tools and calculators

Prioritise must-have features first based on popular demand. Enhanced capabilities can be added later through app updates. The final feature list should align with your mobile strategy and business goals. At the same time, design features to help improve customers' financial lives!

How to Create a Banking App: Choosing a Mobile Banking App Development Platform

There are primarily two technology routes to build the mobile banking app - native or hybrid platforms.

Native Apps

Native apps are built specifically for a single mobile operating system - either iOS or Android. They offer the best performance since the mobile application development for banking directly interfaces with the device's capabilities.

But you need to build the iOS and Android versions separately, which takes more time and money. This may be suitable for large banks targeting many customers across platforms. These companies can also leverage iOS subscriptions to offer premium features or services, ensuring a steady and predictable revenue stream.

Hybrid Apps

Hybrid apps use cross-platform frameworks like React Native, Flutter, Ionic, etc. This allows you to build a banking app once and deploy it to both iOS and Android app stores.

They are faster and cheaper to build, though performance may be slightly lower than native apps. This approach can work for smaller banks with limited budgets.

When considering your approach, it’s essential to select the right mobile app development software that aligns with your project needs. Analyse your users, business goals, and budgets to decide the right approach. You can always take a hybrid first strategy and later build your own banking app that is native. Google "Ukraine outsourcing companies" if you need a hybrid solution. As time has shown, Ukrainian developers are good at them.

Designing an Intuitive UI/UX

The mobile app’s user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) will directly impact adoption and usage. Keep it simple yet visually appealing, and follow platform-specific design guidelines to ensure familiarity.

Some best practices on how to make a banking app that is appealing include:

  • Clean, minimalist, and easy-to-navigate interface
  • Logical information hierarchy and workflow
  • Context-based actions and menu options
  • Keyboard shortcuts for faster user input
  • Visual cues and micro-interactions

Additionally, optimise the experience for quick sessions. Use features like Face ID for fast access and in-session freezing to resume where users left off.

Ensuring Robust Security

Security is paramount to building a banking app. Your app must safeguard user information and prevent unauthorised access or fraudulent transactions.

User Access Controls

  • Multi-factor authentication during login and for high-value transactions
  • Device binding and registration to authorise specific devices
  • Biometric authentication through fingerprint or facial recognition

Transaction Validation

  • Instant push notifications for all transactions
  • OTP validation for transfers and payments
  • Limits on transaction types or payment amounts

Data Protection

  • Encrypt all user data and communications
  • Tokenisation to avoid storing actual card/bank details
  • Remote wipe capability in case the user’s device is lost/stolen

Keep up with regulatory and industry security standards that explain how to build a mobile banking app that meets all the requirements. Conduct extensive app testing and audits before launch.

Integrating Banking Systems

The banking app development needs connectivity with your core banking software and systems like CBS, card management systems, etc. This enables real-time data access to:

  • Fetch user account and transaction data
  • Validate identities and entitlements
  • Execute transactions initiated on the app

You can either build direct API-based integration or use middleware solutions. Ensure the integration pathway is secure and efficient while abstracting internal complexity from the app.

How to Create a Mobile Banking App: Building an Admin Portal

Additionally, build a web-based admin portal for managing the mobile banking application and users. Key admin functionality includes:

  • User management - add, edit, deactivate users
  • Entitlement management - control what users can access or transact
  • Alerts and monitoring - unusual activity indicators
  • App updates - deploy fixes and upgrades
  • Analytics - reports on adoption, usage, transactions, etc

The portal must only be accessible to authorised admins via multi-factor authentication.

Beta Testing the Apps

Before a full launch, conduct beta testing of the apps with a smaller set of users. Fix any crashes, bugs or issues found during testing.

Testing also provides user feedback to improve flows and user experience. Functional, UI, performance and security testing are all crucial.

Only proceed to launch once rigorous testing in real-user conditions is completed. Manage app releases by gradually ramping up users, which will help you understand how to create a bank app that people really like.

Ensuring Cross-Platform Availability

To enable easy access for all users, launch the native or hybrid apps on both:

iOS App Store

Submit your iOS app for Apple's review and listing on their App Store. This makes it visible and downloadable for iPhone/iPad users.

Google Play Store

Similarly, list your Android app on the Google Play Store. Android phone/tablet users can search and install it from there.

Apps are the primary distribution channels for mobile banking. Listing on app stores ensures you reach all target users. Therefore, one of the first questions you will have to answer is how to create banking application in Android or iOS.

Driving User Adoption and Engagement

mobile banking users

Merely launching the mobile banking app will not drive spontaneous adoption. You need dedicated marketing and engagement efforts, including:

In-Branch Promotion

Tellers, relationship managers and branch staff play a key role here. They should educate and personally assist customers in how to create mobile banking interactions and install the app during account opening or visits. Have the staff demonstrate the app features themselves right on the customer's phone. This helps new users understand the convenience and builds confidence.

Email and SMS Campaigns

Notify existing internet banking users via emails and text messages. Send download links and simple pictorial steps to register for the app. Email is also useful for sharing app updates or new features to re-engage users.

Social Media Posting

Create fun Facebook/Instagram posts showcasing your new mobile app. Use short videos to highlight key features and convenience. You can have customers share their experiences, too. Target paid ads on social platforms towards website visitors who have not signed up for mobile banking. Catch their attention with the ads in places they frequent daily. This is an essential part of how to start a banking app to make it successful.

Push Notifications

Once users install the app, use in-app messages and push notifications to drive re-visits. Be helpful by sending timely alerts on new offers or account activity notifications. But don't overwhelm people with too many messages.

Promotional Offers

Everybody likes deals! Run limited-time discounts or cashback for users completing their first transaction on the mobile app. This incentivises instals and drives initial usage. Make the offers juicy enough to attract attention amidst the everyday app notification noise.

Reviews and Ratings

Prompt satisfied users to leave positive ratings and reviews on the app stores. This signals quality to potential users browsing the app stores. Occasional app popups can encourage users to share their nice experience or provide any feedback on how to make a mobile banking app better.

The goal is to use multiple channels to inform customers and make them feel comfortable trying out the new mobile banking application. The personal touch also helps humanise outreach. Keep iterating the engagement campaigns based on user response.

Monitoring Performance and Analytics

There are two key aspects to tracking post-app launch:

App Performance

When developing a mobile banking application, it’s essential to use mobile analytics tools to monitor app crashes, errors, bugs, or glitches faced by users. Utilising tools to detect and report app crash can significantly enhance your ability to identify whether issues are device or platform-specific. Additionally, tracking opt-outs or uninstalls helps pinpoint potential pain points in the user experience.

Business Performance

Measure transaction volumes and usage of different features. See which areas need improvement. Check data for enrollment rates, user drop-offs, frequency of use, session lengths and similar metrics.

Continuous monitoring provides insights to further enhance the apps through updates. It also indicates adoption levels across user segments.

Regular App Maintenance and Updates

Banking apps development require ongoing maintenance for optimal uptime and performance:

Issue Resolution

Based on the data gathered from analytics, resolve any problems that a user encounters, such as crashes, bugs or other problems, via updates. Offer upgrades and fixes for OS/device-related issues.

Feature Enhancements

Continuously refine features and introduce new functionality in light of the current user requirements and technological advancements. Maintain competitiveness.

Regulatory Compliance

Describe changes in regulation or policy regarding app use – for instance, changes in authenticating users. Reminders to compel the users to stay on the right side of the law.

Security Patching

How to create a banking application that is safe?Update security, encryption, etc. , from time to time to correct flaws and protect from new cyber threats.

Thus, to maintain your mobile banking channel, there is a need to be proactive in the management of the mobile application.

Key Takeaways

So, how to develop online banking application and what are the steps? Building a feature-rich, user-friendly and secure mobile banking app development requires coordinated efforts across multiple steps:

  1. Gathering user insights to design an app that meets their needs
  2. Defining features and functionality aligned to mobile strategy
  3. Ensuring intuitive UI/UX optimised for banking tasks
  4. Incorporating robust security mechanisms
  5. Integrating with core banking systems
  6. Administrative portal for managing apps and users
  7. Rigorous testing before launch
  8. Cross-platform availability on app stores
  9. Driving adoption through promotions and engagement
  10. Tracking analytics for improvement
  11. Regular upgrades and maintenance

When mobile banking app development is approached systematically, the customer satisfaction and the frequency of usage of the mobile channel in your bank is improved.

Meeting user needs, security, and the constant improvement of the service are the factors that will determine the sustainable future of mobile banking.

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