Four Challenges Finance Apps Face and How to Conquer Them
App development has taken the world by storm. Statistics show that both the number of app users as well as the revenue earned through them are due to increase in the coming years.
You’ve got apps for practically everything these days. You’ve got apps for music, apps to edit pictures with and apps to help with fitness. One app type that is popular with individuals and businesses alike is financial apps.
A Variety of Finance Apps
Even among finance apps, you do have variation. You have apps that are sanctioned by different banks and allow you to perform various monetary transactions on the spot. You also have simpler individual finance app development that can help you save, achieve financial goals, and of course, manage your money better. Finally, you have many advanced finance apps designed for use by professionals specializing in the same.
In one of their articles, Forbes highlighted the increase in the use of financial apps as well as how these apps have influenced user behavior when it comes to saving, spending, and so on. At the same time, in yet another article on finance apps and fin-tech companies, the emphasis was laid on the general disappointment many felt towards what was available.
The question: why do users struggle with using finance apps, especially when the usage of apps in other sectors has become so common?
Finance App Challenges
Finance apps are popular, and sources state that over 2/3 of the US population with smartphones uses a financial app in some form or another. Though extremely useful, finance apps don’t come free of their brand of challenges both on the individual user and business or organizational end. We’re going to elaborate on four of the most common challenges associated with finance apps and share some information on how these may be overcome.
Security Challenges
The first and possibly biggest challenge faced by finance apps, developers and users, involves data security. Where you might not mind someone hacking a Netflix account or using your Spotify, finance is another ballgame and is a lot more sensitive.
Though companies and developers use techniques like biometric authentication i.e., fingerprint or facial recognition, this can sometimes be inadequate. Finance apps on phones and computer systems can be subject to threats, hacking, and other kinds of theft. To counter the security issue, developers need to keep working on better ways to protect the information of app users. App users, on the other hand, need to oblige when required to verify their identity for security purposes, even if it means doing so in person.
User Experience Challenges
App development and apps, in general, are about two things. The first is the user or customer facilitation. Making certain processes easier for the user so to speak. The other is about engagement and experience. Users need to enjoy the app enough to want to use it more often and preferably on a regular basis.
One of the things that kill positive user experience is over-complication. The simpler it is to undertake processes using the app, the better your user experience will be. Unfortunately, when it comes to finance, the fact that certain transactions may not be that simple, is unavoidable.
Where certain processes like verification are necessary, developers and companies can stress on making apps easier to use and navigate.
Retention Challenges
A problem that not just finance apps, but mobile apps in general face, is that of retention. More often than not, people will download an app just to get a sense of what it is about and delete it if they don’t find it engaging, useful, or practical enough.
Overly complicated apps, those with dreary aesthetics and those where information cannot be conveniently accessed or organized are usually the sort that people find off-putting. Finance apps are meant to simplify what many find to be an already complicated process.
In order to improve client or user retention, it helps to use strategies such as meaningful engagement with customers via messages, personalization, and in-app assistance. The more you show you care, the more likely users are to keep your app on their devices. Another thing that helps is to limit push notifications and to time the ones you do send appropriately.
Regulation, Compatibility and Widespread Usage
When it comes to finance, banks ensure safety via stringent regulation. Different countries have different regulatory standards, and banking apps developed need to take these into account. Apart from this, the fact that finance apps need to work across a wide variety of devices is another challenge developers, and companies face. Keeping the app universal while remaining in line with regulatory standards can be quite challenging.
The best way forward here is to stay informed on regulations in the area the app is being developed for. International finance apps may need to be issued with different versions that can be easily altered for banking under different regulations.
In Conclusion
Developing a solid finance app is a lot harder than other kinds of app development. That said, developers are problem solvers, and if we’ve gotten this far, we can comfortably say that the future of apps, finance-based and otherwise, certainly looks bright.
