Mobile applications have become a normal part of everyone’s life. We have come so far with technology that we are constantly looking for the next thing to simplify. Whether it is just communication or listening to music, the results are nothing but astonishing.
When it comes to financing, applications have not yet been fully incorporated. This is the biggest reason why mobile apps may still be unpopular when people dealing with finances.
It should be noted that there have already been many successful attempts at creating a professional finance application. Let’s look further into this process and answer the question: how to make a financial app as concise as possible.
Importance of a Financial Application
Before we can delve into the process of creating personal finance apps, let’s first look at what solutions they can offer to the users and everyone who would be affected by them (the whole financial process).
1. Time-saving
This is one of the most obvious advantages of mobile banking. Financial applications can save users a lot of time. Instead of making that time-consuming trip to the bank, you can make your transactions at any time.
This is comforting because queuing for hours is completely eliminated. Very soon the idea of going to a physical bank will be almost ridiculous as many banks around the world are finding mobile banking beneficial to them as well.
2. Saving a lot of money for the user
When it comes to dealing with finances on an application, sometimes, you don’t get charged for making a particular operation. This is not the case of actual banks where services offered to clients usually are not free at all.
Therefore, for the bank clients, a lot of money can be saved with the help of a mobile app. This is another leading feature of a financial application that wins users over. Users can access their account as many times as they want and whenever they like.
3. Easy way to find your information
With the finance apps, users have the ability to look at their account’s balance. Other information that can be easily accessed includes:
- The transaction history,
- Facilities for fund transfer,
- Alert for the minimum balance and many more.
Finance applications have made the above possible on a simple mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
4. Security
This is surely the biggest concern for anyone who is considering using a finance application. Sharing your financial information via the internet is a scary process. While that is true, and everyone should keep this in mind, financial applications are very safe.
Most banks that use financial applications encourage their clients to download the app directly from their server. This way the app has a stronger encryption that makes it impossible for hackers to break into your account.
In order for mobile apps to win the general population over, they must be safe and it is safe to say that they are.
Why Consider Financial Applications?
For most people who have used a personal finance app, there isn’t really anything to compare it to. But that is enough about the user – what about the people who actually create this technology and offer it to the general public? What would convince anyone to invest in a financial app? And the most important question of all is it worth it?
In order to answer that question, we need to look to the most important information every individual is looking in order to create a personal finance management app. That is simply a demand.
How is the general public reacting to the finance apps? With what population is this technology more popular? Are younger individuals easier to market to than the older ones? All these questions need to be answered before you proceed to make your decision.
One of the biggest markets for financial management apps is the millennials. A study showed that this sector of the population is generally looking for better and more innovative ways of banking.
However, it is very wise to have a diverse audience. More and more people are becoming aware of new technology, which seems to get simpler and more easy to use.
In addition, looking at the success of the already existing financial apps, it is safe to say that there is a chunky profit at the end if the right application is made. So, there you have it – a lot to gain when looking to create a financial management app or just looking to invest in one.
Building an App for Personal Finance
You are now well aware of what financial apps can do for the banking industry. You probably have the impetus to go forward with the idea to build a finance management app, but how do you do it? Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Number of users – the number of smartphone users (in the US, for example) is constantly on the rise and will definitely pick up more pace in the future. Therefore, you should keep in mind that your application has to be able to support both Android and iOS operating systems.
- Simplicity – this point is very important. When you are laying down a plan for your application, make sure it has a very simple user interface. No one wants to use a financial app that is very difficult to operate. Remember the point is to make life easier and not the opposite. The design is supposed to be the as good as possible. A good idea is to learn from the very best apps at the moment and see which of their ideas can work well with your application.
- Security – it is a big issue when it comes to app creation, especially for any that deal with banking. Therefore it is your duty to make your application as secure as possible. Identify all the risks involved with making your application. This is primarily to make sure no user has their information stolen by cyber thieves. We have already stated that contrary to what most people think about online banking, it is actually very safe, especially when using mobile apps.
- One place for everything – make sure your app enables the user to carry out all actions related to their finances in one place. This is very convenient because it saves the customer a lot of time and money to make other transaction elsewhere.
- Interaction with bank accounts – when it comes to creating financial apps, it is better to keep the interaction between the application and a bank account to a minimum. Many successful apps have this trait and there is a reason for it. It simply works in keeping everything simple and tidy.
- Tracking transactions – your finance app is supposed to be able to track all of the users business transactions. This is important, especially for all the advanced transactions the user makes. Evidently, this ability can help the application to make an analysis of how the user utilized their money (spending and earning).
- Notifications – a finance app would not be the same as the ability to show notifications. Why is ability so important? It is pretty obvious, nobody would like to miss very important information concerning their money. So, this is surely something every finance app must be able to do.
- Cross-platform application – many people who use smartphones have an extra device like a laptop or a desktop. Any great finance application can be accessed on any device. Adding this feature to your finance app will definitely put you on the right track. You will be able to gain more popularity with your target market.
All the above features should be accounted for when creating a budget app for Android or budget app for iPhone. But as stated above, it is best to create an application that can adapt to both platforms.
Conclusion
Personal finance applications definitely have a big market. They are becoming more and more popular with everyone and not just the younger population as most individuals would be led to think.
The million dollar question has not yet been answered. How much will it cost to build a functional financial app? Well, this is not a question that is easy to answer. In the end, it comes down to several factors like how much effort you put in at every stage of the creation process.
For example, the developments phase, the platform you decided to go with, how much effort you put into designing the application and eventually how much money you will spend to get your application to the public. All these factors should be put together when coming up with the official price.
At Lunapps, we fully understand the impact of financial apps. The future for this technology looks bright and there is no doubt that they will become more integrated into our daily business activities. Our team offers expertise in app creation to anyone looking to develop their own application and sticking to the subject, finance apps.