Building Finance Apps: Best Practices and Unique Challenges

At first glance, building a finance app may not seem very different from building any type of software. There's nothing fundamentally different about the way finance apps work: They can be programmed using the same software architectures, coding languages, and development methodologies as virtually any other app.

Yet, when you actually delve into creating finance software, you're likely to discover that there are some special considerations and challenges you'll need to address. They don't require you to rethink your app design or development process from the ground up, but you will ideally work to get ahead of the unique needs of finance apps so you don't find yourself having to modify your application design or codebase after the fact due to requirements you didn't consider upfront.

To that end, here's a look at what to consider as you design a finance app and best practices for building one.

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What Is a Finance App?

Before diving into best practices for finance app development, let's make clear what we mean by "finance app."

We're referring to any type of software that addresses a finance-related use case. Some finance apps help people manage personal finances. Others support the financial needs of accounting teams or businesses. Banking apps, too — including legacy banking software as well as modern "fintech" solutions — also fall within this category.

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Thus, the specific purpose of finance apps can vary widely. What they all share in common, however, is helping people manage money, payments, or accounts in some way.

The Unique Requirements of Finance Software

Again, finance software is not all that different in most respects from other types of software. You don't need to use a specific type of programming language or software architecture for finance apps; almost any approach will work.

That said, finance apps are subject to some special requirements that are not important for most other types of software:

Best Practices for Finance Application Development

There are no shortcuts for addressing the special requirements of finance apps. Nor is there a development framework or toolkit that will streamline finance app development in all respects.

There are, however, some best practices that can help developers build great financial software in an efficient way.

Start with compliance

Rather than designing your app, then figuring out how it will address compliance requirements, determine which compliance and auditing needs it has to support before you begin working on the app.

By making compliance a central focus from day one of the development process, you maximize your ability to meet compliance needs, while also avoiding the inefficient process of retrofitting compliance features into the app later. For example, implementing transaction reporting after the rest of the app has been built is likely to be a much heavier lift than designing the app from the start to support that feature.

Evaluate actual user needs

Determining who the app's users and use cases are is also a key early step in the finance app development process. Don't make assumptions about how people are going to use the app; interview target users and ask them what they want the app to do and which features are most important to them.

Otherwise, you risk building interfaces or functionality that might be cool but don't actually meet user needs — or, worse, that needlessly bloat the attack surface of your app without creating value for users.

Strategically choose a tech stack

The tech stack (meaning the set of frameworks and tools you use to build and run your app) can have major implications for how easy it is to build the app, how secure and reliable it is, and how well it integrates with other systems or platforms.

For that reason, you'll want to consider your stack carefully, and avoid the temptation to go with whichever frameworks or tools you know best or like the most. Taking the time to learn some new tools may pay large dividends later if they lead to a better app.

Keep it simple

Given the plethora of finance apps available today, it can be tempting to want to build fancy interfaces or extravagant features in a bid to set your app apart. In general, however, it's better to adopt a minimalist approach. Build the features your users actually want — no more, no less. Otherwise, you waste time and development resources, while also potentially exposing your app to more security risks.

Conclusion

Building a great finance app doesn't require any special programming skills or methodologies. But it does require attention to some unique considerations. By recognizing and addressing those needs early on, you can place yourself in a stronger position to build a finance app that users love, and that is also secure, compliant, and reliable.