One thing that proves to many that they get into adulting is having their financial matters in order. It’s much easier to manage money today when there is a lot of information on personal finance and tools available. People no longer have to struggle balancing checkbooks and using the envelope system or any other tedious money management techniques.
If you are interested in helping people manage their finances, you can hire a financial app development company to help you create an effective solution.
The two main types of financial applications
As a rule, you can create one of two types of financial applications. You can make a manual application that works with the information the user feeds into it. Alternatively, you can create an automated financial application that can incorporate data from various user accounts, including banks and credit cards. There are many merits and demerits for each. However, in this article, you will learn tips on building a financial app that users want to use.
Tips for building a financial app
1. Know your audience
Your audience will determine what needs your application should meet. Create one or many audience personas and find out their demographics, their needs, and their language. Develop an application that they may find helpful. Baby Boomers, Generation Xers, and Millennials spend their money on different [1] [2] things, so knowing your audience will help you understand what to focus on.
2. Security is key
Security is paramount when using automated apps because so many vital services are connected to the app. However, all money management applications need certain levels of security. Some things that can be implemented to make an application more secure include:
- Introduce two-factor or multifactor authentication to verify the user’s identity.
- Take advantage of technological security measures like biometric systems.
- Set short, timed sessions that automatically log a user out after specific periods.
- Use push notifications to send out real-time alerts on any activities
- Use encrypted systems for improved security.
- Don’t display personal information that criminals can steal.
3. Make it maneuverable
An easy-to-navigate user interface is critical if you want your customers to keep using your application. There are many aspects that come into play when making the application intuitive. They include:
- Introducing step-by-step menus that move the user towards their desired outcomes. Avoid having too many steps.
- Allow users to group their spending into categories they understand and to introduce new categories if they want to.
- Allow users to add extra information they deem helpful, e.g., attaching images of receipts or adding notes to entries.
- If possible, make your application tailored to users with disabilities.
4. Make the app interesting
Offer users value that keeps them coming back for more. There are many ways you can catch and maintain your user’s interest. They include:
- Gamification. Make using the app enjoyable, for example, by introducing leveling-up when a user logs their expenses or uses the app daily.
- Introduce rewards for using the app. Rewards do not have to be monetary. Something as simple as a badge system can keep users coming back.
- Aimless tracking may not appeal to some users. You may need to introduce goal-setting aspects that enable users to see the progress they are making.
5. Make it unique
There are many financial applications in the market. Why should users opt for yours? To make your application stand out, consider the following methods:
- Introduce educational materials that teach users how to spend their money, save, and be more financially savvy.
- Use technological advancements like AI. AI can analyze a lot of data and give valuable insights. Therefore, it can analyze users’ data in the app and give information to help them understand money management better.
- Introduce family sharing. Budgeting is not always an individual affair. By adding family members to one financial account, you can analyze everyone’s spending so that the impact of each individual is visible.
- Introduce geo-tagging and time-stamping expenses for valuable insight into spending. For example, it can enable a user to know when and where they spend the most money.
6. Monetization
People don’t enjoy seeing ads, and they love free applications. Yet, app owners have to earn from their product. If you want to monetize your app, there are two ways you could go about it. And they would not require adding ads to your app.
- Have a free version of the application with limited features. Those who want additional features will have the option of paying for them.
- Introduce a free trial. You can give new users full access to your application with all its features for a limited time, after which they have to pay. This will help them test out if your application can meet their needs.
7. Customer support is essential
As users interact with your application, they are bound to have questions or need help. Invest in creating a fast and efficient customer support system. AI chatbots are particularly useful in addressing commonly asked questions. This way, your human personnel can save time and deal with unique or more critical issues.
8. Launch an MVP
There are many reasons to launch an MVP before the final product. The main takeaway is that it will help get the necessary feedback to launch a fully-fledged application with higher chances of success.
Conclusion
There are many uses of financial applications. Most times, there is one primary goal — to help users manage their finances better. The tips in this article will help you develop and launch an application with higher chances of success. For maximum success, be sure to launch a cross-platform application to reach a broader market. Remember that you do not need to put everything in your application. This will make it complicated and many users will find it off-putting. Instead, focus on making your application lean, user-friendly, and valuable.
