Managing finances has always been one of the core challenges individuals face.
From keeping track of their savings and investments to managing their credit card bills, insurance premiums, and loans, all these tasks seem impossible to handle.
But even such complex tasks are being simplified with the help of modern-day Fintech, which is taking such money management to a whole new level.
The global fintech sector is projected to reach $920 billion or even higher by 2033. Among these are the fintech apps, which retain approximately 58% of the market share.
By mid-2025, fintech firms have reported revenue growth of 40% approximately, with industry leaders like Block joining the S&P 500, reflecting the sector’s rapid expansion and mainstream acceptance.
Considering such user demand and the growth of technologies, 2025 is the perfect time to invest in fintech mobile app development. From consumer finance to lending, insurance, or business banking, fintech offers a range of opportunities to tap into.
Whether you are an existing player in the finance sector or are planning to disrupt the sector with an innovative fintech app idea, understanding the core of fintech mobile app development is important.
Hence, in this guide, we are going to cover in detail “how to build a fintech app,” highlighting the features, challenges, monetization models, and latest development trends.
Let’s proceed.
Key Takeaways:
Fintech app simplifies money management by offering secure, real-time access to banking, investing, and payments through a single mobile platform.
Regulatory compliance is mandatory for fintech apps. Prioritize approaches to meet regulatory standards, such as KYC, AML, and PCI-DSS, and protect sensitive financial data.
Leveraging AI in fintech apps improves fraud detection, offers personalized insights, and enhances user engagement through predictive analytics and smart automation.
The cost to build a fintech app can range from $20,000 to $300,000, depending on features, tech complexity, and platform choice.
AI can be utilized to automate fraud detection, provide real-time budgeting, and deliver personalized insights that enhance user trust and engagement.
Future-ready fintech apps will blend AI, blockchain, and gamification to meet rising user expectations and stay competitive in a mobile-first finance world.
What is a Fintech App?
A fintech app is a mobile or web-based application that helps individuals or businesses manage, automate, or access financial services.
It is an abbreviation formed by combining the words “Finance” and “Technology”, which simply refers to offering financial services leveraging technology.
These apps aim to simplify, automate, and enhance how people save, invest, borrow, pay, and manage money. From transferring money to investing in stocks or getting instant loans, fintech apps are easing every financial transaction.
If you have ever checked your account balance or credit score using your phone, or have sent money to your friends or relatives using an app, then you’ve used a fintech solution.
Key services offered by the fintech apps:
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Personal financial management
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Digital payments and money transfers
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Investment and trading
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Online banking
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Wealth management
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Loans and insurance
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Financial planning and advisory services.
You can build a compliant fintech app in which all these services can be tailored to be offered in a common place, or you can plan for dedicated apps for a dedicated fintech service offering.
How Do Fintech Apps Work?
Fintech apps work as a digital gateway to financial services. However, depending on the type of fintech app you are building or investing in, its operations can vary.
Some fintech apps are an extension of the traditional banking system and hence help uncover your financial status. Whereas others can be aimed towards managing your finances and portfolio, and hence can function to help users track their investments across multiple platforms.
However, irrespective of the type of fintech app, they follow a common workflow. Such can be identified as:
1. User Onboarding and Identity Verification
Users start by signing up in the app, using their personal information like phone number, email address, and government-issued IDs. These details are important to comply with the financial regulations, such as KYC, AML, and other regulatory requirements.
2. Secure Login and Session Management
After user verification and onboarding, the users log in via multifactor authentication, which includes OTPs or biometrics. The user sessions are managed through the authorization protocols and an encrypted token to prevent unauthorized access and to protect sensitive data.
3. Banking Integration and Data Access
The users can link their bank accounts, cards, and digital wallets after logging in. The fintech apps leverage banking APIs to fetch account balances, transaction history, and real-time financial data. These seamless backend integrations eliminate the need for manual data entry and enable financial automation.
4. Real-Time Transaction Processing
The fintech apps help users in real-time transaction processing, which includes initiating a payment, making a fund transfer, or investing. The user requests routes through payment gateways such as Stripe, PayPal, or Square, or directly through the banking rails like ACH, RTP, or other frameworks.
5. Smart Notifications and Financial Intelligence
Modern-day fintech apps leverage AI-powered analytics to track user behavior, spending habits, and saving patterns. The apps then deliver tailored insights, budgeting tips, or even fraud alerts through in-app notifications, emails, or even through SMS.
Key Fintech App Market Stats
Fintech is getting a significant boost with the shifting customer demand towards faster, smarter, and mobile-first financial solutions.
Such a shift is leading towards being the backbone of modern banking, lending, investing, and payments.
So let’s take a look at some key industry statistics that can help shape your decision to develop a fintech app.
Global Market Overview:
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The global fintech market is estimated to reach $1,126.64 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 16.2%.
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The USA will further retain the largest share in the global fintech market by retaining almost 35% of the market share.
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Despite such growth, Fintechs have penetrated only 3% of the revenues of the global banking and insurance industry. But they are growing and expanding three times faster than incumbent banks.
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The revenues of Fintech are expanding at a CAGR of 21% Y-o-Y, whereas the other segments of the financial industry are experiencing just 6% CAGR.
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Also, in 2024, the EBITDA margins of the public fintechs increased by 25%, and more than 69% of the global fintech institutions have reported profitability.
User Adoption and Fintech Transactions:
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By 2030, the number of Fintech users is projected to reach 8.34bn users, from 4.4bn in 2025.
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By the end of 2025, the overall spending in the form of digital payments is expected to cross $9.2 trillion, with per user spending average amounting to $4,150.
AI and Tech Adoption:
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More than 75% of the established organizations and startups in the Fintech space are leveraging AI for faster data analysis, fraud prevention, personalization, and more.
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The investments in AI by the fintech companies are expected to surpass $79 billion by 2030.
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Leveraging AI models, American Express has been able to improve its fraud detection by 6% and PayPal by 10%. Such figures are further expected to improve with the advancements in AI and machine learning algorithms.
Steps To Develop A Fintech App
The discussions might have excited you to know, “How to Create a Fintech App?”.
Creating a fintech app is not just about coding; it demands much more than that. From strategic planning to compliance expertise, secure architecture, and relentless focus on users’ experience, a Fintech app requires a perfect blend of all.
Based on such, let’s go through a step-by-step process to successfully build a fintech app and bring your venture into reality.
Step 1: Define Your Fintech Model and Niche
There are more than 30,000 Fintech startups across the world, catering to the needs and interests of diverse audience groups.
Hence, in such a scenario, it becomes important for you to brainstorm an idea that can offer you a competitive position when you are planning to make a fintech app.
The potential fintech verticals you can think of or plan for are digital banking, wealth tech, lending & BNPL platforms, Insure Tech, or any other specific niche in the fintech sector.
Further, you can discuss your idea and take guidance from the experts at leading mobile app development companies to understand how to build and scale your app.
Step 2: Conduct Market Research
The fintech market is not just competitive, but is also highly regulated. Hence, once you have finalized your fintech model, the next step is to conduct detailed market research.
It can include studying the current market trends, checking on the competitors, identifying existing market gaps, and understanding the needs and expectations of modern-day consumers.
The market research can help you define your target audience, key features to be integrated in your app, and a trusted partner for your fintech mobile app development.
Step 3: Ensure Regulatory & Legal Compliance Readiness
Fintech apps need to comply with relevant regulatory and legal requirements, essential to protect the user’s financial data.
Some basic compliances include know your customer, PCI-DSS for payment security, GLBA for data privacy, FinCEN registration, and SEC/CFPB regulations for crypto-focused apps.
Further, depending on your targeted jurisdiction, you need to consider the specific norms and regulations when planning to create a fintech app.
To ensure such compliance, you can include legal experts in your app planning journey, along with partnering with experienced fintech app developers.
Such a team can help you better define such requirements and incorporate them in the initial phases of planning to build a fintech software.
Step 4: Choose the Right Tech Stack
Choosing the right app tech stack is the foundation of building a secure, scalable, and future-ready Fintech app.
Such a decision directly impacts your performance, user trust, compliance, and the app’s ability to integrate with third-party services like banks, payment systems, or credit bureaus.
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Native development, such as Swift for iOS and Kotlin for Android, is ideal for secure, high-performance apps, whereas frameworks like React Native or Flutter offer faster cross-platform development.
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For simpler use cases, PWAs can be built using Angular or Vue.js. Further, for the backend, you can use scalable and secure technologies like Node.js or .NET Core, hosted on Google Cloud, AWS, or Azure.
The tech stack picked at this stage should be AI and analytics-ready so that it can support features like fraud detection and offer personalized insights. The developers can also focus on developing a well-defined app wireframe to justify how the chosen tech is interlinked.
Step 5: Design UX/UI for Trust & Simplicity
The next step is to design a user-friendly and engaging version of your app. To achieve such a goal, it is important to focus on mobile app design or UI/UX that can help develop trust among your users.
When designing UI/UX, keep in mind that your app interface is the first touchpoint, where users decide whether to proceed using the app or not. Hence, it is significant to have a clean, intuitive design that builds confidence, reduces user friction, and directly impacts conversions and app retention.
To design such a minimal and engaging app user interface, you need to focus on certain key aspects, including consistent fonts, subtle animations, and a calming color palette. Further, your app design should properly blend with accessibility and usability guidelines.
Step 6: Develop an MVP with Core Features
Now, to test your idea and its implications, you can plan for an MVP (minimum viable product) or an app prototype. It is a simplified version of the app that you are planning to build.
It has core functionality without the full feature set. Hence, helping the developers to gather user feedback, validate demand, and refine the product before scaling.
In the competitive fintech space, it is important to launch an MVP before you finalize your approach to develop a fintech app. The MVP aims to showcase the basic functioning of the app, along with prioritizing data protection with encryption and 2FA from the start.
Step 7: Integrate APIs & Payment Systems
Modern fintech apps thrive on seamless connectivity. Hence, it is significant to integrate key APIs and payment systems that power the core functionalities of your fintech platform.
These integrations are essential to securely link users’ bank accounts and pull transaction details, handle money transfers, bill payments, and other relevant transactions.
You can use APIs like MX, Fincity, and payment gateways like PayPal, Dwolla, Stripe, and more. Further, services like Alloy, Onfido, and Trulioo can be integrated to fulfill app identity verification requirements.
To build a mobile fintech app, it is essential to ensure that your app communicates reliably with financial institutions, processes payments securely, and maintains compliance. Hence, choosing the best mobile app development company for your fintech project is of utmost importance to stay ahead in this fintech space.
Step 8: Test for Security, Usability & Compliance
Before you hit the button to publish your app on the app store, your fintech app needs to pass through rigorous testing to ensure it is secure, user-friendly, and compliant with financial regulations.
Such a step can include conducting penetration testing, vulnerability scans, and core audits to identify and fix potential security gaps. Not only the security gaps, but also usability testing needs to be performed, which can help understand how the user will interact with your platform.
It is important to ensure that your fintech app complies with SOC 2, PCI DSS, FFIEC, and GDPR guidelines. Also, there is a need to check for the app's alignment with the KYC/AML requirements, so that your app can handle identity verification for financial transactions.
Step 9: Launch and Monitor The Progress
Once your fintech app is secure, compliant, and functions flawlessly, it’s time to launch your app.
But think of this step as a beginning, not the end. Simply launching the app is not enough; with launch, it is also significant to monitor your app’s performance. Such monitoring can be done with the help of real-time analytics tools such as Google Analytics or Mixpanel.
These tools can help track user engagement, retention rates, feature usage, and even drop-offs. At this stage, several KPIs can be established, such as daily active users (DAUs), customer acquisition cost (CAC), and other relevant metrics.
Along with these metrics, also monitor app performance, crash reports, and API latency to ensure a smooth user experience. Based on these, relevant and real-time improvements can be made to the app to ensure its competitiveness and keep it aligned with user expectations.
Sep 10: Post-Launch Support & Maintenance
Regular maintenance of the app is also significant to ensure that your app is compatible with evolving operating systems, API updates, and changing compliance standards.
Hence, it is recommended to connect with experienced developers who can offer post-launch support and timely app maintenance services. Such timely maintenance can include incorporating timely updates and bug fixes and making relevant feature updates based on feedback and analytics.
In the transforming and competitive fintech space, such services can help boost app stability, customer trust, and long-term user retention.
Tech Stack To Develop A Fintech App
Choosing the right tech stack is the most important step in the fintech mobile app development process. However, keep in mind that it is not just about following the trends.
You need to define a specific tech stack for your app that can align with your app’s security, performance, scalability, and compliance. A fintech app handles sensitive user data and real-time transactions; hence, deciding the right tech stack is non-negotiable.
Let’s focus on what a modern, scalable, and secure fintech app stack should look like in 2025.
Layer / Component |
Technology Options |
Purpose & Relevance |
Frontend (Client-side) |
- React Native (cross-platform) - Swift (iOS) - Kotlin (Android) - Flutter (hybrid) |
Ensures smooth UX, responsive interfaces, and trust-building UI elements like OTP, charts, and dashboards. |
Backend (Server-side) |
- Node.js + Express.js - Python + Django / FastAPI - Java + Spring Boot - .NET Core |
Powers the logic, APIs, and secure transaction processing. Optimized for scalability and compliance. |
Databases |
- PostgreSQL / MySQL (Relational) - MongoDB (NoSQL) - Redis (Caching) |
Stores transactional data reliably, supports ACID properties, and speeds up real-time queries. |
Cloud Infrastructure |
- AWS (EC2, RDS, Lambda) - Google Cloud (Firestore, Cloud Functions) - Microsoft Azure |
Provides high scalability, global availability, and compliance with PCI-DSS, SOC 2, and ISO certifications. |
APIs & Integrations |
- Stripe, Razorpay, PayPal, Adyen (Payments) - Plaid, Yodlee (Banking APIs) - Onfido, Jumio (KYC) - Twilio, Intercom (Chat & OTP) |
Adds essential fintech features like payments, KYC, account linking, chat, OTP, and currency conversion. |
Security Tools |
- TLS 1.3, AES-256 (Encryption) - OAuth 2.0, MFA, Biometric Auth - HashiCorp Vault, AWS Cognito, Snyk |
Protects user data and transactions with enterprise-grade security, authentication, and vulnerability scanning. |
DevOps / CI-CD |
- Docker, Kubernetes - Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI - Terraform |
Enables safe, frequent deployments, fast rollbacks, and infrastructure automation. |
Analytics & Monitoring |
- Mixpanel, Amplitude, GA4 (Analytics) - Prometheus, Grafana, ELK Stack, Datadog (Monitoring & Logs) |
Tracks user behavior, detects fraud, and maintains app performance with real-time system health checks. |
If you are looking for a perfect or proven technology stack, then keep in mind that it’s not one-size-fits-all. You need to plan your app features, compliance requirements, and target audience. Accordingly, the final decision can be made.
Fintech App Features to Use in Your App
To sustain in the competitive fintech landscape, your app must go beyond basic transactions.
Modern-day users demand security, personalization, real-time insights, and seamless integrations.
Hence, whether you are building an investment app, a digital bank, or a personal finance tracker, there are some must-have features that you shouldn’t ignore.
A] Secure User Onboarding
Onboarding users securely is a key feature to list down when planning to develop a mobile fintech app. It focuses on having a dedicated account creation and login page, backed by high security standards.
From biometric login through Face ID or fingerprint, to two-factor authentication (2FA) and KYC/AML verification, every feature and aspect continues to be a part of a frictionless and secure sign-in process.
B] Bank Account Integration
Another feature to be focused on when planning to develop a fintech app is providing an option to link your bank accounts with the fintech app.
Account integration enables users to view all their financial data in one place by securely connecting to external banks and services. Such a feature can be offered through API integrations like Plaid, Fincity, or MX, which help fetch account balances and other data.
These features help implement services that can summarize users’ data from different banks into clean, readable dashboards and analytics. Hence, ensuring better user engagement.
C] Payments and Transfers
Further, an important feature that your fintech app must have is the range of payment options, from ACH to real-time card processing and blockchain-based transactions.
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Such can include P2P payment options for faster and real-time peer-to-peer transactions.
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Merchant payment options for subscription billing, splitting payments, or escrow handling.
However, irrespective of the approaches being followed, it is significant to follow the NACHA (National Automated Clearing House Association) rules for the ACH payments and PCI-DSS for storing card details securely.
D] Real-Time Transaction Tracking & Notifications
Offering users the desired transparency is one of the key aspects that can keep them engaged with your application.
Hence, a core feature offering can be to provide users with detailed visibility into their transactions and balances, with intelligent categorization of their spending and instant updates.
Along with that, when you are planning to build a fintech app, incorporate a feature that can offer real-time alerts and push notifications for any updates or suspicious activity in users' accounts.
E] AI-Powered Budgeting & Insights
AI is becoming a core differentiator in modern fintech products, especially in personal finance and neobanking.
Hence, such can be leveraged to improve the service quality and the competitiveness of the fintech app or platform you are developing. You can train predictive models for cash flow forecasting, saving recommendations, and overdraft alerts.
You can partner with an experienced AI app development company that can use AI models to offer users a personalized approach that includes predicting user behavior and financial patterns to deliver hyper-personalized advice and services.
F] Fraud Detection & Alerts
Security is non-negotiable in fintech; hence, there is a need for real-time fraud detection systems that can help maintain transaction integrity and customer trust.
To offer such features, AI-based fraud engines can be leveraged like TensorFlow, Feedzai, or SAS to detect anomalies across the user location, device ID, and transaction patterns.
G] In-App Customer Support
Providing customers with the best possible support is one of the core requirements of any service app. Also, providing real-time in-app support can help to reduce churn and build loyalty.
When planning to develop a mobile fintech app, you can add AI chatbots, ticket escalation metrics, and other help agents to resolve consumers’ concerns much faster.
Who Should Build A Fintech Mobile App?
A fintech app is not just restricted to the large financial institutions.
With technology becoming more accessible and financial behavior shifting rapidly towards mobile-first experiences, several industry players now have reasons to invest in fintech app development.
These players are:
► Banks and Credit Unions
Traditional institutions, whether banks or credit unions, should invest in fintech apps to deliver real-time banking, loans, and personalized financial tools directly to users’ devices. For such industry players, mobile-first banking is not optional, but mandatory to survive in the digital age.
They can hire mobile app developers to know more about “how to build a fintech app” that perfectly aligns with their business model and requirements
► Startups
The early-age startups planning to disrupt the finance sector to build up their competitive space should invest in building a fintech app. They can partner with a startup app development company and focus on innovative business models, including peer-to-peer lending, expense tracking, crypto investing, or micro-financing.
Investing in agile fintech apps offers these startups a scalable solution that can further attract tech-savvy millennials and Gen Z users.
► Non-financial Enterprises Expanding Into Fintech
Non-financial enterprises, such as e-commerce platforms, retailers, and service marketplaces, are expanding into Fintech. They are offering an integrated wallet, BNPL, and easy payment options.
Hence, investing in fintech functionality can help these non-financial players boost their revenue and loyalty.
► Investment and Wealth Management Firms
Advisory firms and robo-advisors can invest in fintech apps to provide real-time portfolio management, AI-backed insights, and goal-based investing.
They can partner with robo-advisory app development experts, who can help in the fintech app development and align with their business goals and operating models.
► Insurance Providers
The insurance providers are the industry stakeholders who can consider investing in fintech apps to modernize their claim processing, premium payments, and policy management.
Further, these industry players can leverage data analytics and digital onboarding to transform how users interact with insurance products. They can look for a trusted insurance app development company that can help implement such advanced fintech solutions for their insurance business.
What Are Some Key Challenges While Developing A Fintech App?
Fintech apps promise convenience and disruption, but building a fintech app involves more than having a sleek design and a seamless transaction.
Fintech app creation requires developers to navigate through a complex set of challenges, ranging from tight regulations to rising user expectations.
So, let’s take a look at some of the key challenges that arise in the development of a fintech app.
1] Regulatory Compliance and Licensing
The fintech space is highly regulated and requires fintech apps to comply with these standards. Such standards include the KYC, AML, GDPR, PCI DSS, and other global and country-specific regulations.
Failing to meet such standards can act as a significant barrier to the scalability of these fintech apps. Hence, it is important to seek legal guidance and plan a well-defined strategy to build a compliant fintech app.
2] Data Privacy and Security Risks
The finance sector or the fintech apps deal with individuals’ personal data and financial information. Hence, it becomes essential for these platforms to handle sensitive user information with ease.
When deciding on a roadmap on how to create a fintech app, the developers need to pay attention to end-to-end encryption, secure APIs, tokenization, and multifactor authentication to defend against cybersecurity threats.
3] System Scalability and Uptime
Furthermore, a key challenge in developing a fintech app is ensuring its scalability and uptime.
Fintech apps need to be built with a cloud-native architecture that can scale with increasing demand and still ensure 99.99% uptime.
Downtime for a fintech app doesn’t just promote inconvenience, but destroys users’ trust instantly.
4] User Trust and Experience
Retaining user trust is one of the core aspects to be focused on when dealing in an industry where user trust is non-negotiable.
Any flaw in design, vague app navigation, and structuring can push the users away. Hence, ensuring a clean UI, reliable transaction history, and real-time alerts are some key areas where developers face challenges when developing a fintech app.
5] API and Third-Party Integration
Fintech apps often depend on external services like payment gateways, financial data APIs, and KYC tools.
Hence, ensuring that these integrations are secure, stable, and compliant is essential for building and maintaining credibility.
Tips For A Smooth Fintech App Development
If you have reached this section, then by now, you have a detailed understanding of the fintech space.
The relevant app market statistics, how these apps work, the development process, the required tech stack, and the key challenges involved.
However, along with all, certain key tips can be followed if planning to develop a fintech app and to streamline your development process. Such tips include:
1. Ensure your Fintech App has Regulatory Flexibility Built In
A key threat that fintech apps face is complying with regulatory standards. But these regulations change frequently, hence a key tip to be followed to retain flexibility.
Rather than building hard-coded workflows, the workflows need to be modular and easily configurable, so that they can be altered as per the regulatory changes.
2. Design for Trust, Not Just Aesthetics
A fintech app’s UI must radiate trust and confidence. It is recommended that your fintech app have a clean design with easy-to-spot transactions, transparent fee breakdowns, and real-time user feedback options.
You can further opt to highlight security cues, like “secure by SSL”, to reinforce safety perceptions. Such security certifications and compliance are also required when you proceed to submit your app on Play Store or App Store.
3. Plan for Ongoing Compliance & Maintenance
An important tip that is non-negotiable is constant monitoring and compliance. As discussed, the regulatory changes happen frequently; they need to be tracked, and accordingly, changes need to be implemented.
Hence, along with focusing on how to build a fintech app, it is also important to plan for ongoing maintenance for compliance updates, API updates, and performance optimization.
4. Validate Your Idea With a Functional MVP
It is recommended that, rather than building and launching an all-in-one app immediately, an effective approach is to create a fintech app test version or a minimum viable product (MVP) with core functionality.
Such can help you get real-time feedback concerning your app idea and refine your roadmap.
5. Adopt Agile with Fintech Ready DevOps
Fintech apps benefit greatly from agile sprints, but only when paired with DevOps practices tailored for continuous delivery and testing.
Automated testing pipelines, CI/CD, and secure deployment frameworks are essential to scale quickly without compromising stability or compliance.
Leverage New Trends To Enhance Your App
The fintech industry is evolving at lightning speed, and hence, simply building a functional app won’t help you get the spotlight you are expecting.
To stay competitive and future-ready in 2025, it is essential to embrace the technological trends that are shaping user expectations and the process to develop a mobile fintech app.
So, let’s discover some trends that can be leveraged to add competitiveness to your fintech app.
A] Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
AI and ML are at the core of modern fintech innovation. From smart credit scoring to personalized investment advice and fraud detection, AI in finance is assisting in more accurate and real-time decision-making.
AI implementation in the banking sector has reached $26.7 billion in 2025 and is projected to cross $339.1 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of 32.6%. Hence, ignoring such a trend can be a competitive threat to your fintech app growth and scalability.
B] Blockchain & Web3 Integrations
Blockchain and Web3 are technologies that are disrupting the finance sector at large.
However, it is not for every fintech use case, but you need to evaluate whether it can be integrated within your fintech ecosystem.
Accordingly, you should plan to integrate blockchain technologies and build a mobile fintech app that can stand out competitively in the current market.
These technologies are being used in segments like cross-border payments, decentralized finance, and smart contracts. You can connect with the experts offering blockchain development services to enhance your fintech app competitiveness. The reports indicate that by 2033, the blockchain in fintech is projected to reach around $325.6 billion at a 46.4% CAGR.
C] Open Banking & API-First Architecture
Further, a key trend to be focused on in the process to create a mobile app is the open banking architecture. Such an architecture allows users to securely share their financial data with third-party apps.
Further, an API first approach allows integrating your app with banking institutions, payment gateways, credit bureaus, and more.
The feature can help users to perform cross-platform transactions, budgeting, and loan approvals all from a single app.
D] Gamification Features in Your Fintech App
You can focus on implementing gamification features in your app to improve user retention.
Such can include adding reward badges, referral competitions, progress bars, and other relevant aspects that can turn users' routine behavior into an engaging and motivating experience.
For the modern-day app users, including Gen Z and millennials, such features can make a huge difference.
Cost To Develop A Fintech App
The cost to create a mobile app in the fintech space can range anywhere from $20,000 to $300,000 or even more, depending on the app features, tech complexity, compliance needs, and other associated factors.
However, when deciding on the cost of fintech app development, you need to understand that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
Hence, you need to understand what factors drive cost and plan smartly so that you can avoid budget overruns.
Breakdown of average fintech mobile app development cost:
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A basic Fintech App can cost somewhere around, $20,000 - $60,000
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A Mid-level Fintech App with APIs and AI can cost from $60,000 to $150,000
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An advanced app with AI and blockchain features can cost from $150,000 to $300,000 or even more.
App Type |
Who It’s Best For |
Core Inclusions |
Estimated Cost |
Basic Fintech App |
Startups testing an MVP or entering the market with essential features |
Core functionalities like user registration, basic transactions, and account overview |
$20K – $60K |
Mid-Level Fintech App |
Growing businesses are looking for more engagement and efficiency |
Advanced UI/UX, third-party API integration, AI-based analytics, enhanced security |
$60K – $150K |
Advanced Fintech App |
Enterprises targeting innovation & scalability |
AI + blockchain integration, real-time fraud detection, multi-currency support, complex compliance features |
$150K – $300K+ |
Key Factors Impacting The Cost of Fintech App Development
Along with focusing on how to create a fintech app, you should consider the key factors impacting the cost of developing a fintech app. These include:
1. App type and Complexity
The cost can vary depending on the features you are planning to integrate into a single app.
From a simple financing tool to a full-blown mobile bank, you can plan for everything as per your fintech app ideation.
However, keep in mind that with an increase in the number of screens and integrations, the cost will increase.
2. Security & Compliance
Mobile app security and compliance are mandatory features to include if planning to make a fintech app.
Further, with an increase in the features and app complexity, the need and applicability of these compliances increase, adding both cost and time.
3. Design & UX Customizations
Having a better and customized design and UX is important in the fintech space. Such is significant to keep users engaged and interested.
Some commonly preferred designs and UX approaches are custom animations, biometric login, and dynamic dashboards.
4. Development Team Location
Further, the location of the development team impacts the fintech app development cost. For instance, hiring a mobile app development company in Denver will cost you more compared to hiring developers in a country like India.
5. Platform Choice
The cost of your fintech app is further dependent on the platform you are planning to launch your fintech app on.
You can plan to build a fintech mobile app for Android & iOS, or a cross-platform app. Hence, depending on your selection, the cost aspect needs to be taken care of.
You can partner with a reputed Android app development company, or you can hire iOS app developers, compare their contribution to your project, and proceed accordingly.
6. Tech Stack Selected
Choosing the right tech stack is further significant in building a scalable fintech app that is secure and scalable.
Your fintech app must align with the evolving technologies and changing user expectations.
Hence, picking the best tech stack can allow you to build the best version of your fintech app, and based on the selection made, the cost will vary further.
How Can Fintech Apps Make Money?
Fintech apps have not just added a modern element to the fintech space, but they have also opened up diverse revenue streams to be followed.
Whether you are building a neobank, a lending platform, or an investment tool, evaluating diverse fintech app monetization models is essential.
1] Transaction Fees
These are one of the most common elements of any fintech app revenue model. The app earns a small fee for every transaction processed through the app.
Such an approach is commonly used by fintech platforms, offering peer-to-peer lending services, payment gateways, merchant services, and more.
2] Subscription Plans
The modern-day fintech apps with diversified features offer multi-tiered access.
Such includes offering the basic features for free and then moving towards premium features with a monthly or annual subscription.
These monetization approaches are perfect for budgeting apps, credit monitoring services, and more.
3] Interest and Commission
If your fintech app supports lending in the form of personal loans, micro-financing, and BNPL, then you can earn interest and commissions on these disbursed loans.
Also, if you are focusing on cross-selling financial products, then you can further earn through commissions on those sales.
4] Interchange Fees
These also constitute a part of the monetization strategies of fintech, paid by the merchant bank to the customer’s bank.
Whenever a user swipes a card, a small fee is charged, which can be split between the card network and issuing bank or fintech.
5] Data Monetization
The fintech platforms can monetize the user’s data to third-party platforms.
However, to leverage such an approach, the platform needs to strictly follow the GDPR and CCPA standards as well as proceed with proper user consent.
How JPLoft Can Help You Develop A Fintech App?
So, now if you are planning for a fintech app of your own, then JPLoft can be a trusted partner of yours in the process.
With years of experience delivering custom fintech solutions, JPLoft stands as the best fintech app development company.
Whether you are building a neobank, a peer-to-peer lending platform, or a wealth management platform, the developers bring deep domain expertise and a strategic approach to help you stand out in a crowded fintech space.
Partnering with JPLoft can help you get a fintech app that aligns with strict regulatory standards such as KYC, AML, and PCI-DSS, ensuring that your app meets both the technical and compliance benchmarks from day one.
Along with that, we emphasize data privacy, real-time analytics, and intelligent automation, ensuring that we are not just developing an app, but a fintech platform designed for scalability and competitiveness.
If you are looking for a high-impact fintech partner that can help you meet the global user expectations and regulatory standards, then JPLoft is the partner you need in the process.
Let’s build a product that doesn’t just function, but transforms the process.
Conclusion
The fintech revolution is happening, and now is the time to act, whether you are a financial institution, entrepreneur, or startup.
From digital wallets to AI-driven investment tools, fintech apps are redefining how millions of users manage their money.
However, building a fintech app is not just about coding and UI, but about crafting secure, scalable, and intelligent financial experiences that users trust.
Furthermore, with evolving compliance standards, rising user expectations, and fierce competition, there is a need to plan for the right tech stack, an expert strategy, and a partner who understands both technology and finance.
Whether you are planning to launch a neobank, P2P payment app, a lending platform, or an investment solution, this guide has included everything you need. From market trends to monetization models. So, check out the facts and confidently begin your journey.
Ready to turn your fintech vision into a real, revenue-generating product? Let’s make it happen.
FAQs
The average cost of building a Fintech app can range anywhere from $20,000 to $300,000 or more, depending on the app features, complexity, chosen tech stack, and more.
Building a basic fintech app can take up to 3–6 months; however, depending on the project requirements and complexity, the timeline can go up to 12–18 months or even more.
The core feature offerings of the Fintech app include user authentication, payment integration, user dashboard, real-time transaction processing, AI-powered analytics, and more.
The monetization strategies of the fintech app include the transaction fees, interest and commissions, data monetization, subscription plan, interchange fees, and more.
The common challenges to focus on when building a fintech app are regulatory compliance, scalability, data privacy, third-party integrations, user trust, and more.
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