The number of consumers making online transactions is soaring worldwide. Now that people can pay, buy, or transfer money with only one tap, the traditional brick-and-mortar model is no longer enough. Banks are now in a rush to build new mobile banking apps to stay relevant.
We all that banking apps are prevalent now. If your bank is planning to build a mobile app from scratch, the first thing to decide is cost.
This article discusses all the factors that contribute to the cost of developing mobile banking app.
1. What is a mobile banking app?
2. Factors determining the cost of developing a banking app?
3. Key features of a banking app: time & costs
4. Time and costs to developing additional features of a banking app
A banking app is a mobile app that allows customers to access their bank account details and makes transactions directly from mobile devices, such as smartphones or a tablet.
Depending on your customers’ needs, the number and types of mobile banking app features can vary. Deciding on all the features you will build is crucial as they will add up to the cost of your mobile banking app.
These are some of the most basic mobile banking app features:
The above features are the bare minimum for a banking app MVP. Nevertheless, to keep up with the growing customer expectation and competition from fintech, banks will need more than that:
You can calculate the total cost of developing a banking app by multiplying the number of hours spent on development by the price of an hour of the developer’s work. Note that development cost is just a part of the total budget for the app. The other costs are related to post-release (customer support and marketing), testing, maintenance, and management.
Your cost of developing mobile banking app depends on these 3 factors:
What follows below is the estimated cost and time associated with developing most features of a banking app.
Every mobile banking app starts with registration and authorization, using passwords or biometrics (such as Touch-ID or Face-ID) as security standards.
A mobile banking app should allow users to quickly access card & account details, balance, and transaction history. This feature typically offers card-related services, such as card re-issuing.
Transferring and receiving money should be in real-time and secure. To authenticate transactions, the app can use biometric verification, OTP via SMS, PIN (Personal Identification Number), or password.
The mobile bank app should display users’ spending history on all connected bank accounts. The more detailed and intuitive the spending report, the happier your users will feel.
This feature is to provide users with a big picture of their day-to-day spending and help them set financial goals. You can also add more value with budget categories, customized reports, and saving goals.
The feature automatically notifies users of transactions, required authorization, or special offers.
In-app chat or chatbot helps customers easily raise their concerns without having to visit bank branches.
Basic features | Approx time (hr.) | Approx cost ($) |
Sign-in | 480 | 48000 - 72000 |
Access to card details | 240 | 24000 - 36000 |
Transactions and payments | 480 | 48000 - 72000 |
Transaction history | 240 | 24000 - 36000 |
Spending analytics | 240 | 24000 - 36000 |
Notifications | 120 | 12000 - 15000 |
In-app chat & chatbot | 480 | 48000 - 72000 |
TOTAL | 2280 | 228000 - 342000 |
Below are the approximate time and cost associated with developing value-added features:
QR-code in banking app helps to ensure fast and secure payments.
This feature pays users back a certain amount of money they have spent. In many mobile banking apps, cashback service has numerous cashback categories and enables users to place returns on a separate account.
With this feature, the mobile app is integrated with Apple Pay and Google Pay to ensure high payment conversion and maximum user-friendliness.
By integrating access to the third-party services into the mobile banking app, you allow users to pay bills, buy tickets, book hotels, and so on without leaving the app.
This feature makes it easier for users to search for ATMs and bank branches near them. Most commonly, the mobile banking app is integrated with Google Maps for Android or Apple Maps for iOS.
Extra feature | Approx time (hr.) | Approx cost ($) |
QR-code scanning | 120 | 12000 - 15000 |
Cashback service | 240 | 24000 - 36000 |
Payment integration | 480 | 48000 - 72000 |
Booking 3rd party service | 480 | 48000 - 72000 |
ATM & office locations | 120 | 12000 - 15000 |
TOTAL | 1440 | 180000 - 210000 |
Using modern technologies and methodologies to ensure the security of transactions and data stored in the app is another category of cost. These are the best practices to help you enhance banking app security:
The cost for developing these security features varies greatly based on the time needed for developing them and integrating them with each other development and integration, as well as the type of technology used.
KMS Solutions leverages the best practices in mobile banking app development and always accounts for your bank’s goals, visions, and existing challenges. With solid domain knowledge in the BFSI industry and an effective engagement process, we have a strong track record of building and launching mission-critical applications for several leading companies, including ACB, one of the "Big Four" banks, Axi Trading, etc.
Contact us for a rough estimation of your desired mobile banking app!