Only Customer Centric Fintech Startups will Win: Few Lessons to Learn
Digital transformation in finance is revolutionising the payment system. According to studies, global FinTech investment reached $44 billion in 2020 — an increase of 14% from 2019.
Just like any other industry; fintech startups are not without challenges. I have personally seen many new fintech founders starting their journey with the hope of success but failing and on the other hand, seen many overcoming hurdles to build a successful fintech company.
Having said that, financial entrepreneurs always bring valuable insights for newbies whether their venture succeeds or not. Because from the lessons we learn and see the idea from a whole new perspective.
Recently I got a chance to interview some industry experts on Fintech Development Lessons. In this story, I have complied 10 important lessons newbies should know before starting their project.
Solve a Problem for your Clients.
Focus on solving a single problem for your target customer once you’ve identified them. Finding a niche would help you streamline your consumer acquisition while also ensuring that your mobile application development and marketing is scalable.
Concentrate on a particular problem that customers have with traditional banks — transaction costs, transfer delays, or mobile banking restrictions may all be good places to start.
Damien Knight, CEO, Workever
Financial Expertise is Essential.
Building a successful fintech requires expertise in the financial world. The most successful fintechs were built because their founders were already industry experts, and they used that knowledge to recognize a weak spot in the market.
Successful financial software bridges a gap between two or more already existing aspects of financial services, further streamlining the system as a whole. Despite the commonly used expression ‘think outside the box’, true innovation can’t be achieved from the outside looking in. Instead, learn about the subject from within and optimize it.
Evan Albert, Co-founder, Seamless Chex
Innovate the Best you Can.
The fintech industry has paved the way for various advancements in the payments sector, and we’ve watched many companies at the forefront work their way into digital banking entirely. However, many fintechs are experiencing gaps they’re now trying to fill.
First, individuals and businesses alike are realizing that a good-looking user interface does not equal quality functionality or security (but it mattes for UI/UX branding). Fintechs that operate within the banking sector, thus complying to rules and regulations of the industry, are faring better than those that do not.
Additionally, the banking industry was built on personal relationships, and the holding of monetary assets will always require an immense amount of trust. Many fintechs are now learning that, while automation can be extremely effective if done right, human connection is key in the finance industry.
Kevin Olsen, Senior Vice President, VSoft
Don’t Overlook Security.
Security is one of the many enterprise software development trends including Fintech. Fintech in 2021 has never consisted of this many sub-niches and while all of these are being worked on from many angles, security generally seems one of the most crucial yet overlooked ways of staying up to speed.
One of the most prominent illustrations of this is the digital assets space, where cryptocurrency, DeFi, and recently also NFTs are both promising and vulnerable. It is imperative that this ‘first layer of the pyramid of Maslow’ is greatly advanced before the next levels of the pyramid can properly be adopted.
With 13.5BUSD in cumulative reported theft in crypto, 1 out of 5 bitcoins lost forever, and a vast majority of users feeling anxiety when interacting with online platforms is a must.
Ruben Merre, Co-founder & CEO, NGRAVE
More Female Leaders in Fintech.
Fintech brings together two of the least gender-diverse industries around. This common issue is composed of three underlying problems; too few women work in FinTech companies, too few FinTech companies have female founders or female leaders, and finally that women are also under-represented amongst the FinTech user base.
Ximena Alemán, Co-Founder &Chief BDO, Prometeo
Your Customers Will Tell You how to Grow Your Product.
Growing and building a fintech tool is more than just R&D and investing in engineering. To truly drive growth, you need to talk to your customers, talk to the market, and understand the market instead of developing products in a bubble.
Your customers will tell you what they want; you just need to listen. As simplistic as that sounds, I see so many businesses that don’t listen to their customers, they don’t ask for their opinion, and they think they know better than the customer. As a result, they’ll innovate in areas they think the customer will require and ultimately aren’t as successful.
Paul Lynch, CEO, Chargify
Everything is About the User’s Experience.
Digging in to understand what is important to your target market is something that simply cannot be overstated. Entrepreneurs and tech builders often have some really clever ideas about how to solve problems and bring a new solution to market, but a user’s head may be in a different place. This is where user feedback and human-centered design really comes into play.
You need to think about how every new feature and function is perceived. Sometimes, you’ll need to bend on the way you want to build the product, to the way the user is ready to accept it. Lack in-house expertise? Outsource a development team.
Tim, founder & CEO, StackSource
Provide Stability, and Quality.
One fintech lesson that I want to share is to provide stability, quality, and a good level of service. It’s all about trust in finance. Fintech software, on the other hand, is commonly used to process financial transactions in some way. Technology is subject to transition. Channels of access can change. Even if your business doesn’t have the word ‘bank’ in its name, you must have the same quality of service.
No one in the world will ever let their money be used for playing. Allowing for the possibility of technological failure could put your company out of business. You can’t afford to spare on technology. There is no space for error in the fintech industry. Quality isn’t achieved by placing three testers in front of each developer. Quality is achieved by-product production processes.
Ben Rose, Co-founder, Trainer Academy
Be Agile in Your Approach.
One fintech building lesson that I want to share is to be agile. The agile project management captures how software projects should be built. Iterations must be short. Deliveries are made frequently. User feedback is delivered in a timely and consistent manner.
Having a working product from the beginning allows you to gain the most insight into where you are now and where you should go. It makes no difference whether you hire an outside team or build everything in-house; whether your team is local or remote.
Agile project management methodologies such as Scrum and Kanban can help you create better applications, reduce project risk, and show market value sooner.
Ethan Ellingson, Founder & Editorial Lead, DynasysTech
Get User Feedback throughout the Development Process.
Follow software testing tips and test your application early and frequently to ensure that it meets the expectations of your customers. Seek user feedback on the program’s interface and functionality so that any major improvements can be made earlier rather than later.
Listening to user feedback will assist your team in improving the app’s design and building trust with your target audience. Building confidence is particularly critical in financial services, where customer loyalty is notoriously lukewarm. Banks and financial service providers, in particular, have historically had the lowest levels of customer trust.
As a result, determining how to restore customer trust is not overly difficult: embrace digital innovations.
Veronica Miller, Cybersecurity Expert, VPNoverview
Thinking of developing a cross-platform fintech application? Learn the key benefits of React Native and why should you choose it for your next project.
