Banking and finance software solutions have seen a significant rise in popularity, during the past few years. For good reason, that too, as customers now have the option to conduct self-service from mobile apps and kiosks. Banks experience reduced customer visits as a result, thereby streamlining daily operations further. Modern finance software solutions are spearheaded by cloud support services, which makes them scale up or down depending on demand from peak/off-peak seasons. This further simplifies software development in Sri Lanka, which is an industry that is replete with long-standing client partnerships hailing from around the world.
Software outsourcing in Sri Lanka has been a marketplace for clients big and small alike, local and international, to avail quality custom software development services for a reasonable price, while maintaining consistent standards of quality. As fintech expands on both a local and global scale, Sri Lankan software development companies have adapted to provide scalable and versatile solutions that are in line with international laws, while offering other high-performance capabilities such as AI-powered analytics and augmented reality.
With fintech going above and beyond basic payment apps and digital banking, the options for building a custom fintech solution are one and many. Even if your business doesn’t require a fully-fledged solution, an individual component is also open to a wealth of diverse capabilities, along with seamless integration. Here, we outline the basics of fintech software, and how your team can also embark on the journey of building a custom fintech solution – no matter how unique or specific your business requirements may be.
Fintech software combines financial knowledge and operations with digital technology to build software applications that users can engage with on a self-service basis, without having to rely on their banks. Many common operations can be conducted by users by themselves, thereby reducing the strain on banks and financial institutions. Fund transfers, budget management and account opening are some out of many capabilities that can be facilitated by fintech, through user self-service.
While fintech accommodates daily, common operations pertaining to consumers, it also offers high-end capabilities for organisations that are looking to scale their financial operations on a B2B level. Any functionality or technology that augments financial operations can now count as fintech, such as Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) platforms that offer regulatory intelligence for businesses and financial institutions. Blockchain is another great example, as it provides a decentralised platform to log and track transactions, without the option to modify. With more and more consumers and businesses alike transitioning towards contactless payment technologies (think QR codes and NFCs), fintech has begun to play an even more crucial role to make such transactions a possibility.
Enables self-service.
This is the biggest advantage of fintech software overall, since customers are not bound by their banks to conduct routine transactions such as payment transfers, account openings and bill payments. This also reduces queues at banks, while staff are now free to attend to customer inquiries that are more unique and challenging. By creating autonomy for customers, more freedom is now available to conduct banking operations while on the go, and any time at all. With more people now working remotely and spending their time online, banks are able to capitalise on reaching their customers exactly where they are, through self-service.
Reduces dependency on conventional banking systems.
The vast expanse of conventional banking systems are centralised, yet are incredibly large and intricate for the average customer to navigate through. A regular international wire deposit can incur massive fees, and take several days (if not weeks) to process. Modern fintech solutions such as proprietary payment apps reduce the influence of the middle entity to process payments faster, and without the high fees associated with such transactions. Although some payment apps still depend on funds transferred between conventional bank accounts, many offer the possibility to save funds in a ‘wallet’ that can then be used to make and receive payments.
Scales with changing laws and regulations.
Numerous regulations now dominate the digital sphere, increasing in terms of severity lest compliance isn’t maintained up to standard. As a result, banking and financial institutions need to be extra vigilant about compliance, else risk legal complications. Fintech solutions are able to infuse regulatory intelligence into applications, which automatically detect changes to regulations, and re-align business operations in accordance to those changes.
Automatic zone detection in tax management is a good example; with tax laws differing on a local, state and federal level, businesses are constantly able to work under the purview of the latest and the most accurate of legislation, so no mistakes (and therefore, legal blunders) are made in due course of tax filing. This also makes it less complicated for businesses to hire talent from outside of their local jurisdiction, as tax filing based on the latest tax laws has now been streamlined to scale.
While this list isn’t exhaustive, thanks to the variety offered by the fintech arena, the below applications are popular constituents of the same – and will offer a good understanding of the scope of fintech.
The most common representations of fintech in general, digital payment platforms are now popular ways for customers to conduct their daily transactions. Simply connect your card or bank account to get started. Conversely, funds can be transferred over to a digital wallet that can later serve as the prime source of funds, for all future transactions. Enabling safe and fast transactions, digital payment platforms are a widely competitive market for vendors. As a result, customers also have the added benefit of participating in loyalty programs, cashback and promotions that can motivate customers to save more money, as they pay for goods and services.
One of the first offerings from fintech, digital banking solutions enable a multitude of services at a user’s fingertips, from fund transfers to bill payments. Many high-tech digital banking solutions also offer budget management systems that generate alerts when budgets are being exceeded, along with insightful analytics pertaining to your funds, accounts and transaction habits.
A complex endeavour that has great implications in the likelihood of an error, tax management can be a challenge. With fintech, tax zones can now be automatically detected depending on regions, as well as any tax laws that may have undergone a change. This makes tax filing an easier and a more accurate process, while empowering companies to stay compliant with changing regulations, every step of the way.
Fintech can support asset valuations, resource allocations and streamline the entire lifecycle pertaining to a company’s assets, with a dedicated management system. Additionally, asset management tools also feature reporting capabilities that can help analysts determine the overall health of assets, and conduct proactive duties to ensure optimum condition.
What began as a means to trade cryptocurrencies is now a popular method of decentralising a variety of processes. With its general ledger and peer-to-peer network, blockchain can serve a highly utilitarian purpose for added security to transactions – hence its popularity with fintech applications.
A necessity for any financial establishment that deals with loans, leases and mortgages, loan management systems can help automate a variety of tasks such as customer application filing, loan calculations and even credit/risk scoring.
Insurance management systems also streamline the entire insurance lifecycle for customers, by profiling data, processing premium payments and managing claims.
As employees make trips for work or spend on projects, an expense management system can track costs, while notifying managers if budgets are exceeded. Mobile apps further help everyone stay in touch from anywhere, with managers being able to approve or reject fund requests directly from the app.
While accounting and payroll systems offer key functionalities such as invoice management and accounts receivables/payables, it can also be a central hub for other fintech tools such as tax and expense management.
As with any other software development initiative, building a custom fintech software requires a detailed business assessment. This brief should outline what the current problems are, what your business’s end objectives are, and what is needed from a business standpoint in order to address these problems and objectives. Business owners or department managers can start by gathering relevant team members from across the organisation (including those who will be end users of the newly developed system) to conduct a brainstorm and strategy session.
Ask the right questions to get the discussion started, and ensure perspectives are sought from across the hierarchy, in order to get an all-round picture of your existing software (or your current way of conducting financial operations). Some of these questions may include (but aren’t limited to):
If you’re a bank or financial establishment that needs to completely overhaul your existing system or deploy a brand new one, then these questions need to address the specifics of all your business operations. On the other hand, if you’re a business that is looking to power your operations with a fintech component, then you also need to consider other key elements such as conversion rates or customer experience.
After collating all these findings into a brief, share the same with your software development team so they understand what your business’s needs are, and which technologies can be used to build a relevant solution.
With numerous functionalities comprising even the simplest of applications, it’s easy to get caught up in a bevy of features, including those that may not be commonly used. Resist the urge, and aim to narrow down your list of features to only the most crucial, for release into an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). With an MVP, a preliminary version will not only reduce the learning curve for staff since it is minimalistic, but will also reduce time to market, while laying easy on your budget.
Once an MVP is released and sufficient user feedback is obtained from it, it is time to build an improved version of your fintech software. This is where a smoothly functioning DevOps cycle comes into play, as successive upgrades and feedback can be used to continuously build better versions of your product at scale.
With more consumers spending time online, fintech software has proven to be a massive boon for banks and financial institutions. From enabling self-service via mobile apps and kiosks, staff are now free to focus on complex tasks that require more of their strategic insight. AI-powered reporting and analytics tools have also made a lasting impact, as organisations are now able to monitor financial well-being, while obtaining insights of a predictive nature based on historical data.
Conventional banking systems can be expensive and time-consuming, but boutique digital payment platforms now address both these issues, in the interest of safe, fast and affordable fund transfers. This is just one facet of fintech, which also consists of asset management, accounting, payroll, tax calculations as well as regulatory intelligence to keep companies compliant. As a result, fintech is a market that can cater to any unique business requirement, while providing the tools necessary for companies to stay on par with shifting financial regulations – be they on a local, state, federal or international level.
With so much to offer, fintech can be infused into any organisation, irrespective of industry or volume – while adapting to changing needs at scale.