If we were to look at the state of FinTech today, we would realize that it has outgrown the statuses of a “buzzword” or a “trend”. It is a fully established niche today with 90% of smartphone users that will have made a mobile payment by 2020 and the estimated total value of phone-based transactions expected to reach $210 Billion by 2019.
FinTech solutions are in high demand today. The market is hungry for a system that is capable of supplementing the modern banking system or even the entire global economy. And, with the rise of decentralized public ledgers in Blockchain – this dream might become reality sooner than later.
It’s not the question of “Will it? Won’t it?” any longer, but the question of “When”, and the count isn’t done in years but in days or even hours right now.
If one were to introduce an innovative Fintech solution to the market – now would be the best time for it, because the saying better late then never doesn’t apply to technology. Especially not in 2018.
And yes, we understand that developing a vivid Fintech solution is easier said than done and we are willing to help you along your journey, starting with this little article about the not-so secret tricks of making everything right.
Simplicity is key
What unites Coinbase, PayPal, Mint, Stripe and other successful solutions from the Fintech industry? Their simplicity. Users are allowed to send, receive and track payments with but a few taps of their finger.
Compare the process with going to the bank and doing everything the old-fashioned way and you will immediately understand Fintech’s formula for success.
Alas, simplicity is a tricky feat to pull off, because the more friendly your solution is to the user, the easier it is for a potential hacker to find a breach in your defenses.
Yes, dear readers, convenience comes at a price, especially in FinTech.
Custom software
A decent Fintech solution is bond by many limitations. The necessity of custom software development is one of them. Not only do you have to design, code and market your own product, but you also can’t rely on 3-d party solutions along the way.
No CRMs, no CMS systems, no nothing other than the software built from scratch with your product in mind.
Why?
Because of potential security risks. You can build an impenetrable wall around your application but what good will your defenses be if the hackers are capable of finding loopholes in 3-d party software? You can’t be sure that your SaaS service provider has dedicated as much effort towards cybersecurity as you did, and, with volumes of cybercrime raising sky high, you simply can’t trust anything that wasn’t done by the team you have managed and supervised personally.
The not-so secret sauce
Like all roads led to Rome once, the elements of a successful FinTech application lead to security. It is the not-so secret sauce we will be talking about.
Why is it not-so secret? Well, everybody knows about the importance of security in our digital world, and yet global cybercrime damages are predicted to cost $6 trillion by 2021.
Our experts at TrendLine don’t allow our clients to be like everyone else out there – unprotected. We ensure the highest standards of security in all types of development and we use double of that when working with FinTech. And so should you.
- Develop software with security policies in mind. There are certain rules regarding the safety of passwords. Ensure that your users are operating with lengthy strings of letters and digits on their side, and safeguard the passwords with hashing on yours. Multi-factor authentication is a must in FinTech solutions as well as PCI compliant hosting providers are – what do the kids call these things nowadays? – ah, yes, #musthave.
- Eliminate OWASP vulnerabilities. OWASP top 10 is a list of known vulnerabilities that have proven to be a threat over and over again. We suggest covering your code with automated tests that are designed to pinpoint the OWASP threats without the need of checking for every piece from the list manually.
- AI spy hounds. With the advancements in the niche machine learning, there are already algorithms that can run through your system and scan it for suspicious and potentially malicious activities. You can risk using ready solutions like GAN or, alternatively, you can develop the algorithms for protection in-house with an outstaffed team of security experts.
- Know who you are dealing with. One of the most underestimated elements of ensuring security is implementation of mechanics that show who your users or 3-d party solutions are. You can write custom code to determine this or you can stop caring and create blockchain-based transaction mechanics. Blockchain operates as an open ledger where every element of data is visible to all of the members and there are also trustless chains that use PoW or Proof of Work certificates. Essentially they are contracts written in the “if this then that” format with code, meaning a certain transaction will only go through if all of the conditions for it are met.
Yes, simplicity, integrity and security are the three whales for a decent Fintech application to stand on. Achieving balance between all three of them may prove as a challenge, but there is nothing you can’t accomplish with a talent pool of 50,000 developers at your side. Contact us to learn more!
