How to Build a Wealth Management App

20 April 2022 • 17 min read

Slava Vaniukov

CEO and Co-Founder at Softermii

Thinking about developing a money management app? It is a great idea, and here is why.

The wealth management software development industry is a promising niche, it reached $1 billion in 2019 and has a projected value of more than $1.5 billion by 2027.

Financial apps are becoming increasingly popular and gaining widespread adoption. Their use has grown from 16% in 2015 to 64% in 2021. It is also worth noting that mobile applications are more prevalent than web-based products.

The pandemic has changed people’s attitudes towards digital financial services. According to a survey by Economic Times, COVID-19 has forced more than 62% of global users to take more control over their spending using tools like wealth management apps.

As a result, personal money management apps are a trendy offering nowadays. They are both a valuable tool for users and a good investment for businesses. Today, we’ll discuss how to create such an application, considering its benefits, main wealth management software features, technologies, and estimated cost.

Our company already has experience in FinTech software development, and we’re willing to share our expert opinion with you.

Key Benefits of Developing a Personal Wealth Management App

Wealth management software development involves creating a product that helps users track their income and expenses. Budget control is only a fundamental function of such applications, but they offer much more, for example, advising where to invest better or how to increase savings.

The benefits of wealth management applications for users are impossible to exaggerate. They enable people to manage their finances properly, become more disciplined in this regard, and simplify tax payments. But what about the advantages for the creators of such applications? Here are the main ones.

High Demand Among Users

Nowadays, people are heading towards a more conscious lifestyle, which includes controlling their finances. Money management apps are in high demand since they allow users to monitor spending directly on their smartphones. People may also use such tools to plan their monthly budgets and large purchases.

Promising Market

The market for money management applications is growing, so you still have a chance to get your share of the lucrative sector pie. According to Allied Market Research, the value of the personal finance software market could increase to $343 million in 2026 in the United States only. For comparison, in 2018, this number was estimated at $232 million.

Room for growth

Users often abandon the apps for finance management. There are various reasons for this, but the main one is insufficient functionality that cannot meet all the customers’ expectations.

As a result, people have to install several financial applications and use them for different purposes.

That means there is an open niche for you to fill. What if you create a budget management app that would cover all the users’ needs?

Generate Profits

You can easily make money by choosing one of the monetization strategies for your finance management app. You can make your product premium or provide a range of paid subscription options to your customers.

Read also: MVP development guide

Finance Management App Features to Consider

As you can see, the finance application sector is ripe for growth. Developing such products might provide significant advantages to your company. But how to build a money management app that would pique the user’s interest?

Take into account the following features of the money management app, which are indispensable for such a product.

Gamification

As we mentioned before, there are several reasons why users quit money management apps. Another cause is a lack of engagement. Yet, you can effortlessly resolve this problem by introducing a gamification feature. It will motivate your customers to use the application more often.

Personalization

Personalization is a significant feature in many mobile applications, but it is critical in the financial management sector. It is no longer sufficient for users to access their transaction history in the form of lists or infographics. Your customers must be able to adapt the application to their own needs through customizable dashboards. Consider implementing a chatbot as well.

AI-driven Financial Coaching

Artificial intelligence in money management apps is a solution that helps process data quickly and efficiently. Based on the inputted information, the AI may assist your users in maintaining smart savings, refinancing, meeting financial goals, and even more. AI can also provide relevant budgeting advice to your customers by monitoring their financial behavior.

By the way, AI is one of the latest FinTech trends. Want to learn more? Read our recent article on this topic!

Multi-factor Authentication

Securing your users’ accounts in a money management app is incredibly important, as they contain your customers’ private information about their expenses and income, and sometimes even bank account details. You can ensure user data security by implementing a multi-factor authentication feature.

Account Aggregation

Add this functionality to your product so that your users don’t have to look for additional budgetary applications. It involves consolidating your customer’s private financial information from different accounts, such as bank and investment accounts, debit or credit card accounts, etc., in one app.

Notifications

Notifications are an essential feature to consider in personal finance management app development. Users will be able to make recurring payments on time, and they will not forget to submit data on their spending regularly.

Expenses Categories

This feature is the basis of any wealth management app. Allow your users to choose expenses categories or add their own, so they can understand their spending patterns better.

Budget Planner

A budget planner is a tool that assists users in setting financial goals for various periods. You can, for example, allow customers to set objectives for the day, month, quarter, or year. That will help users to save money or plan large purchases this way.

Reports and Statistics

Since you’ve implemented a budget planning feature, it would be a good idea to add more reporting and statistics to your app. Users will be able to see where their money is going and better understand their financial needs.

Wealth Management Application Design Best Practices

Choosing the features you need for your application is just one of the first steps you need to make. It is also critical to consider and apply the best design practices to your app. Here are some tips for ensuring first-class design.

Convenient Data Visualization

Offer your users an irresistible alternative to old-school budgeting practices, such as writing numbers in a notebook. Create eye-catching charts, infographics, and dashboards that reflect the user’s budget. They not only look nice but also make the information clearer.

UI Simplicity

Users have high expectations of the apps they use. Customers will be turned off if your application is overloaded with visual elements or has too many vivid colors. The strength often lies in simplicity, which is especially true in the case of money management app development.

Meaningful UX

Now, let's highlight the clarity of your application rather than its look. To make your application user-friendly and accessible, think about the user flow and ensure it’s clear, coherent, and easy to follow.

Ensure Consistency

During financial planning app development, make sure to use consistency in design. It includes your corporate colors, fonts, application structure, and buttons. You need to be certain that all of your app’s components feel predictable to your users.

Read also: Buy Now Pay Later App Development.

Budget Management App Tech Stack

Tech stack is a collection of tools that help in building a custom money management app. We’ll go through these tools in further detail here, so you know what your team will be using.

Backend Development

The backend is everything that runs on the server-side. It is responsible for the functionality of your financial management application and deals with the database.

Technologies: Ruby-on-Rails, Node.js.

Database

A database is a well-organized collection of data that stores, modifies, and processes large volumes of information. It is a critical part of money management apps.

Technologies: MongoDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL.

Frontend Development

Frontend development focuses on those application elements that users see and interact with directly.

Technologies: Angular, React.js.

Mobile Development

If you want to build a wealth management app, you need to decide which mobile platform to support. You can choose between iOS and Android or develop a cross-platform product. The tools are all listed below.

Technologies: Swift or Objective-C for iOS; Java or Kotlin for Android; Flutter for cross-platform apps.

DevOps

DevOps is a bridge between software development and IT operations teams that combine their workflows in one place.

Technologies: Nginx, Cloudflare, AWS S3.

Design

These are the tools you can use to design your financial management application.

Technologies: Figma, Android UI, SwiftUI.

Money Management App Development Challenges

Now you know practically everything about custom wealth advisory app development. The benefits of those products, the main features, technologies, and design practices for such applications.

But what about the pitfalls? We do know there are some. So let’s go through the challenges you may face while developing a money management app.

Know Your Competitors

Financial management products are largely available in the mobile application market. Mint, Goodbudget, and Spendee are among the most popular. Before building your product, you need to think about how you will stand out.

Mobile Banking Services

Mobile banking services are also your potential competitors that we want to single out. The primary purpose of such applications is obviously to provide banking services. But don’t relax. When we say that these are your competitors, we are not mistaken.

Banks are increasingly integrating budget management functionality into their applications. All of that to push their customers to use their products more actively. So, keep this competitor in mind before creating your app.

In the United States, about 76% of people use mobile banking services. Here comes an alternative solution to the problem with competing banks: try to collaborate with one of them. Offer them a finance management app and get access to a large customer base.

Know Your Users

It would be a mistake to believe that money management applications are exclusively relevant for older adults. In reality, the target demographic for such applications is growing younger. Keep an eye out for millennials who, according to CBInsights, will inherit the largest share of the wealth of any generation.

Be Careful with Chatbots

AI-driven chatbots are a fantastic tool that can become part of your finance management application. Yet, artificial intelligence may sometimes play a bad joke on your users by becoming their primary financial advisor. You must, therefore, ensure that your chatbot can provide sound recommendations.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Wealth Management App?

If you want to create a wealth management app, there’s one more thing you need to know: how we determine the cost of such an app product.

In a nutshell, almost everything depends on the hiring approach. You can find an outsourcing company in a country with lower development costs, hire individual freelancers or assemble an in-house team. However, when developing a money management app, you also pay for the number and complexity of features and selected tech stack.

We invite you to learn about the process of creating a money management app in detail. We will provide you with an approximate cost of each development stage.

Step 1. Discovery Phase

At this point, your team is studying your future application’s target audience, strengths, and limitations. Business analysts examine your competitors as well. This stage concludes with the approval of your product’s concept: the selection of features and technologies.

Approximate cost: $11 200

Step 2. Development

This step involves the realization of your money management app, or rather, a minimum viable product (MVP). The development process involves your entire team: specialists work on the backend, frontend, database, and design.

Approximate cost: $25 600

Step 3. Testing

When your MVP is ready, you need QA specialists to test it for bugs. As a result, all discovered issues must be corrected to ensure the high quality of your product.

Approximate cost: $9 600

Step 4. Launch and Technical Documentation

You now bring your MVP to market to see how the users react. If your app is successful, you may gradually expand its functionality and improve it in every possible way. This phase involves creating a document that contains all the necessary information about your application.

Approximate cost: $1 600

We have described the approximate cost of developing a money management app in the table below:

#	Stages	Time	Cost
1	Discovery Phase	280 hours	$11 200
2	Development	640 hours	$25 600
3	Testing	240 hours	$9 600
4	Launch and Technical Documentation	40 hours	$1 600
	Total	1 200 hours (5 month)	$48 000

As you can see, building a custom money management app requires plenty of professionals, and it can take a lot of time and effort to find a decent team.

What if we said there was an easier way? Know that we are here to help you. We’ll tell you about our experience building FinTech products so you can see real cases and decide which way to go further with your wealth management app idea.

Our Experience in FinTech Apps Development

Our company is known for developing FinTech solutions, and our primary purpose is to encourage the advancement of technology in the financial sector. We anticipate that the next trend in this field is to provide fast transactions for a wide range of purposes.

Our team actively helps startups and established businesses to move the global banking system towards progress. We make this possible through the use of cutting-edge technologies.

Here are some of the areas in which we are competent:

Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies
Smart contracts technology
Exchanges and exchangers
Financial advisor-bots
Insurance technology
Third-party banking
Information security
And many more

We have clients from all around the world, but most of them are from the United States and Australia. Our customers value our team’s ability to meet requirements and deadlines, so you can be confident that we’ll implement your product on time and with high quality.

We’d like to inform you about one of our recent cases.

ExtoBit

ExtoBit is a cryptocurrency exchanger that allows for lightning-fast transactions. This product is also characterized by its exceptional simplicity of use.

Challenges we encountered:

Ensure a high level of transaction security
Find ways to synchronize data between multiple server applications
Create points of sale to attract new users

Our solution:

Our team has implemented cutting-edge technologies to ensure the security of cryptocurrency transactions. The main tools we used were C# and a Binance exchange platform API.

As for the servers, we employed ASP.NET Core as the main framework. Our specialists used MS SQL Server for databases, Vanilla JS and React for the frontend, React and ES6 for the Exchange page.

We have launched a referral program and cumulative loyalty bonuses to attract new users. As a result, we have created an exchanger that offers a favorable exchange rate with exclusive offers.

Of course, our company’s expertise goes beyond cryptocurrency app development. Therefore, we can also create a budget management app just for you.

Final Thoughts on Wealth Management Software Development

Finance management app development is one of the promising niches in the FinTech field. Such a product may help you generate significant profits and become a market leader.

You need to research your competitors, determine your application’s distinguishing features, and employ the best design practices. Gamification, AI-driven financial coaching, and personalization may be critical elements of your product.

So, if you are thinking about building a custom money management app that will conquer the market, don’t hesitate and contact our team!

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