The financial services sector is undergoing transformation on a huge scale, which is only confirmed by the amount of funds invested in recent years. 2022 was the third best year of fintech investment - $164.1 billion. Despite a drop from the record $238.9 billion in 2021, it still is a substantial amount of money[1].

At the same time, there is a growing demand for technology partners who will not only provide programming services (development, testing and maintenance of software) but who also offer consulting in the field of software architecture, technology selection or cloud platforms that increase the efficiency of a financial application.

Looking through advertisements with project orders, you can already see that the ability to code in a given language is no longer sufficient. More and more attention is paid to other aspects. For example, having at least basic knowledge of the technological stack in which the financial application will be created or the ability to think outside-of-the-box, which is useful in implementing new features in very complex platforms.

The question remains – what should you pay attention to when choosing a supplier when creating dedicated software for a financial application?

For many project managers, knowledge and knowledge of technology is as important as business awareness, critical thinking, communicativeness and the active attitude of IT developers. A fresh perspective, in-depth and insightful analysis, the ability to ask the right questions, recognize threats and various opportunities and solutions can turn out to be much more important than technical skills alone especially at the initial stage of cooperation, when the design assumptions are just being formed.‍

Custom FinTech software development – knowledge of technology as important as communication skills

Some time ago, an inquiry about NodeJS developers came into FINGO's mailbox. The message contained rather standard requirements and a recruitment procedure – an invitation to test our technological knowledge.

To better understand the expectations, we suggested a conversation with our NodeJS developers and people responsible for the project on the client's side. Such a meeting, on the one hand, reassures us that the project is related to FinTech or RegTech solutions. However, we also care about the best match of software engineers to the project, bearing in mind the further development of their skills.

During the meeting, it turned out that the project was so interesting that one of the developers began to ask the client quite detailed questions, discussed some of the assumptions of the project and even suggested changes that would be worth considering.

The scheduled one-hour meeting lasted three times as long. And the icing on the cake was the words of the Project Manager: I feel dissatisfied. No one has ever been so inquisitive before and made me face so many important questions about the development of our financial application.

The client also admitted that he was, somewhat subconsciously, looking for a competent conversational partner -  one that will not be afraid to participate in the conceptual creation of the product, while also bringing a technological point of view to meetings.

Why? The product was only at the initial stage of development. Deciding to use the NodeJS environment, the client wanted the development team to be able to quickly create an MVP. Such a product demo would allow the client to present it to a group of investors, as well as conduct UX research and efficiently modify the project.

In this project, technological knowledge and knowledge of the NodeJS environment were important, but commitment and communication skills were what finalised the choice.

Custom software development company - portfolio of FinTech projects

Another thing worth considering is the potential partner's experience in the area related to the project, because this translates into quality, speed and efficiency of implementation. Knowledge of the industry, the ability to navigate the maze of regulations, and create software in accordance with the requirements of regulators are extremely important in the financial industry - just as technological issues are because Fintech is a very broad concept.

FinTech is an umbrella word for various financial solutions, e.g. payments, blockchain and cypto currency, wealthtech, cybersecurity or RegTech. Therefore, the project portfolio decides to a large extent to invite the Software House to the project. More precisely, in those projects related to the client's specialization.

Some examples. To confirm FINGO's skills in building applications for mandatory reporting, our portfolio would include a proprietary eON cloud solution. However, in order to convince the client about experience in the due diligence area, we would present a project implemented for Umazi - the due diligence platform automating enterprise identity verification. In turn, our practice in implementing AML/KYC solutions would be confirmed by our  project for Penneo.

Domain-related case studies related to the client's activity confirm at least basic knowledge of the challenges faced by the client. Thanks to previously gained experience, programmers can share knowledge about effectiveness or problematic implementations of certain solutions. The client, drawing from the experience of others, reduces the risk of making costly mistakes.

Body leasing or dedicated team? Approach IT outsourcing consciously

Another important issue to consider when looking for a technology partner is the preferred form of cooperation that suits both parties.

Companies, even those with IT departments in their structures, sometimes need extra hands to work. Here, they reach for one of two solutions. The first is classic body leasing. It works well when additional hands are quickly needed to work for predetermined rates.

The second solution is to hire entire and well-coordinated development teams. Companies use this solution when they care about technology partners who can analyze business requirements, offer a solution and organize the implementation of work on their own. An interesting example illustrating this issue is the case of how our development team approached the integration Stripe in our client's application - CQRS approach to handle Stripe events.

When companies hire an entire development team, they receive something on a fire&forget basis. -says Dariusz Wiśniewski Senior Full-Stack Engineer. They receive specialists with verified knowledge who themselves are looking for the most reason able technological solution that meets the submitted business requirements. Thanks to this, companies can focus on the development of their core business and do not incur organizational costs, i.e. recruitment, team building or the purchase of working tools (hardware and software).

Processes and procedures in a software development company

For larger companies, processes and procedures are also extremely important, which is of particular importance in the highly regulated financial industry. Moreover, the multitude of emerging legal regulations, the need to ensure the security of entrusted information and accessibility for users mean that the possession and use of procedures is increasingly required even by smaller creators of platforms and financial applications.

One of our clients has changed the person acting as CTO. So it was natural that he had to get to know and understand the operation of his company well, but also look at external IT service providers. To get to know each other better, we invited him to our office in Wroclaw. During the meeting, the CTO asked a lot of questions both related to our software development processes, as well as security procedures and responses in the event of a failure. When we proved that our processes are mature and we use them on a daily basis, he decided to continue the cooperation. – says Robert Marek, CTO at FINGO. 

FinTech software development - summary

When choosing a FinTech software development partner, it is easy to make a mistake. Unfortunately, companies find out about it only after some time of cooperation. But paying attention to the way developers share knowledge, project portfolios, compliance certificates and the resulting procedures and processes, it is much easier to make the right decision.

And the demand for providers of FinTech solutions is huge. Financial services is one of the most profitable sectors of the global economy, but at the same time, 1.5 billion adults globally are still unbanked[2].

Fortunately, the Goldman Sachs report[3]  indicates that thanks to generative artificial intelligence (AI), programmers in coming years will increase the efficiency of their work, but its nature will also change. However, one thing will not change: There will still be a need for software engineers who, with their experience, commitment and technological knowledge can help companies create useful and efficient financial applications.

[1] KPMG International, Pulse of Fintech H2’22 Global Analysis of Investment in Fintech

[2] Global Fintech 2023, Reimagining the Future of Finance May 2023

[3] Goldman Sachs, The Potentially Large Effects of Artificial Intelligence on Economic Growth (Briggs/Kodnani), 26 March 2023