The Essentials of Digital Wallet App Development

With the ever-evolving technology and the increasing adoption of mobile phones, people want everything to be quick, easy, and secure, especially when it comes to managing their finances. It is where digital wallet app development comes into play.

Digital wallets, also known as mWallets and eWallets, have quickly become one of the fastest-growing payment methods, allowing users to make transactions quickly and securely without needing cash or physical cards. Unsurprisingly, digital wallets are a great innovation for a cashless world that makes managing finance a safe and secure option.

According to McKinsey & Company 2022 US report, the use of digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay increased to 89% in 2022 and is projected to reach 100% in the coming years.

So, if you want to tap into this growing market trend, developing a digital wallet app should be your prime vision. Whether you are an emerging startup that wants to contribute to the market that has an exponential growth spectrum in the future or a huge enterprise looking to keep your business competitive, digital wallet development is a lucrative business opportunity for you.

However, digital mobile wallet application development is a complex and challenging process that requires thorough knowledge and careful planning of mobile payment systems. This comprehensive blog will reveal all the essential aspects required to make a successful eWallet. So, let’s dive into unveiling the cost, must-have features, digital wallet app development process, technology stack, security compliance, and other essential factors that make a great mobile wallet for your business.

How Much Does It Cost to Develop A Digital Wallet App?

The cost to build a digital wallet app varies depending on various factors like features and functionalities it provides, the location of the digital wallet app development agency, the type of app, and so on. To clearly understand your digital wallet app development cost, you should evaluate the following factors:

• The platform on which your app will run.
• The features and functionalities your eWallet will provide to the users.
• The technology stack and tools used to build the application.
• App testing stage and the level of maintenance it requires.
• The location of your mobile wallet development company.

On average, eWallet app development costs somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000 or more for more advanced features.

Want to get a more refined estimation of mobile wallet app development cost? Let’s discuss the essential digital wallet app features that majorly contribute to the overall eWallet app development cost.

Top 12 Features of a Mobile Wallet App

A digital wallet app facilitates multiple functionalities allowing users to make transactions, transfer funds, pay bills, recharge mobile phones, store payment information, etc. Therefore, to create a successful and competitive eWallet, you must consider incorporating the below-mentioned features:

Transaction History and Notifications

Your app should provide users with a detailed history of their transactions, reflecting their past payments and purchases. Also, enable push notifications and email alerts to inform them about their account activities.

Transfer Money to/from the Bank Accounts

Mobile wallets must enable seamless money transfer feature from one bank to another bank account and from eWallet to bank account and vice versa. The process of transferring money in and out of the wallet should be extremely easy, secure, and convenient.

Bill Payments

Your eWallet must facilitate users to pay their utility bills online, such as electricity, gas, mortgages, rents payment, etc. To make it secure and successful, you need to partner with multiple third-party service providers in the category to give users an easy payment option.

Management of Virtual Cards

The wallet application should enable users to save their debit and credit card data ensuring high security practices like PCI-DCC and so on. It should allow people to add money to their wallets through a one-click system. Moreover, users should be allowed to remove or add cards to their lists.

Contactless Payments Method

Contactless technologies like QR codes and NFC are becoming extremely common in retail chains. Considering their growth, it can be very profitable for your digital wallet to facilitate contactless payments in physical stores, making transactions quick, easy, and convenient.

Secure Authentication

Security should be your prime priority when developing a fintech app. Thus, don’t miss out on implementing robust user authentication methods such as PIN generation, fingerprints, facial recognition, and even two-factor authentication. It ensures that only authorized users can access your app.

Self-Registration

To ensure the success and accessibility of your digital wallet for all genres, you should allow the easy self-registration process so that the maximum number of users can enjoy your offerings. Usually, the self-registration process follows the following steps:

• Download the application
• Follow the KYC process
• Confirm registration through OTP
• Set up the password and login
• Link cards
• Add money to the wallet.

Rewards and Discounts

Rewards and discounts are the lucrative aspect of your eWallet that tempt the users to use the app for the maximum of their financial activities, which leads to increased engagement and retention rates. 

Analytics-Based Dashboards

The mobile wallet must have a user-centric dashboard that gives detailed information about their spending habits, upcoming bills, etc. You can even introduce a budget management and expense tracking module in the application.

Chatbot

Integrating a chatbot that provides 24/7 support and gives quick responses to all customers’ queries is one of the most remarkable trends in today’s tech-driven world. So, don’t lag behind in leveraging this AI trend. You can go the extra mile and even implement voice search features in the app.

Multi-Currency Support

If your eWallet caters to the global audience’s needs, you must consider offering multi-currency support. This feature enables easy transactions and conversions for international users.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Payments

P2P payment is one of the most used digital wallet features that allows users to send and receive money directly to/from their contacts using their eWallets. This feature is particularly useful for splitting bills or paying back friends. PayPal is one of the most quoted examples in this category, with millions of people using it to transact for both personal and professional reasons like paying for outsourcing, etc.

Now that we know the essential features required to build a high-performing eWallet, it is time to know how to build a digital wallet and look into the technology stack that powers such applications.

Also Read: UPI payment app development – A cost and benefit analysis

Digital Wallet App Development Process: Step-by-Step Guide

Building a secure eWallet comprises the same method as any other mobile app development process, such as UI/UX designing, payment integration, development, deployment, etc. Let’s discover each phase in detail:

Define Your Product Goal

The first step to your digital wallet app development process starts with defining your product goals and specifying what features it will have. For instance, do you want your application to store multiple currencies, transfer money, make payments to merchants, pay bills, or do other activities? Make sure to clearly define your goals before moving on to the next step.

Design an Intuitive Interface

Once you have defined your product goal and features, it is time to create a user-friendly UI/UX design with which your customers will interact. According to a report, 90% of users lose their trust in an app and discontinue its use due to a poor experience. Hence, creating a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate interface that allows users to access their accounts quickly, transfer funds, and make payments, is essential for successful eWallet app development.

Implement Security Measures

Security is a prime concern when developing a FinTech app, and a digital wallet is no exception. Therefore, you must integrate robust security measures like biometrics to prevent data breaches and reduce the risk of cyberattacks when developing an eWallet.

To gain a deep understanding of how to secure your FinTech app; read our complete guide on Cybersecurity in FinTech.

Develop the Digital App

Now comes the most critical and technical aspect of the process – development. Depending on the UI/UX design and your user base, set up continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), integrate essential features, and deploy technology stacks to ensure your product behaves as it should.

Test and Deploy Your App to the Market

Before submitting your digital wallet to the app store and bringing it to the end users, thoroughly test it for functionality, security, and usability. It includes testing for bugs, errors, glitches, vulnerabilities, and performance. After testing and iterating the application, it is time to launch your app to the market.

Know How To Upload An App To the Google Play Store?

Upgrade and Maintenance

Mobile app development is a one-time job, but ensuring its apt performance as per the market trend is an ongoing process. So, make sure to timely maintain and upgrade your application to keep it up-to-date, active, competitive, and high-performing.

Technology Stacks Used for Digital Wallet App Development

To build mobile-friendly, user-friendly, and secure eWallets, you must integrate the right set of technology stacks into the application. The below table represents some tech stacks used in the digital wallet app development process.

THE AUTHOR

Sudeep Srivastava

Co-Founder and Director