What is the estimated cost of developing a banking application? Like any digital solution, the final expenses are contingent upon numerous factors, encompassing the application’s technological intricacy, design, preferred platform, and more.

Nevertheless, a discernible pattern emerges: The greater the complexity of the software, the higher the investment required. Banking applications can generally be categorized into three complexity levels:

  • Simple Banking App: The cost for such an application typically falls in the range of $40,000 to $120,000, with a development timeline of 2-3 months.
  • Medium Complexity Banking App: An application of moderate complexity may necessitate an investment ranging from $120,000 to $200,000, and it typically takes around 3-6 months to complete.
  • Complex Banking App: Highly sophisticated banking solutions can cost anywhere between $200,000 to $300,000 or more. The development timeline for such apps can extend from 6 to 9+ months.

These estimates are approximate and serve as a starting point. To provide a more precise cost assessment for a banking application, it’s essential to consider the specific factors influencing pricing during development.

Key Factors Influencing the Cost of Banking App Development

When considering the cost of banking app development, it is crucial to account for various factors that play a crucial role in determining your project’s budget. Thoroughly analyzing each of these factors will provide you with a more accurate cost estimation during the initial stages of development. By doing so, you can even optimize your expenses by tailoring your project requirements to your specific needs.

Let’s take a closer look at the factors that demand your utmost attention:

Number of Features and Their Complexity

The quantity and intricacy of desired features constitute a substantial portion of the total banking app development cost. It’s a common practice to initiate development with the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) version. This approach involves building a product with essential functionalities, which facilitates a quicker time-to-market and minimizes the initial investment. Additional advanced features can be incorporated or upgraded over time.

The functionality of the app can be categorized into two segments:

  • Core Functionality
  • Advanced Functionality

Primary features encompass:

  • Authentication
  • KYC (Know Your Customer) for enhanced security and to mitigate illicit activities within the application.
  • User profiles
  • Account history and activity
  • Fund transfers
  • Payment of bills
  • Management of cards
  • ATM and bank branch locator
  • Customer support
  • Configuration settings

A more advanced feature set typically includes:

  • Personalized suggestions and recommendations
  • Intelligent expense analysis
  • Financial planning tools
  • Payment processing systems
  • Subscription management
  • Document scanning capabilities
  • Investment management, and more

Design

UI (User Interface) and UX (User Experience) design represent the initial point of contact with your customers. The visual aesthetics and user-friendliness underpinning your solution often play a crucial role in shaping user perceptions and retention rates. If your project demands more intricate graphical and interactive elements, it will inevitably incur higher costs.

Choice of Platform

Developing a product for iOS and Android necessitates two distinct approaches, and your decision here also impacts the overall cost. Typically, iOS development tends to be more costly compared to Android development due to its need for specialized expertise, adherence to stringent Apple guidelines, and meticulous testing requirements.

Alternatively, you can opt for the development of two separate solutions for both platforms. However, this approach significantly escalates the final expenses, as each app follows a distinct development process and requires unique technical capabilities. To circumvent these challenges, you might consider cross-platform app development. This approach allows you to create a single solution that functions seamlessly on both iOS and Android while costing considerably less than separate development efforts.

Technology Stack

Frameworks, programming languages, and databases are instrumental in realizing a successful and profitable solution. Depending on the complexity and scope of your banking app, you may need to engage specialists with advanced expertise, skillsets, and experience in delivering banking software development services, which will entail additional investment.

Below, you can explore a fundamental set of indispensable technologies for the creation of a banking app. It’s essential to note that this list can be expanded to align with your specific requirements.

  • Cloud Services Providers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform
  • Programming Languages: JavaScript, Kotlin, Swift, Java
  • Database Management Systems: MySQL, PostgreSQL
  • Development Frameworks: iOS/Android Software Development Kit (SDK), Flutter, React Native

Cooperation Strategy

The cooperation strategy you opt for can significantly impact the overall development process and cost of your banking application. Generally, there are three prevalent cooperation approaches:

  • Freelance: This option may seem the most cost-effective initially. However, creating a banking app necessitates the expertise of professionals such as UI/UX designers, QA engineers, DevOps specialists, and more. Finding highly qualified individuals through freelancing platforms can be time-consuming and risky, as verifying their expertise in a short timeframe is challenging. 
  • In-house Team: Employing in-house experts can enhance your company’s capabilities. In-house collaboration ensures comprehensive oversight of the development process and the performance of specialists. Nevertheless, maintaining an in-house team can be considerably expensive due to operational costs like equipment, employee insurance, salaries, rent, and more.
  • Outsourcing: Engaging an IT outsourcing services provider streamlines the hiring process. This approach offers greater flexibility and access to experts with diverse and global expertise. Additionally, you have the option to outsource specific specialists or collaborate with a fully assembled remote team.

Selection of Team Members and Geographic Considerations

If you choose remote cooperation, the geographic region you select for outsourcing can impact your financial planning. For instance, partnering with experts in the United States may entail hourly rates ranging from $130 to $150. In contrast, opting for the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region can offer rates that are approximately half as expensive, typically ranging from $40 to $60 per hour.

Nonetheless, it is imperative to meticulously assess the composition of your development team. Below is a list of key specialists required for a successful banking app project:

  • Project Manager (PM)
  • Business Analyst (BA)
  • Solution Architect (SA)
  • App Developers
  • QA Engineers
  • UI/UX Designers
  • DevOps Engineers

Additional factors

There are more influential aspects of banking app development that include:

  • Regulatory compliance
  • App release
  • Third-party integrations and data storage
  • Maintenance and support
  • Marketing expenses, etc.

Rough Estimation of Banking App Development Cost

What is the estimated cost of developing a banking application? As previously mentioned, building a comprehensive and functional solution will require the collaboration of various professionals. The essential team members for this project encompass:

  • Front-end and Back-end developer
  • Business analyst
  • Project manager
  • UI/UX designer
  • QA engineer
  • DevOps Engineer
  • Team lead

Given the specific team composition and the outlined scope of work, the expenses associated with developing a banking application can vary within the range of $160,000 to $250,000. It’s essential to note that this estimation is not an exact figure, and there are opportunities to enhance cost-efficiency through outsourcing. Outsourcing offers several potential benefits, such as:

  • Cost Reductions
  • Savings on tools and infrastructure expenditures
  • Increased scalability and flexibility
  • Enhanced ability to concentrate on core business operations

Additionally, you can save significant amounts of resources while choosing the most relatable outsourcing region. Below, you can examine the development rate in the most popular outsourcing destinations: