7 Ways That Will Help You Build Secure Fintech Product For Startup
Fintech has become one of the most discussed and growing sectors in the past few years. The transformation of financial services brought on by digitization, software, and Internet technologies is a force that cannot be ignored. There are new players in the market every day looking to disrupt it. From startups to established companies, everyone seems to have their own idea on how to move forward.
In the scope of all these changes, security continues to be an essential factor for any business when it comes to onboarding new users or storing sensitive data. Recognizing that not all products need to be as simple as a fintech mobile app or website, developers are creating more complex software solutions with multiple features and integrations with third-party APIs. Finding the balance between security and ease of use will separate good from great fintech app development solutions in the long run.
1. Importance of building products
At the start of any project, it’s essential to have an eye on security. You may have to make changes to your product and even re-architect it completely but it’s better to do that upfront than to retrofit security at the end. It’s a big undertaking and requires the investment of time and money, but the payoff is that you’ll be able to attract more customers, retain them longer, and do it all with less effort.
At the start, you’ll need to audit your product for security issues. Look for any obvious problems (like using unencrypted connections) and try to find any potential issues you might not have thought of before. Next, you’ll want to create a roadmap for adding security features to your product. It’s better to start small and build up over time rather than trying to do everything at once.
Also read: How Mobile Applications Are Transforming The Fintech Industry?
2. Use Payment Blocking
When it comes to blocking payments, you might think of it as an easy way to prevent fraud before it happens. However, it can also help mitigate damage after an attack. If you can block payments in real-time, it allows you to minimize the impact of attacks that rely on stolen data, such as account takeover fraud (ATO). It’s essential to remember that payment blocking should be applied only in extreme fraud cases, such as when a user’s financial data is being used to commit fraud, or their account is being tampered with. You’ll also want to make sure your payment blocking is applied fairly and that no legitimate payments are being blocked mistakenly.
3. Don’t forget about user experience
It’s important to remember that security is more than just protecting your fintech app from being hacked. It’s also about protecting your users from things like phishing scams and others. When designing your product, keep security in mind and make it as easy to use as possible. When building a product, you may consider creating a single-page app (SPA) instead of a traditional multi-page website that loads a new page for each product section. It will give you more control over the experience, but it will also mean that users will have to log in each time they use the product. You can also customize the look and feel of the product, using branding and colours that match your company’s branding. That way, users will trust your outcome much more because they know they’re logging into something that looks trustworthy.
4. Secure APIs and services.
You’ll likely have to integrate with other services and APIs when building a product. However, with APIs being a common target for hackers, they can leave you vulnerable. Before selecting an API, ensure you understand who uses it and how you can ensure its security. It’s essential to see what kind of security they’re using and what kind of logs they keep. While you may think that you don’t need records, they can be convenient in the event of a hack or breach. You’ll also want to do a quick API audit to ensure there aren’t any obvious security problems. You’ll also want to use authentication, like OAuth, to ensure the API knows who you are. The last thing you want is for someone to be able to access the API using your account.
Also read: FinTech Applications And Their Impact On Banking And Finance Industry
5. Utilize automation
Building, testing, and releasing a specific fintech application can be a slow, manual process. But by automating as many processes as possible, you’ll be able to move much faster, which will help keep costs down. For example, you can use a cloud-based continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) solution to test code automatically. You can also use automated code analysis to look for security issues, like cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection, before they make it into your code. This can help you catch security issues before they ever become a problem. Similarly, you can automate the process of releasing your product. This will help ensure that each component of your release process is handled correctly and that you don’t forget to include any security checks.
6. Transparent with users
When it comes to your fintech application solutions, you’ll want to focus on providing your customers and users with the information and tools they need to stay safe. This could mean providing them with ways to identify fake versions of your product and even educating them on how to spot fake websites and fraudulent emails sent to them. This can help protect your users from things like phishing attacks, which are a big problem in the world of online security. You can provide these kinds of tools in several ways. You can include them in your app by providing an about page or offering a different website where users can get the information they need.
7. Constant monitoring
There’s no better way to stay on top of your app’s security than constantly monitoring it. Tools like New Relic, AppDynamics, and BlazeMeter can help you always stay on top of your application’s performance. They can also help you monitor your app’s security by providing metrics, like where your app is being attacked and which parts of your app have potential vulnerabilities. These tools can also help you monitor your users’ activities and understand how they use your app. This can help you better know where you might need to make changes to improve the security of your product. By using these kinds of tools, you’ll be able to find and fix issues faster, which will help you take better care of your customers.
Conclusion
With so much at stake, it’s important to prioritize security from the start. Secure fintech app development solutions is more than just plugging in some security tools and hoping for the best. You’ll need to put in the time and effort to understand your users and their needs, then put that knowledge to use when designing and building your product. This will help you catch potential issues before they become problems and keep your users safe and happy.
Mobio Solutions is an enterprise fintech app development company with a wide experience across different industries. Hire mobile app developers with technological expertise.