Mobile app development comes with its costs associated with the development process, such as the planning stage, development stage, maintenance costs, and so on. Generally, it costs around $20,000 to $30,000 to develop a mobile banking app in the USA, when considering software development fees and the costs associated with the development stage. However, there are many factors that influence and affect the costs of developing a banking app. The following article will briefly explore the effects of the costs of developing a banking app so that Neobank fintech start-ups can be aware of these and how they could influence the overall cost of developing the solution they wish to deliver to their stakeholders and customers.

The cost of mobile banking app development is influenced by four main factors. These are the app complexity, tech stack, and finally, the location of the development team.

App Complexity Influence on the Cost of Developing a Banking App: 

The more complicated the tasks of app development, the more costly it will be. Two main factors have an impact on complexity: the number of screens to design and develop and the project time frame. A typical banking app has a variety of features that can range from 11 screens to 54 screens. Some apps are developed in-house by banks, or their division called in-house bank apps which typically have about 7 screens with advanced features like biometric authentication for payments and saving accounts. The second factor influencing complexity is the project time frame. The more complicated the tasks of app development, the higher the cost will be. It is important to note that even though more complicated apps have a higher cost to develop, they make for better revenue opportunities as well. This means that if a bank wants to launch a new app and make it successful, it can do so by investing in an expensive one with high-profit potential or a less expensive one with lower profit potential but a smaller list of users. The downside is that if the bank chooses a low-profit app, it could have a lot of competition and not be able to make as much money as it would like.

Tech Stack Influence on the Cost of Developing a Banking App: 

The choice of programming languages and libraries that will be used to create a banking app affect the development cost. App developers usually choose native languages to code their banking apps and most commonly are Swift for iOS app development and Kotlin for Android development. Alternatively, using something like React Native or Flutter can be utilized that provides multi-platform app development, and can reduce the cost of developing a banking app as only one code base is needed to be maintained and developed.

Location of the Development Team and How it Influences the Cost of Developing a Banking App: 

The location of the development team can influence the cost of developing a banking app, as there are varying costs for each location. For instance, it is more expensive to develop software in the USA due to the high cost of living and labour in that region. The developers themselves can also have an impact on the development costs, as there are varying prices for developers with experience and no experience. It is also often easier to maintain an application in the native country and location where the product wishes to be released. It can be a smart option to outsource the app development to countries such as India where the cost of labour is much lower for software development.