It’s no secret that the financial industry is constantly growing. This stimulates the emergence of new companies and the attraction of more customers. Banks, venture funds, investment platforms, trading platforms for expensive metals and many more belong to this sector. Almost every company in this industry needs financial services software development.
You definitely need an innovative application, website, or fintech software to dominate the market and combat your competitors. That is why the demand for financial software development is increasing year after year. If you don’t want to risk your investment, you should learn more details about the market for the development of financial services software and find out how to find a reliable service provider. We are here to give you a complete guide to financial software development in 2025!
The Growing Financial Software Market & Key Trends
As we have already mentioned above, the financial market as a whole has seen significant growth in recent years. According to statistics, the size of the financial software development market in 2024 was estimated at 151 billion dollars. As analysts predict, this figure will increase to 160 billion mark in 2025. However, what is the reason for such a trend in recent years?
Primarily, the number of financial services companies is driving the entire IT services market forward. Every year, there are new startups from this sector that undoubtedly need development services. They create their own platforms, exchanges, mobile banking apps, and many more. Each of these tasks requires the involvement of an entire team that includes front-end developers, back-end developers, web designers, QA testers, database administrators, and cloud services specialists.
Another factor that influences the regular growth of this market and the above trends is constant change. For example, remember the online banking system 5 years ago and look at it now. The differences over such a fairly small period of time are incredible. Technology is changing, which brings new features and functions that the leading fintech companies need. So, financial services software development remains in demand today and will continue to do so.
Key Financial Software Development Solutions
It’s no secret that the financial field covers dozens of different areas. For example, it could be a traditional bank, a stock exchange, a brokerage company, or even an insurance firm. These are just a few examples of businesses that fall under the financial sector. Each of them may need their own unique software that caters to all the needs of their target audience. We decided to gather some of the most popular solutions in financial industry software development in 2025.
- Mobile banking. This is one of the most common programs in the financial sector. Mobile banking allows bank customers to fully manage their accounts through their smartphones. Today, every reputable bank in the world has its mobile app where users can send/receive funds, arrange a loan, and so on. For example, Royal Bank of Scotland was the first bank in the world to launch open banking for its customers in 2011.
- Online insurance platforms. Now, there is no need to look for insurance firm branches across the city as companies develop websites or apps. Users can create a personal account, choose a plan, and take out insurance from the comfort of their homes.
- Investment management. These are platforms where you can invest in valuable assets or currencies. Some of them even support cryptocurrency, expanding the options for investors.
- Accounting systems. Such software systems help accountants to properly keep records, fill out reports, and more. Accounting software works on a SaaS model to provide access to the software solution to users on a paid subscription basis.
Most of these apps help to get financial information and complete transactions. Actually, there are many other types of financial software. Such software also includes automated payment systems, risk management programs, and CRM systems to interact with customers. It all depends on what your requirements and goals are.
Must-Have Features in Financial Software
Although the financial sector is very broad and can cover different areas, the software engineering has a few mandatory features. These are the things without which the application will not work properly or will not be able to meet all the requirements of users. We decided to share with you the top 3 features that should be implemented during financial software development.
1. Safe authentication
Maintaining secure authentication functions as the vital component in financial software that guards sensitive information and stops unauthorized users. MFA (Multi-factor authentication) has now become mandatory within the industry since it provides security beyond the standard password authentication method.
The increasing trend toward biometric authentication enables users to achieve secure and easy access to their accounts through fingerprint or facial recognition technologies. Financial institutions, together with their customers, achieve protection against growing cyber threats through these security protocols. They also fulfill industry regulatory standards.
2. Payment management
Payment management operates as an essential requirement for financial software during the year 2025. Financial software must support multi-payment options, comprising bank transfers, mobile wallets, and credit/debit cards. Moreover, the demand for cryptocurrency has increased in recent years, so this option can also be introduced into the program.
The financial software should provide real-time access to financial data. Payment management features connected to financial operations streamline operations while eliminating mistakes and giving better oversight of payment stream activities which leads to secure payment experiences for businesses and consumers.
3. Analytics and financial reporting
Obviously, most users would like to track all their expenses/income, transactions between accounts, and so on. For this reason, finance software development requires the introduction of analytics tools. For example, most mobile banking applications have built-in capabilities to receive reports or view transaction analytics. Thus, users can monitor their bank account statistics from their smartphones.
When we talk about analytics features, we don’t just mean traditional banks. Software from any financial field, including insurance firms, investment funds and so on, should have such a tool. This makes it much easier to use for the target audience.
Essential Technologies for Financial Software Development
Have you ever wondered what financial software development depends on? Surely, it’s influenced by the customer’s field of activity, goals, and requirements. However, one of the most important points is technology. They determine how the final product will look for a financial firm.
You should master all of the above mentioned technologies if you aim to successfully create software for a financial services company. These technologies provide modern tools and great potential for skilled developers.
Security & Compliance in Financial Software Development
What sets the financial industry apart from other popular fields? Companies in this industry directly interact with money, personal information about customers, and other important assets. That is why financial services software development must take into account all security issues, both for the company and for the users. Developers use different methods to ensure security.
For example, cryptocurrency exchanges ask users to undergo KYC verification to learn more details about them and minimize the risk to other customers. Multiple layers of security protocols are implemented to protect software from hacker attacks. Another method is encrypting the data on the platform. This helps to protect customer data and avoid unauthorized entry and theft of personal funds.
Developing financial software is a matter of adhering to financial regulations. Furthermore, developers should make sure that their solutions conform to local and international standards. Here are some of the most important ones:
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS).
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML).
Financial apps need to have built-in features that will automatically report or compliance checks. Otherwise, it’ll result in some legal penalties or not being able to build trust with the users. The compliance environment is changing very rapidly, so regulators are constantly producing new regulations and using complex financial software systems to enforce them.
The Financial Software Development Lifecycle
How does financial software development take place? This question is of interest to both IT novices and owners of enterprises. The whole process is very similar to the development of digital products from other spheres of activity. However, the stages of fintech development have some peculiarities that we would like to share in this article.
- Creating a plan
Firstly, the IT team collects the necessary information from the customer. They need to understand the main goals, requirements, and other features of this project. All this is necessary to create a clear step-by-step plan for further realization of the project. In fact, planning and requirement gathering is considered to be one of the most important steps along the way.
- Designing
During this stage the software architecture becomes established while detailed blueprints receive proper fintech application development. Through this stage the developers create a UX and UI layout to establish software systems that deliver an intuitive interface fitting for financial sector requirements. The design includes security strategies together with compliance needs.
- Developing
Finally, we come to the main stage, where specialists directly build the final product. This process requires developers to write programming code and add Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) while implementing encryption technology and authentication security protocols. Of course, they create the product, taking into account all the requirements of the customer and gradually providing a report on the work done.
- Testing and deploying
Software testing acts as the foundation to guarantee proper performance together with security compliance and performance standards compliance. Testing software requires three different approaches, including functional assessment alongside security evaluation and stress analysis, to detect and rectify problems. After passing the testing phase, the software gets deployed into a secure framework, which requires regular monitoring to maintain operational stability.
Financial Software Development Challenges & How to Overcome Them
The benefits of financial software development are obvious. But what about challenges? It’s no secret that working as a developer is quite challenging, as it requires knowledge and a set of skills. The sphere of finance also has its own peculiarities, so financial software developers are characterized by a high rate of hourly pay. If you want to understand financial software development in detail, then you should also learn about the main difficulties and problems in advance. We have collected all the complexities that you should consider for developing programs for banks, insurance firms and other financial sector companies.
Ensuring the security of customer data
Among the most challenging tasks in fintech development is protecting client data. Data breaches, identity theft, and cyber threats are real occurrences. These have to be overcome, which require the developer to implement encryption protocols, multi-factor authentication, and regular security audits. This, amongst other things, helps mitigate risk and fosters a sense of trust between the customer and you.
Frequent changes
The ever-evolving financial technology industry is where new tools, platforms, and regulations emerge almost daily. Developers must be adaptable and proactive to adopt the latest technologies. By implementing agile development practices and continuous learning in the teams, the changing needs brought about by these changes are addressed swiftly. Yet, the software remains current with industry trends and market demands.
Scalability
The programs for such institutions have to grow along with the organization as more and more data, transactions, and users come into play. Performance bottlenecks or system failures are a result of scalability challenges. This is what should be addressed by developers who should provide the system with a modular architecture, using a cloud-based solution that provides the flexibility they need.
Cost of Developing Financial Software
Are you the owner of a finance company and considering building custom programs for the needs of your business? Undoubtedly, this is a great solution as you can fulfill most of the internal requirements and demands of your target users. However, such a solution can take away a significant portion of your budget. If you want to understand how much financial software development will cost, you should take the following factors into consideration.
- Product type. A lot depends on what kind of program you want to get. Accounting applications are considered to be the cheapest. For example, if you want to create a cryptocurrency exchange like Binance, you will have to spend about 150 thousand dollars.
- Executive team. The financial software development cost also depends on who is involved in the development process. For example, some customers simply look for freelancers on popular platforms to create apps or websites. However, these are large projects that only professional development services companies should be involved in.
We recommend calculating in advance the budget that your company or startup can allocate to this process. Depending on the type of software, the final development may require from you from 10 to 150 thousand dollars on average.
How to Choose the Right Financial Software Development Partner?
Selecting an appropriate software development company requires proper evaluation of their domain-specific expertise. A trustworthy development partner must show their ability to construct dependable financial solutions through solid case studies. Financial software development partners need a full understanding of major challenges and cybersecurity so their created program meets security demands and compliance regulations.
The selection process requires evaluation of both technical capability and additional elements, such as budget prices and delivery deadlines, together with adaptability. The costs for software development remain relevant to decision-making, yet the quality and project goal deadline performance of your selected partner needs to remain your top priorities. The development team must understand complex compliance issues to maintain software security and adapt to changing requirements.
The Future of Financial Software Development
Nowadays, many people wonder what financial services software development will look like in 1 year, 5 years, or even 10 years. As you realize, technology changes very quickly and people come up with new tools. All this contributes to the fact that trends in different areas, including IT and the financial industry, change very often. That is why we want to share predictions about the future of this trend.
Specialists have tried to predict the revenue of this market in the coming years. The amount is expected to reach 250 billion dollars, which indicates a significant demand for software development services from banks, investment funds, stock exchanges, and so on. We should also note that experts will more often use the capabilities of artificial intelligence to implement such projects.
Conclusion
In recent years, most startups and organizations have turned to specialists to build the software they need. This can cover mobile banking apps, online insurance platforms, cryptocurrency exchanges and even more. If you are looking for investing in financial software development, we recommend that you look for professional vendors. This will minimize risks and provide a guarantee that the end result will meet your requirements.