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 mobile wallet app, you must consider incorporating the features mentioned below during the mobile wallet app development process.
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 for your mobile wallet app development 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.
For PaymentsPayPal, Braintree, Stripe, and PayUMoney
| Category | Tech Stack |
|---|---|
| For Phone Verification | Nexmo |
| For frontend | Angular, CSS, Javascript, and HTML5 |
| For database | HBase, Cassandra, and MongoDB |
| For cloud environment | Salesforce, Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure |
| For push notifications | Push.IO, Amazon SNS, Twilio, Urban Airship |
| For real-time analytics | Hadoop, Apache, and Spark |
| For QR codes | ZBar Code reader |
You can hire a reputed eWallet app development company to build a high-performing digital wallet with an essential technology stack and security measures to enhance user experience and ensure ongoing app success.
Security Compliances for Digital Wallet App Development
To be a successful eWallet company, you must adhere to the essential regulatory compliances as per your country’s specific laws and guidelines. For instance, In the US., there is a gamut of state and federal regulations that specify the modus-operandi of a digital wallet app. Typically when building a digital wallet app, you should follow the below-listed security compliances:
Also Read: PCI Compliant Fintech Application
Data Privacy Regulations
To protect users’ personal and financial data, you should comply with essential data privacy regulations. Some of the most common data privacy compliances are California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Multi-Factor Authentication
It would be best if you implement multi-factor authentication to add a layer of protection to the application. For instance, an iOS app development uses face recognition, pin, and password to validate users’ authentication.
Secure Data Transmission
In the ever-evolving digital world, you must secure data when at rest and in transit. To provide your users with a secure data transmission experience, you should use secure communication channels such as SSL/TLS/VPN to encrypt all data transmissions between the app and the server.
Secure Data Storage
To secure users’ sensitive information and financial data, such as credit card details from fraudulent activity and unauthorized access, you should implement secure storage methods such as encryption and hashing.
Protection Against Fraud
Mobile wallet app development should include features that detect and prevent fraudulent activities such as unauthorized access, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting.
PCI-DSS Standards
To ensure secure processing of credit and debit card information, your eWallet should comply with payment card industry data security standards.
Regular Security Audits and Updates
With the ever-increasing risk of data breaches and cybercrime incidents, your mobile wallet app should undergo regular security audits to find out any vulnerabilities and implement timely security measures.
By considering these security compliances, you can create a secure and successful eWallet that instills confidence in users.
What are the Different Types of Mobile Wallet Apps?
There are multiple types of eWallets that address specific business models and target users’ needs depending on their device’s operating system and location. For instance, Google Pay is the most popular choice for Android users, while iPhone users consider Apple Pay. Others rely on PayPal as it offers international-level acceptance. Furthermore, Cash App and Venmo work only with a US phone number. We can segment these applications into the below-listed categories of eWallets:
Closed Wallets
These wallets are specially designed for a merchant that sells products or services, allowing users to use the wallet for that particular merchant only. For example, an eCommerce app enables you to store money in the app’s wallet and use it to pay for an item in the cart. Starbucks, a leading multinational chain of coffeehouses, is a good example of a closed wallet.
Semi-Closed Wallets
A semi-closed wallet allows users to use funds in their wallets to make payments for transactions on websites or apps their merchant has partnered with. Paytm can be a great example of a semi-closed wallet.
Open Wallets
Open wallets such as PayPal are used directly in a third-party application or in a bank app to support any type of transaction. It enables customers to send and receive online and in-store payments, transfer funds to their bank account and keep them in their wallet for future use. Open wallets require both receivers and senders to have accounts on the same application.
Crypto Wallets
Cryptocurrency wallets are designed to store, sell and buy cryptocurrencies. These wallets store the public and private keys of users to facilitate transactions over their applications. The best thing about crypto payment wallets is that you can design them as per your specific needs – closed, semi-open or open.
You may like reading: An Ultimate Guide to Blockchain Wallets
Most Popular Examples of Digital Wallet Apps
The digital wallet realm is getting bigger with each passing year. Many companies like Venmo and PayPal offer digital wallets to manage financial transactions. Additionally, many banks and eCommerce companies integrate digital wallets into their application, fostering contactless payment methods. Here are some real-world examples of digital wallet apps that have gained widespread adoption and recognition.
Apple Pay
With an increased user base from 521.4 million to 535.8 million in 2022, Apple Pay has emerged as a leader in the digital wallet space for iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches. Use it online, in apps, and in stores to make easier and safer payments. Apple Pay’s user base increased from 521.4 million to 535.8 million in 2022.
Google Pay
With 1B+ downloads and 4+ ratings on the Play Store, Google Pay (also known as Google Wallet in some regions) has emerged as a leader in the digital wallet space. Trusted by 150 million+ users worldwide, this eWallet powers in-app, online, and in-person purchases on mobile devices, enabling users to manage their finances with Android phones, tablets, or watches.
PayPal
With more than 435 million users worldwide, PayPal serves as one of the most trusted and globally accepted digital wallet, supporting international transactions with almost all types of cards. It is a faster and safer mode to send and receive money, replacing traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders.
The increasing user base of digital wallet apps gives a clear testament to the increasing penetration of eWallets in today’s digital landscape. As the demand for these eWallet development solutions continues to rise, it opens a door of endless opportunities for businesses to capitalize on this burgeoning market trend. So, if you want to leverage this lucrative market trajectory, partner with a trusted digital wallet app development company (like Appinventiv) for all your digital wallet app development needs.
Embark on Your eWallet App Development Journey with Appinvnetiv
Digital wallet app development is a complex and challenging process, consisting of numerous considerations such as domain complexities, security compliances, tech specialties, features integration, and so on. Implementation of all these aspects successfully leads to transforming an app vision into a working version. So, don’t hesitate to ask for professional assistance and partner with us to build a successful eWallet.
We, as a leading fintech app development company, have delivered 500+ custom FinTech Solutions for different sectors like finance, eCommerce, healthcare, and so on. For instance, we created a leading financial platform for Bajaj Finserv to transform its merchant onboarding journey digitally. The results – 300+ merchants onboarded and 3 lack+ transactions per day. For another client Mudra, we built a budget management app that helps millennials manage their personal budgeting issues.
Being your trusted tech partner, we help you keep your sensitive data secure and compliant, ensuring that your mWallet adheres to all government regulations and guidelines such as FinCEN, FINTRAC, PSD2, ePrivacy, PCI-DSS, GDPR, PA-DSS, and AML.
Leveraging our 8+ years of experience in software and app development can truly help you build a secure and scalable fintech app. Our dedicated team of 350+ fintech professionals knows what it takes to build an interactive, intuitive app – one that your users will fall in love with, positioning yourself strategically to cater to the evolving needs of modern users.
So, don’t miss the opportunity to be a part of a lucrative market trajectory. Seize the chance and embark on your digital app development journey with Appinventiv.
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FAQs
Q. What are the key features of a digital wallet app?
A. Digital wallet apps are loaded with a multitude of features to facilitate quick, easy, and secure transactions. Some of the most common features of eWallets are rewards and discounts, self-registration, bill management, secure authentication, chatbots, and multi-currency support. To get a detailed understanding of digital wallet app features, please refer to the above blog.
Q. How long does it take to develop a digital wallet app?
A. The time it takes to develop a digital wallet app varies significantly based on various factors like the app’s complexity, features, platforms, and location of a digital wallet development company. Typically, it takes 3 to 6 months to build a mWallet with basic features and 6 to 12 months or more for a more advanced version.
Q. Which Industries Can Benefit From Mobile Wallet Apps?
A. There is hardly any industry that can remain untouched by the benefits of digital wallets. Retail, Entertainment, BFSI, Automotive, Healthcare, Transport, Consumer Electronics, IT, and Education are some of the most prominent sectors that can benefit from digital wallet app development.
THE AUTHOR
Sudeep Srivastava
Co-Founder and Director
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