New technologies affect almost all areas of our lives, and we think it makes no sense to talk about how important mobile applications and electronic wallets are now. When we need to use some product or service, all we need to do is press one or two buttons in the application and the purchase is already in our pocket.
That’s all about mobile payment systems. This is one of the brightest and coolest inventions of the last ten years. In this article, we will consider how to create a money transfer app.
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How to develop a mobile application for online payments?
In fact, the market for mobile applications for user payment services shows one of the highest growth rates and popularity. Of course, it cannot be said that application development is a very simple task.
On the contrary, if you are planning to create a mobile application for money transfer, be prepared for the fact that on the way to the realization of this goal there will be many tasks and a lot to learn – from the basics of coding theory to payment card security standards.
Where to start? First of all, you need to understand how such a product works:
- Collects information about the customer’s credit card;
- Tokenizes credentials;
- Sends a token to the backend server to initiate the payment process.
Secondly, you must not forget about safety. An application must provide full protection of user credentials.
Application development stages
You should decide what application you want to make. Do you want to create a unique mobile payment application, implement existing systems or use Square, or PayPal? Maybe, you want to directly sell something to users from the application, or another company will handle client payments?
Moreover, you must decide whether you will use mPOS (Mobile Point Of Sale – a mobile payment acceptance device) or whether your smartphone will carry out cashless payments using a bank card.
This terminal can also read information from a plastic card, such as card number, expiration date, owner’s name, as well as information about recent transactions.
Native app VS hybrid
It is important to define the format of an app you will develop. Your choice will affect the final cost of the application and its effectiveness. Native apps are up to 15 percent faster than hybrid apps. But hybrid applications are cheaper and take less time to develop on different platforms.
Hybrid applications are a great business solution, especially considering the time and cost factors mentioned above. But keep in mind that even then, users expect mashups to behave more like native apps and have the same functionality that native apps have.
UI/UX design
The UI should be convenient, fast, and easy to use, as well in the processing of money transfers. Make sure that the font and colour have all the characteristics that you would like to use in the future. The appearance, logo, and style of your brand should reflect the concept of the project.
In addition, if your application has a credit card payment feature, then there must be minimum credit card information such as name, email address, credit card number, expiration date (month and year), CVV code, and zip code. Also, enable a feature that displays the amount of money so users know how much they’ve spent. Consider developing a loyalty program with a bonus system and discounts.
API and SDK. Data storage and processing
The online payment app allows you to store and use debit and credit cards, insurance, an identification number, and loyalty cards. All this information in the form of barcodes is then scanned by sales representatives.
In order to become an exclusive mobile payment provider, you must offer users an attractive and simple user interface based on NFC, QR, SMS, etc. These services are the link between the brand and consumers.
You don’t have to directly store credit card information in your application, there are a large number of payment processors that are designed to process credentials for transactions through their API. But do not relax, you are still responsible for the security of credit card data, even after integrating with the API gateway, as the data passes through your mobile application. API examples for securely retrieving credit card information:
- WePay API stores credit card information securely on WePay servers and returns a token to your platform.
- The Android Pay API allows users to digitize and securely store loyalty cards, gift cards, and offers in Android Pay.
- The Spreedly API library supports Apple Pay, so you can let users make payments without entering their credit card information.
PCI (Payment Card Industry) Security and Data Protection.
First and foremost, you must create a secure mobile payment application and comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).
PCI compliance is not the easiest thing to do – it can take you several months to get certified, even if you are not a beginner and your company specializes in storing and processing credentials.
But there is a way out – the systems we described above, as well as the Stripe, PayPal, and Braintree payment systems offer reliable native mobile libraries for iOS and Android, and the ability to effectively comply with PCI requirements by converting encrypted credit card data into a token.
Error processing
It doesn’t matter whose fault it is – a user, a bank, or your own server, mistakes in application development still happen. And instead of asking users to restart the application, it is necessary to resolve the issue so that they can deal with the problem themselves or contact the bank, giving employees the opportunity to figure it out. In the case of providing technical support related to the incorrect operation of the server, you can mark the error in red, or describe the reasons for the errors in the message.
Final thoughts
As you can see, the UI design and technical implementation of a mobile payment app need a lot of support. And if you do not have experience or specific programming skills in this area, qualified specialists may be the best solution for you and your future clients.
The Inoxoft company will develop a convenient mobile payment application for you as soon as possible. The company’s clients receive full technical support during the entire development process and at the end of the work.