E-wallet App Development: Cost & Components | Itexus

A digital wallet or E-wallet is a mobile application which allows people to store their money in an online wallet, which they can then use for various digital transactions directly from the wallet or from the added debit card. You need to enter all of the card information into the E-wallet app. The information will be encrypted and you will only be able to use the wallet when you unlock your device and authorize. E-wallet is a substitution for your physical wallet, a blanket descriptor for a range of technologies that let you get lots of things done.

Digital wallets can have a web version, mostly used by businesses for analytics. However, the mobile version is the most popular.

E-wallets serve businesses and individual users. Small and medium businesses can collect payments online. Individual users use digital wallet applications to pay rent and bills, participate in loyalty programs, and buy goods and services. In this article, we’ll talk about how digital wallets work, their key benefits and features, as well as E-wallet app development cost.

What Can Digital Wallets Do?

First of all digital wallets are a great tool for simplifying payments. They are also great for keeping important documents organized and easily accessible, such as credit or debit cards, hotel reservations, boarding passes, concert tickets, gift cards, coupons, and loyalty rewards cards.

Individual apps can also have integrated digital wallets. For example, food chains like Starbucks offer loyalty programs and incentivize customers to use their app by rewarding them with “stars”. They can be redeemed for free drinks and other rewards. In order to earn these stars, users have to pay within the app via a digital wallet. You can upload Starbucks gift cards and once those run out, you can reload them with your debit or credit card.

Key Benefits of E-wallet Apps

• Simplified payment process. E-wallet opens new possibilities of online payment, such as payment via QR codes and links, the ability to split bills.
• Access to many kinds of cards. Electronic wallets usually store credit and debit cards. However, it can be used for reward cards, loyalty cards, and even coupons.
• Unlimited period of use. A registered account in the system of electronic payment services is valid for a really long time.
• High transaction speed. It takes from several hours to a few business days to accomplish a bank transfer. Transactions with electronic money are performed in a matter of minutes.
• Enhanced security. If you lose your credit card, you will need to contact the bank to cancel each card and issue a new one. With a digital wallet, information is stored through a third-party provider. Your information and money are locked behind a password or biometric. If you lose your device, you can still access your E-wallet through a new device.
• Better budget planning. E-wallets help you keep track of your spending habits. For example, they can generate reports that show specific spending categories or assign a fixed budget to a specific cost category to avoid spending more on specific items.

E-wallet App Development Components & Cost

Digital wallet app development often focuses on the following 13 features :

Onboarding

Remote user onboarding means you need to identify the user that will be using the digital wallet. Know Your Customer (KYC) is the process helping to identify and verify it’s individual client. Know Your Business (KYB) is used in business applications (e.g. to generate a unique QR code, or a payment link) to identify a business representative. KYC and KYB processes are delegated to an identity service provider, such as Identity Mind, Accuity, Jumio. The companies help clients with anti-money laundering and fraud prevention, transaction monitoring, account takeover prevention, and chargeback detection needs. The feature development requires 14–26 hours for iOS, or 20–28 hours for Android. Backend — 18–26.

Authentication

It goes without saying that Authentication is a standard feature of any application dealing with money and personal information. Security here is of paramount importance. That’s why we should make sure a user signs up using two-factor authentication/ Face ID or Touch ID. The feature development requires 14–26 hours for iOS, or 20–28 hours for Android. Backend — 18–26.

Card Management

The conceptual difference between a mobile banking app and a digital wallet is that the latter accumulates a variety of cards. It allows clients to add cards from any banks, as well as loyalty cards from shops and cafes, view the list of cards, choose the card to pay with, as well as view transaction history. The feature development requires 75–109 hours for iOS, or 88–124 hours for Android. Backend — 75–105.

Transfer Money & Balance Check

A digital wallet user can add money to the wallet and transfer them to a card entering the sum and account details. The user can also view the wallet balance, see and share the check. The feature development requires 35–48 hours for iOS, or 44–58 hours for Android. Backend — 166–105.

Bill Payment

The feature enables a digital wallet user to complete bill payments from the app. It allows the user to choose a bill from the list of predefined bills and make a payment. Another option is for a user to create a custom list of bills and payments such as rent, utilities, telecom, insurance, etc. It’s possible to set up recurring payments (monthly/ semi-annual/ annual). It’s also possible to create a custom template of a bill and share it. For example, in case of rent payment, a landlord can create a payment template and share it with the tenant. The feature development requires 36–50 hours for iOS, or 44–56 hours for Android. Backend — 165–221.

Scan & Pay

A digital wallet user can pay with a QR code. For example, a person wants to buy a cup of coffee in a cafe with the help of this feature. The cafe’s barista enters payment description and the sum in the business app on a mobile phone. The app generates a unique QR code. The customer scans the code and is navigated to a “proceed the payment” screen. When the purchase is made, the client can view the payment details. The feature is popular among small businesses, as it allows them not to spend money on POS. The feature development requires 62–80 hours for iOS, or 76–98 hours for Android. Backend — 75–92.

Payment Link Sharing & Contacts Management

The feature allows digital wallet users to create and share a payment link in the app or generate a link to request money and send via messengers of choice. It’s possible to add contacts by filling in the name and phone number in the contact form, delete contacts, synchronize with your telephone book, view contact details, and the list of contacts. Link sharing is popular among small businesses on Instagram or Facebook platforms. The feature development requires 32–43 hours for iOS, or 44–56 hours for Android. Backend — 101–134. Additionally, the contacts management feature needs 54–73 hours for iOS and 63–80 for Android. Backend — 40–55.

Split Bills

The feature is similar to the previous one. It lets you divide up the cost of things like group trips and group dinners so that everyone can pay their fair share.

• You can create groups with various friends and see all your shared expenses organized in one place.
• The “Share” function allows you to send a payment link to each person of the group via email, messenger or social media. In this case another user will be able to select a payment method (from the wallet or from the card).
• The app enables you to track who hasn’t yet paid their share.
• You can also take a picture of a receipt and a digital wallet will automatically read the sum to be shared.

The development of this feature takes 47–61 hours for iOS, or 60–72 hours for Android. Backend — 180–233. The estimate may be different here depending on the chosen sharing means & photo recognition additional feature.

Loyalty Program

QR codes can also be used in shops as a part of loyalty programs. Cashiers scan customers’ unique IDs (QR-code) to use loyalty points which will be used after payment is processed. The feature also allows them to partner with other businesses like shops or airlines and get points or earn miles by paying via the digital wallet. E-wallet is also a place to hold reward cards, loyalty cards, and coupons to spend points during a purchase. The feature development requires 43–61 hours for iOS, or 54–71 hours for Android. Backend — 97–134.

Budget Planning & Expense Tracking

A digital wallet can help keep track of the user’s finances in real-time, and there’s no need to switch to other finance management apps. Users can compare their entire monthly budget and actual spend across different categories (e.g. clothing, groceries, cinema). The wallet also allows setting up saving goals for something users have been dreaming of. The feature development requires approximately 163–221 hours for iOS, or 174–224 hours for Android. Backend — 116–175.

Notifications & Alerts

Notifications and alerts can be assigned to any action in the wallet. For example, when a user receives or spends money when another user gets the payment link. One more case, a landlord can receive a notification when the tenant has received the bill template and has paid it. The feature development requires 28–39 hours for iOS, or 37–45 hours for Android. Backend — 22- 32.

Reporting/Analytics

The feature allows to view and filter incoming transactions by payer, date, and amount of money. It’s possible to trace the payment link status (whether it’s active, expired or paid). Analytics includes daily revenue, average revenue per user and new users. All the data is presented in the form of charts and infographics. The feature development requires 120–160 hours for iOS, or 140–180 hours for Android. Backend — 83–109.

Support

A digital wallet user can find answers in an FAQ section or get support from the customer service via chat. Customer support is responsible for acknowledging every customer request. It allows keeping customer requests in one place and provides useful feedback on customer preferences and wallet features. The feature development requires 20–28 hours for iOS, or 26–34 hours for Android. Backend — 22–32.

Summary

The total cost of a digital wallet app development will vary depending on whether it’s an iOS app ( 784–1055 hours) or an Android app (890–1220 working hours) + Backend 1100–1550 working hours. Also, the app design cost depends on the UI complexity and the presence of numerous tiny things like micro animations. A simple design is when a digital wallet has standard, platform-specific elements that don’t take much time. Animation and custom elements add to the complexity and the app design cost as well. So if you want your digital wallet to have a sophisticated design with animations, be ready to pay 20–50% more for the whole app development. In the end we get an estimate of around $65–90K for iOS and $70–96K for Android.

A digital wallet is a platform to integrate a variety of features. Most of the off-the-shelf solutions offer only limited possibilities like card management, money transfer, and balance check. That’s why businesses need custom digital wallets that will meet specific requirements and have unique features. If that’s your case, reach out to us. Itexus has vast expertise in digital wallet app development and other Financial software products. Meantime, take a look at our cooperation models and feel free to ask anything to understand which model works for you.

Originally published at Itexus Blog on August 11, 2020.