Banking App Testing: Best Practices, Tools and Challenges
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At a time when there is an app for everything, and people prefer using mobile devices over other forms of utility, mobile banking is a trend that has cemented its place as a very important service. The use of mobile phones has gone up to such an extent that today, many people possess more than two mobile devices.
There are billions of mobile and tablet users who access services and needs through mobile apps. Something as important as finances and banking are also now available securely on mobile phones, all because of the development in the Fintech industry. In the year 2024, the number of people in the world using digital banking products will go up to 3.6 billion people.
As there is a gradual growth in the percentage of people using mobile banking apps, the focus of testing companies shifts towards best practices for financial software testing. Only when a testing company understands the banking app testing challenges and resolves them with the best practices of the fintech landscape can it help in launching the best mobile banking solution for the audience to use.
In this blog, you will learn about the aspects of mobile banking that mobile banking app testing has to focus on. The blog will also talk in detail about the tools that are best for qa testing fintech. After going through this blog, you will have a complete view of the most pressing challenges, problems, and advanced tools for testing mobile apps in the current timeline.
Fintech Software testing services have to design test cases and test flows to test multiple aspects and characteristics of the mobile banking app. A good mobile banking app delivers strong security and amazing user experience and complies with the fintech guidelines governing the services today. A company invested in QA testing fintech has to pay attention to these parameters so that the team can test the app thoroughly.
When users conduct their financial transactions and deposits through a mobile banking app, they expose their financial profile and information on a digital platform. The account information, account balance, transactional history, and personal details belong to the sensitive financial data category, which needs to be protected. If malicious agents and hackers access the data, they can use this data to inflict financial harm and steal money. Therefore, banking app security testing is a crucial part of the mobile banking app testing process. Mitigating Challenges in testing financial app security can help protect the mobile banking app from future risks and cyber-attacks.
In the mobile app design and functionality aspect, the most highlighted word is user experience. At the end of the day, the mobile banking app will be in the hands of the user segment. Mobile banking is experience-based, and the UX of the app determines its popularity. When doing software testing in Fintech, a testing team has to run diverse usability and UX tests to see if the mobile banking app is ready to be accepted by the user base.
At a time when 70 percent of businesses fail to deliver because of the bad UX in their apps, UX testing can be the competitive edge between a fintech company and its rivals. Analyzing and improving the UI of the mobile banking app is one of the major challenges in mobile banking app testing. With thorough UX testing, the team can ensure that customers do not face friction when taking action on the mobile banking app.
Apart from ensuring that the mobile banking app is secure and easy to use, the banking app testing company has to run compliance tests. The regulatory tests ensure that the mobile banking app is ready to meet the fintech industry standards. The current data privacy regulations, such as GDPR and PCI DSS, are some frameworks that the testing company has to test. If data privacy on mobile banking platforms is not maintained, it can lead to unauthorized payments and fraud with the users. A lack of regulatory compliance from the banking app can have a negative impact on the overall reputation of the banking institution behind its services.
Also Read: Importance of Performance Testing for Retail Apps During Peak Seasons
Depending on the Key Features of Banking Applications and the purpose for which these are designed, testers take up fintech application testing. During the testing phase, many kinds of tests are run on the mobile banking app. Extensive testing cycles designed to resolve the key challenges in digital banking app QA can ensure that the mobile banking app is tested thoroughly and ready for the market.
A very important part of qa testing fintech is the design and execution of functional tests. Users use mobile banking apps for the financial utility and convenience they bring to the table. For the app to be convenient and useful, the features and functions of the mobile banking app should work smoothly. Functional tests are run on the core functions of the banking app so that it delivers what it promises. The tests are run to check functions such as log-in portals, transactional processes, account balance checks, information updates, and other major features of mobile banking apps.
Security testing challenges in banking apps can eclipse the functionality of mobile banking apps as the safety of the app comes under question. If a mobile banking app is not secure enough, customers will not be able to fully rely on it for major transactions and financial decisions. According to studies, the average mobile banking app contains around 55 major security flaws. These flaws can lead to financial fraud and losses.
To minimize these security risks, the testing company has to run penetration tests. Penetration tests check for any possible vulnerabilities in the mobile banking app structure so the identified flaws can be resolved before launch. In addition to the penetration tests, the security testing team needs to run tests on data encryption algorithms, access and authorization portals, and other areas of secure interaction between the app and the user.
Fintech application testing has to also focus on performance indicators of digital banking applications. The overall performance and stability of a mobile banking app matter a lot in determining how popular it will be. Users want to use a mobile banking app that is reliable and has low downtime.
A good mobile banking app should maintain its performance under varying loads and operational conditions. The fintech software QA testing team has to test it under varying stress conditions for different time periods. Endurance and stress testing are important to validate if the mobile banking app will run smoothly during peak traffic days, such as payday and end-of-month time.
Best practices for testing mobile banking apps also include testing the app for its usability and user adaptation. The testing team should test the UX layout and run user group-centric tests to gather real feedback from the audience. It is important to test the mobile banking app on accessibility standards so it can be used by people from all walks of life. The testing team has to focus on using the app in adherence to the Americans with Disabilities Act so that the banking app can be launched in an inclusive manner across the demographic.
Software testing in fintech also has to include compliance tests that are run to validate the mobile banking app on the basis of the most updated financial regulations. The data storage and handling processes of the mobile banking app have to be tested to ensure that the app upholds data privacy rules and acts designed for user data protection. Creating a compliant and ethical app is one of the best practices for testing and launching financial software.
Among the tests that should be run on the mobile banking app, the testing team should also include compatibility tests to check if the banking app runs smoothly on different devices. A good mobile banking app should be ready for mobile phones, tablets, and other devices of different brands. The testing team has to check its compatibility with different types of operating systems like Android and iOS, as well as Microsoft Windows.
In order to adhere to the best practices for testing mobile banking apps, the testing team needs to design modern strategies and pick up viable technologies for banking application testing. These practices and tools should be accurate and rapid in the completion of the tests run on the banking app.
Before you start the FinTech application testing process, the team has to discuss the scope and purpose of the testing project. The overall purpose should be broken down into actionable goals so that the testing project gets a direction from the beginning. By clearly defining the goals and scope of the banking app testing project, the team can select an approach and develop a test strategy to execute. The testing experts should study the project scope, identify high-risk areas like security flaws and compliance issues, and prioritize these areas.
Software testing in Fintech should go on with automated testing tools wherever necessary. A wide range of tests need to be run on the mobile banking app, and they can only run smoothly with the help of automated testing tools. Automated testing tools can be used to complete repetitive test cases so that the whole testing cycle goes on very fast and accurately. The use of a CI/CD pipeline and automated testing tools can help reduce the time to market and enable faster deployment.
Banking app security testing is important and should be run periodically. Best practices for testing mobile banking apps include the testing of software for hidden security issues. The most vital thing to remember about any mobile banking app is how cybersecurity challenges evolve from time to time.
Mobile banking apps are always more vulnerable to app security issues. Therefore, security testers should schedule code reviews and security tests so that potential security issues are flagged quickly. The testing team needs to coordinate with the development team to find and resolve security risks before these become problems.
The mobile banking app will be launched and used in the real world. Therefore, the best practices for financial software testing also include real-world testing scenarios in the test case design. Whether it is functional tests, security tests, or performance tests, the mobile banking app should be run through scenarios that mimic real-world conditions like network fluctuation, varying user requests, etc. While focusing on core areas, the testing team also has to focus on creating test cases to detect edge cases like transaction retries and sudden network cut-offs.
Through usability tests and user-centric test processes, the testing team can gather feedback and use it to design new test cases. When designing the test cases, the testing team should take note of the problems most frequently reported by users. Depending on the complaints and requests that the team gets, it should test the mobile banking app and improve its functions accordingly.
One of the key challenges in digital banking app QA that the testing teams encounter is the lack of documentation to refer to later on. The testing process can be extensive, and it can also go on for a long time. If the team lacks documentation of the executed tests, then it will not be able to report or draw insights from the results.
This defeats the purpose of thorough QA testing of a fintech application. The team has to create processes and documents for proper documentation and also keep track of all the tests that are designed for the QA cycles. From time to time, the documentation should be reviewed so it meets the testing compliance requirements.
Also Read: Cross-Platform Compatibility Testing For Banking Apps
For software testing in Fintech and accurate results, a testing team needs to use the best tools for testing banking applications and software modules. The best tools for functional testing, security testing, and other specific tests are mentioned here.
Appium is a leading functional testing tool that you can use in a free and open-source manner. It is one of the best tools to use for functional testing automation when you have a limited budget. This tool is particularly meant to run functional tests on mobile apps across OS platforms like Android and iOS.
Selenium is also an open-source, comprehensive testing tool that can be used to run functional tests on mobile and web apps. The benefit of using Selenium is that it is feature-packed and can work in a multi-language and multi-platform way to automate tests in a short period of time.
OWASP ZAP is a well-known security testing tool that is best for running vulnerability tests on an open-source basis. It is a tool that can test for SQL injections and cross-site scripting in an automated way. The tool can be used to screen for possible vulnerabilities and risks present around the mobile banking app.
Burp Suite is a tool that can screen for security vulnerabilities like cross-site scripting, SQL injections, and request forgery attempts. The security testing tool is used to run penetration tests on mobile banking apps and also check for unknown HTTP requests. The security testing tool is preferred because of the detailed analytical reports it generates.
JMeter is a major performance testing tool that is based on Java as a core language. It tests for issues in the performance and functionalities of mobile and web applications. It is a tool that can be used to run stress and endurance tests on mobile banking apps. API testing is also possible with the help of JMeter.
LoadRunner is a versatile software testing tool that can be used to test the performance of a mobile or web app under different loads. It is preferred because it mimics real-world scenarios and can be used to simulate user-based scenarios. The testing tool can send out multiple user queries, and it is best to check for gaps in the app’s performance.
Lookback is one of the best platforms for collecting data on usability tests. It is a tool to collect data from the target audience so that the testing team can get feedback on how the mobile banking app works and what improvements are needed. This is a good tool to run user-centric tests and interviews so that effective feedback can be gathered.
UserTesting is also another reliable customer feedback platform that is trusted by leading brands. This is a platform where the testing team can set the target audience and collect feedback. The testing team can also measure and analyze the data collected from the testing process on the platform.
Klariti is a tool that helps understand and meet compliance requirements. The tool helps with effective documentation and runs regulatory tests to ensure that the FinTech software meets industry standards.
TrustArc is another compliance and regulatory testing tool that provides information about important regulations and helps the team assess the team on the same grounds. Using this tool, the testing team can find out the gaps in regulatory compliance and resolve them.
Security testing challenges in banking apps include the lack of proper security layers to protect the information shared by the user on the platform. The banking apps need to be tested for multiple security layers to ensure that the sensitive financial and personal data shared by the user remains safe. The testers have to use the best tools for testing banking applications so that data leakage and privacy risks are quickly identified.
While running extensive user experience tests, it becomes challenging for the testers to validate the multiple user pathways and interactions possible on the mobile banking app. The transactional pathways and their performance, as well as handling a high volume of transactions, can be difficult to test without affecting the user base and experience of real users.
The regulatory compliance structure and frameworks for mobile banking apps keep changing from time to time. The Banking app testing challenges include running tests on multiple regulations and new compliance requirements. Moreover, the challenges that testers face include creating test cases to ensure that the digital banking app is compliant with national and international banking rules and regulations. In a globalized ecosystem, it is also important to validate global compliance.
Compatibility testing challenges include the testing of a mobile banking app across different screens and devices. As there is a wide range of mobile devices, testing for compatibility across all devices and operating systems without device fragmentation and issues in user experience is not easy. Device fragmentation and usability issues can lead to inconsistency in the use of the mobile banking app, which the testing team has to detect.
While mobile banking application development is integrated with a continuous app development approach, the testing processes and approach also need to align with it. The misalignment of development and testing can cause problems in the completion of testing and in the deployment phase.
Overall, this can also lead to quality issues in the mobile banking app later on. Moreover, it becomes very hectic and challenging for testers to validate mobile banking apps after frequent patches, code changes, and updates. For this, the testing team has to opt for high-grade automated regression testing tools.
A company offering banking software testing services also has to develop an understanding of the challenges in testing financial app security and other areas. The testing team has to take up the best tools for testing banking applications that can quicken the testing process and draw out accurate results from the banking application QA test cycles. With the help of a very professional testing company, you should update the UX, security layers, and performance of the mobile banking application that you launch.
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