2020 was a year almost everything changed for most of the industries, but there is one that was affected especially severely, yet it manages to adapt. Trade fairs and conferences, including FinTech events, went 100% online and you can still take part in most of them. Moreover, thanks to dedicated platforms, it’s now easier and more accessible than ever.
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We are very pleased to see women entering the world of IT and conquering it with knowledge, passion, and customer-centricity. Natalia Cholewa, our Lead Product Owner and Head of Engineering, is now an expert for Let’s Solve IT. The initiative helps women enter the industry and overcome challenges during short online consulting sessions.
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2020 was a breakthrough year for Code & Pepper. Not only have we realized exciting FinTech projects, but also managed to grow our team by 93%. These successes were recognized by the world-famous Forbes magazine. We are proud to announce that Code & Pepper has been awarded with the Forbes Diamond 2021 award!
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What are the latest trends in payment solutions, open banking, digital banking, and beyond? Check out the fresh issue of FinTech Wire to read the most important news from last week!
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The COVID-19 epidemic turned the world upside down. Many of us think extensively about safety and security. That’s where financial insurance companies come in. They offer a feeling of having a safe bay in times of uncertainty. Some of them will face challenges because of the uneven funding or promoting already established InsurTechs. Some of them will need to rethink business models. Here’s the list of the most promising InsurTech companies to watch in 2021.
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So far, so good: the first half of February has brought us some pretty exciting news and developments. Last week was no different: some of the world’s most renowned businesses have surprised us with breakthrough decisions, and official bodies in some countries followed in their footsteps. Wanna find out what we are talking about?
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If you save or invest your money in more than one place, you may be annoyed with how bothersome it is to check and analyze what is going on with your assets, especially in real time. But logging into alt least three different platforms, checking the values, entering data into the spreadsheet is just pointless, when you can use asset management software. Read more to find out what it is and how it can make your life easier!
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You are in the dark and complicated labyrinth. You can barely see the sun, the path has twists and turns and there’s no exit to be found. Backtracking seems to be the only option now. Retreating and finding a new path seems to be logical, and cost-effective. To save you from the headache, we have prepared this short but detailed FinTech UX and UI guide.
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In this issue of FinTech Wire we hear from one of our good friends, Smart Pension, that reached an important milestone, and review news from the UK, China, and India.
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The most interesting FinTech accelerators in Scotland just needed to be covered in this series. After all, this country is becoming a major startup hub in the UK and many FinTech businesses choose Edinburgh or Glasgow over London. Want to know why?
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If you don’t live under a rock, you have to admit that last week was wild. Wall Street has never seen similar plot twists… And so hasn’t Reddit. Let’s rewind and see what exactly happened!
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Why Ask Me AnyFin? At Code & Pepper, we believe in testing assumptions and leaving no stone unturned when getting to the bottom of complex issues. But what are the right questions to ask? Now, that’s when things get really interesting… There is no one magic formula for a FinTech company. That’s why I’ve decided to sit down with founders, innovators and disruptors from different sub-sectors and with diverse backgrounds to look for the bigger picture: together.
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No time to catch up with the daily news? The amount of information in the media gives you FOMO? Don’t worry, we’re here to provide you with the latest FinTech news in a condensed, easy-to-digest form! That’s what FinTech Wire is about.
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An old classic financial institution with multiple physical branches competes with the agile and low-cost mobile-only bank. Possible hundreds of years of tradition versus a few years or even a few months on the market. And yet, the mobile bank is on the rise, attracting users left and right; like a moth to a flame. They know their issues will be addressed quickly and every operation will take minutes, sometimes even seconds. If so, why many FinTech startups pivot early on and change the product? What common mistakes do they make?
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Designing an app to be user friendly is a must, right? User-friendliness is not a simple term, though and its complexity is actually gigantic, when you take a better look at what it involves. One of the key aspects one needs to understand and consider from the very beginning of work on an app is user experience friction and its three main areas: emotional friction, interaction friction and cognitive friction. Read more to find out what they are and how to avoid them.
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It may have been a very cold month, but the FinTech world is boiling! AS usually we bring you only the hottest news from all over the world and, as usually, China is trying to impact the global economy. Read on to find out how!
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Imagine you could change the world with a single act. A brief moment, a statement that changes the landscape for generations to come. And it’s not an act of desperation but rather convenience. It’s not a political statement but a consumer one. This is how Generation Z takes us to the world of cashless and instant-response society with a simple act of tapping the “Pay now” button. What do these people need and pay for, what are Generation Z’s spending habits?
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Can you make money by serving people of humble means? Can you sustain a business addressed to people outside of the global financial system? Limited market opportunities and few coins in the pocket don’t have to be a dead end. As Bill Gates once said: there’s a difference between banks and banking. If you need proof that FinTech companies can provide quality services to customers despite their financial status, look at neobanks in Africa.
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How is 2021 going so far? Maybe it’s hard to tell after a few weeks, but one thing is true: the FinTech world won’t stop surprising us with innovations, rumours, and even scandals. So what news made headlines of the top industry media last week? Read on!
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After taking a closer look at FinTech accelerators in Tel Aviv, Berlin and London, we’re going on a quick trip to the banking capital of the world—Zurich. Apparently, this Swiss city is a popular spot for FinTech startups and institutions that help them break ground. We selected some of the most interesting ones and here’s what we found out.
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Imagine you have a beautiful tree with a potential to bear fruit every season. It doesn’t come for free—you have to tend to it. Water the seedling, shelter from extreme weather conditions, protect from pests. Manage resources, so they can last for months. The same goes for successful project management. Many companies, especially startups, have great ideas and deep domain knowledge but lack project management skills to build products with long-lasting impact. Here’s a shortlist of key success factors and handy solutions provided by companies like ours.
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New month, new year, new chapter, and new issue of FinTech Wire! We enter 2021 with high hopes and a handful of exciting updates from the world of FinTech. What happened during the last days of 2020 and the first moments of 2021? Let’s find out!
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Two reports, two gold mines full of data, insights, and conclusions. The Paypers’ report and the McKinsey’s report offer a thorough analysis of ways people have used their mobile devices in 2020. For complete analytics, we send you over to these sources. For everything else—major changes, global trends, behavioural shifts—we ask you to stay with us. Here are both reports in a nutshell, with key data about preferred online payment methods in eCommerce and our in-house commentary.
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2020 was definitely an eventful year with many unexpected turns. During this turbulent time, we had the unquestionable pleasure of sharing with our readers every memorable event from the world of digital finance in our weekly FinTech Wire. Now the year is slowly coming to an end, but it doesn’t mean that there is any less to talk about. So what has this week brought for FinTech geeks?
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Why Ask Me AnyFin? At Code & Pepper, we believe in testing assumptions and leaving no stone unturned when getting to the bottom of complex issues. But what are the right questions to ask? Now, that’s when things get really interesting… There is no one magic formula for a FinTech company. That’s why I’ve decided to sit down with founders, innovators and disruptors from different sub-sectors and with diverse backgrounds to look for the bigger picture: together.
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The IT world never slows down. Every year brings new trends to focus on or catch up with. The most recent shift in software is testing with the use of AI, which eliminates the human factor from quality assurance. This puts additional pressure on executives and product teams to offer world-class solutions. The same pressure drives software development partners to enhance their ability to deliver. Here’s a list of the latest trends in software testing and best practices to follow.
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Every single week we deliver hand-picked headlines from the world of FinTech to keep our readers updated with the latest industry news. In this issue, we’ll hear from new players in the payments market, as well as incumbents and top brands blazing the trail with groundbreaking solutions. Sound exciting? It is! So read on…
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This week FinTech Wire continues one of the stories we mentioned previously, but we also have a lot of brand new information that we’ve carefully selected just for you. Get your reading glasses and enjoy the news about Stripe, Facebook’s Libra, Ford’s vans and a case of split personality in one of the most powerful governments in the world!
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Run an online business long enough and it’s impossible not to come across Progressive Web Apps. Once you have, you might be naturally drawn to the many benefits a PWA offers, but how do you know it’s the best choice for your application? One way is to start with Service Workers: the unsung heroes of PWAs’ success and merciless Lie-Fi busters. Understanding their impact on performance, accessibility and engagement might be the key to unlocking new business value, without losing sight of potential challenges. This quick walkthrough focuses on the essential components, definitions and strategies to help you keep calm and make Service Workers work—both on and offline.
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The year 2021 will be all about personalization, integrations and connections. Customers want to experience, not just use digital products and they want a broader spectrum of services. That’s why FinTech companies are joining forces with firms offering added value. Finally, people expect connection with other people. Companies who will create communities around their products will win people’s minds and wallets. Recently, we wrote about FinTech trends for 2021, now let’s talk about top FinTech companies to watch in 2021.
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You don’t have to be a millionaire to invest in stocks, currencies or even precious metals. Trading has been a widely available option for decades, but thanks to web based platforms it’s now easier than ever. Such platforms are also great examples of FinTech in practice: how they are made, how they work and what are their best features depends both on the market needs and what their creators can actually offer. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular online trading platforms to find out why they have succeeded.
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We’re back once again with the next fresh set of news from the FinTech world. This time, besides discussing businesses, we have a lot of information about new legal regulations. Read more to find out if they can impact your company!
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The year 2020 has brought many breakthroughs. The massive shift towards remote work has proven things can be done, even if people don’t work face-to-face. The prolonged lockdown has probably changed customer spending habits forever and has impacted many industries, not only e-commerce. Meanwhile, the FinTech stage has grown exponentially, bringing comfort and convenience to everyone, even the unbanked. What will the industry look like next year? Here is our list of the most interesting FinTech trends in 2021.
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The freshest news from the world of FinTech are back and this issue of FinTech Wire is as full of insight as ever. This time, we’re covering topics from all around the world, including Africa, Asia and Europe—but it all may affect your business!
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We’ve already analysed the most impressive FinTech accelerators in Tel Aviv and in London, but we’re not planning to stop. This series of articles will be a frequent visitor on the Code & Pepper blog and we’re going to keep them all up to date. This time, let’s take a trip to the capital city of Germany—Berlin—where cultures mix, currywurst is everywhere and so are FinTechs. Come along and take a closer look at FinTech accelerators in Berlin!
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Many sports fans have a saying, often expressed on a wall of their neighborhood building: “you will never walk alone”. It shows the mass support of the entire ecosystem designed to help the team. The same goes for InsurTech—the future of the industry lies in platforms and ecosystems. Everything in favour of interconnected services, giving the user the ultimate experience.
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There is too much news flying around to keep tabs on every single one of them. Not all of them are interesting enough, not all of them important for your business. As always, we deliver only the most interesting ones right at your doorstep. Let’s dive in!
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In business, good enough is often not enough. Many people are turning away from incumbent financial institutions because traditional banking can’t provide the level of services they are actively seeking. Meanwhile, FinTech startups introduce innovative service offerings almost every month. Investors keep their eyes open, they don’t want to miss a potential unicorn. Here’s a list of important FinTech investment trends to watch—maybe they’ll bring another industry star.
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InsurTech stands for insurance technology, but this term can still be considered pretty abstract. After all, how can cutting edge technology work in the insurance industry? As with all innovative ideas, there are many ways to reach the goal. Read on to learn all you need to know about InsurTech industry: its history, how it’s used to make life easier and accelerate business, and what its future is going to look like!
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How do you filter the market data to pick out the most valuable insights? Does the amount of news and updates make your head spin? The FinTech Wire comes to the rescue with a carefully selected combination of brand stories which are shaking the world of finance and banking. This week, we’ll be hearing from Visa, Pennyworth, Monument, SoFi, JP Morgan, and NerdWallet. Let’s roll!
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App development is like professional football. Companies are like teams and their employees are like players, coaches, and managers. After all, what happens backstage and between the games is equally important to the actual performance on the football pitch. Every member of the group is crucial for success, though their roles are different. Read on to learn all you need to know about the roles in software development teams!
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Code & Pepper is calling all FinTech buffs hungry for the latest industry insights! FinTech Wire comes back with a juicy selection of fresh news, hand-picked from top headlines and press releases. This week, we’ll be hearing from major movers and shakers in sustainable investing, biometric authentication, instant purchasing, cryptocurrency, and blockchain…
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Do you ever feel like your favorite institution or app can do better? Implement responsive UX, improve helpline, simplify onboarding or just include you more in the conversation? Many customers feel that way about digital products. They don’t want to be cogs in the machine, grinding the same load every time they contact the institution or use its services. Customers want to be heard: here’s how to do that in FinTech.
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Only one thing is certain in modern business: stay in the loop or drop out. With that in mind, we’re introducing the FinTech Wire—a weekly news feed curated by Code & Pepper. It covers top headlines in finance, technology, banking, and everything in between to keep you informed, inspired or maybe even intrigued… Tune into the #FinTechWire on our LinkedIn and Twitter or explore the extended version below.
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Progressive Web Apps have gone from buzzword to mainstream in record time. Freeing the user experience from the boundaries defined by devices and network conditions marks another step in the digital evolution. So does bridging the gap between web and native applications to offer unprecedented usability and reliability. While PWAs are making headway in boosting performance and engagement, Code & Pepper investigates their key features and business growth potential.
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Digital transformation is like taxes or iPhones: present everywhere. Despite many CEOs, CTOs and CIOs being interested, not all of them have a clear picture. In reality, it’s not only about technology. It’s a tool that enables teams to work efficiently, creating even more valuable products. But first – security.
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Testing web applications in an effective way can be super-simple nowadays, thanks to many available tools. When it comes to examining basic issues, Google Lighthouse is one of the best and most popular instruments to do it, so every web developer and website owner should be familiar with it. Especially if it’s available for free, built in WebPageTest, PageSpeed Insights, Chromium based browsers (such as Chrome and Edge) and as an extension for Firefox. So why don’t you try it out on your own? This guide is the quickest way to start!
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The cloud adoption trend isn’t slowing down. That’s no wonder: cloud computing has completely changed the way we think about IT infrastructure. However, for organizations that deal with never-ending deployments, the complexity of provisioning and managing all the infrastructure elements can become a headache and a source of serious issues. In this case, infrastructure codification, known as Infrastructure as Code, comes to the rescue.
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In the app economy, green is the new black. Investors, companies and teams expect apps to perform and deliver sales results overnight – or at least quickly enough to verify assumptions of a minimum viable product (MVP). Especially today, when COVID-19 washes off many companies and the future is uncertain. Sometimes, when the pressure is on, pressing the “off” button might be healthy. Not only under the current market conditions but in software development overall. That button is quality assurance and it can be an anchor for the business, guaranteeing customer loyalty and lower maintenance costs.
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From data aggregators at the core of open banking to payment processors for digital marketplaces – many FinTech products deliver value through application programming interfaces (aka APIs). In those cases, it’s hard to speak of User Experience as such. What becomes important then is Developer Experience (DX), which reflects how easy it is to work and integrate with an API. This in turn, can have a huge impact on the final quality and scalability of the API product. So if your goal is to build a highly-performant, future-proof and integration-ready solution, don’t forget about Developer Experience. Use the pro tips below to accelerate and empower your API development process.
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In the UK, FinTech apps should be handled in a way similar to banking institutions, both from the legal and technological point of view. It obviously imposes a lot of responsibility and work to ensure the system is 100% secure, so users can trust it with their money. But what does it mean in practice? Let’s take a deeper look at the FinTech security standards you’ll need to deal with in order to abide by the rules, while still being able to offer the most to your customers.
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Every digital business needs a reliable toolset that will support its operations. And for many of them, online payment processing platforms are essential: according to a 2018 survey, 62% of UK’s small and medium enterprises use digital solutions to make or accept payments. However, choosing among a plethora of payment processing companies is not a breeze. This one decision can have serious implications in multiple areas, starting with customer experience, transaction security, and even your business cash flow.
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Payment technology remains one of the most dynamically developing sectors of FinTech. Its disruptive potential and versatility make it the perfect breeding ground for innovation, actively redefining digital experience in finance. However, challenging the status quo comes with a package of challenges in their own right. When coins changing hands are replaced by bitcoin trading platforms and wads of cash are turned into digital wallets – how well is your business prepared for the ultimate digital-first future?
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As digital finance is gaining traction, the KYC (Know Your Customer) process is becoming vital for sustainable business models. With regulatory compliance at the roots and modern software solutions in all branches of operation, FinTech’s evergreen status relies on striking the right balance between code of conduct and customer experience. While tapping into the ABC of KYC, we begin our due diligence by identifying industry leaders in digital identity verification for financial services.
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With over 80 percent of financial services companies in the UK investing in open banking products and services, it is safe to say that open banking has revolutionized the financial landscape. FinTech firms can now benefit from open APIs that enable them to customize apps and services based on their business requirements. These top third-party open banking apps provide companies in the FinTech space with real-time data insights to facilitate payments and enhance customer experience.
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According to its origin myth, FinTech was born out of the global financial crisis and the huge behavioural shift it had brought. Fast forward another 10+ years, and we are on a brink of another economic twist. This time with a slightly different cocktail of inhibitions and attitudes. Although creative and agile by definition—are all FinTechs equally equipped to withstand the blast of a market shakeout? Another week into the general lockdown, the industry’s resilience and adaptability meets trial by fire.
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In one of previous posts, Code & Pepper took you on a full-blown product design journey: from discovery to development. However, that roadmap wouldn’t be complete without at least hinting at some user experience notions. The compilation below focuses on certain aspects of UX, which come to the forefront in FinTech applications as make-or-break moments.
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In the context of digital experience, instant response is the new norm: shaping users’ expectations and forming business imperatives. FinTech software is no exception to that new rule of thumb. Therefore, our engineering team at Code & Pepper is always on the lookout for tools and solutions that could give our clients the upper hand on the market. Taking Cloudflare for a spin fueled our appetite for more-than-optimal web performance: read on to see why.
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“Stay home” is probably going to be the most exploited phrase of 2020. The consequences of global lockdown will loom large for years, turning the job market upside down. However, one thing hasn’t changed – you can’t go wrong with stepping up your professional game by gaining confirmed knowledge and skills. Read on to discover Scrum Master certifications tailored to different professional areas of the IT industry.
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Talent acquisition is one of the most complex organizational processes, with immense impact on businesses in the long run. When paired with the crude fact that great leaders are nothing without great teams, the importance of an effective and sustainable recruitment strategy becomes self-evident. Team augmentation clients are therefore setting the course for the future and Code & Pepper is honoured to contribute its unique know-how to their success on the FinTech scene.
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FinTech has been on the rise since the turn of the 21st Century and analysts estimate the sector’s revenue generation will reach $4.8 trillion in 2020. A healthy mix of traditional banks and upcoming startups give the industry a strong outlook for future growth. Successful cross-platform FinTech apps reach users across as many platforms as possible, including iOS, Android, and Windows OS. Frameworks like .NET Core, React Native, and Flutter are helping to make this happen. Let’s dive into how you can emulate some of the best financial apps that run on all platforms.
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Tel Aviv is home to dozens of accelerator programs designed to equip founders and startup companies with business training and industry know-how. With them, you’ll not only start the right way but also the big way. Not every program is the same, though. Which FinTech accelerators are worth your while and would be a good match for your business? Take a look at the lucky 13 of the best accelerators you can find in and around the hot & breezy city of Tel Aviv.
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Businesses have their founding fathers and products have their life cycles. Not surprisingly, product design has its own set of handy analogies. In this scenario, you are the fiery explorer, design is a breakneck journey and Code & Pepper is your jovial guide. We’ll take you through the wild terrain of product development: where conversions flow like rapid currents and rugged benchmarks lurk in the shadows.
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London is a sprawling economic hub that boasts a mind-boggling 750 FinTech companies. The “Big Smoke” represents 84 percent of the UK’s VC, CVC, and PE investment volume, making it a desirable place for startups to find their financial feet. Looking for investors? Connections? Opportunities? Here are 8 FinTech accelerators in London you need to know about in 2020.
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Do you ever have an impression that the concept of transparency in software development could be more… transparent? In every company, it can mean something entirely different and, just like any other industry practice, it has fluid boundaries. At Code & Pepper, we start our transparency policy by explaining what it stands for and what aspects of cooperation it involves. Here we go with project transparency explained for every step of the way.
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Let’s imagine you’ve made it this far: your FinTech idea is rock-solid, the market research is an all-night read and you’re on first names terms with the most wanted VCs. Having gone far and beyond in shaping your vision and giving your business a head start, it’s high time you covered all bases by exploring the why’s, what’s and how’s of product development. The five FAQs below should give you more insight into the intricacies of product development with the peppery flavour of our custom approach. With a pinch of Agile and a drop of Lean, it might be that acquired taste you’re looking for to give your product an edge.
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Part I of this article focused on awareness and gave a few examples of how technology choice can have serious consequences for the future of your product: to the point of making or breaking your business. Part II investigates how and why the ripple effect of this one decision can reach as far as your recruitment schedule, delivery plans and innovation potential. Mind you, this applies not only to technologies in FinTech!
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I’ve always been passionate about technology and that’s why I was shocked by the meeting I had recently. I was in my home office talking on Skype with a CTO from a FinTech startup (let’s call him Richard). Richard explained that he wanted us to build some payment processing service but, to my surprise, what he said was…
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The need for striking thriving partnerships might be yesterday’s news in the world of financial technology. Yet, as the available cooperation models are continuously evolving to offer more tailored options, the final decision might pose a challenge. Potential savings in time and costs have to be carefully weighed against risks connected with the required credit of trust: a value of paramount importance, notably in FinTech applications. If reliability is an essential aspect of all collaborative efforts, is there a key to handling it the right way?
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When thinking of perfect software nearshoring or offshoring locations, it’s impossible to omit Poland on the map of the IT industry. Being the second largest software development services provider in Central-Eastern Europe (right behind Russia), it’s a promising destination when shopping for skilled and budget-friendly tech teams for any digital product. If you’re considering hiring programmers outside of your local job market, this article will show you why so many companies have had successful collaborations with Polish IT firms and what cities lead on the Polish software development landscape.
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With more than 400 completed projects at Code & Pepper, we’ve worked out an optimal development approach, which allows us to successfully deliver FinTech solutions, no matter what your product does and where your business is located. This approach is based on some fundamental values shared in our teams: transparency, agile approach, deep technical knowledge, excitement and motivation with every new project and challenge. If you would like to know what to expect from Code & Pepper, this is where you’ll find the answers to many questions.
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“You better work” is where most businesses start… but what if you’ve done all the work you can, the product still has a huge potential to reach, and there’s only 24 hours in a day? All the signs in the sky and on earth point to hiring more people, and team augmentation is a service model that works like a charm. How? Learn about the essence of team augmentation and its benefits from the business, technical, and human resources point of view.
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Application performance issues affect all businesses, big and small – and the examples are daunting. If such a giant as BBC found they lost an additional 10% of users for every additional second their site took to load, how can you prevent losing customers due to poor performance? Get started with UX! In this article, I’ll help you understand the mechanics of performance in FinTech and suggest a few patterns that can maintain users’ attention and engagement.
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Transparency and feedback in UX are all about making sure that the users of your application know what will be the effect of their actions – the ones they are going to take and the ones they have just performed. It helps to build trust in your product, especially in the case of new users. In less than five minutes, I’d like to introduce you to a few UX design ideas that will make your application more transparent and trustworthy for new and regular users.
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