Essential Security Standards and Requirements for FinTech Apps

Essential Security Standards and Requirements for FinTech Apps

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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Painless Payments: Top 5 Online Payment Processing Companies for Startups

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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PayTech in the Spotlight: Challenges and Opportunities

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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KYC: Leaders in Digital Identity Verification

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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Survival of the Resilient: FinTech in the Times of Lockdown

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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Product Design Journey: UX Roadmap

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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Need for Load Speed: Cloudflare Test Drive

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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Scrum Master Certification: Step Up Your Game

“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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Top Talent Wanted: Recruiting for Team Augmentation

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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10 Cross-Platform FinTech Applications You Should Know

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 gives 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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13 Coolest FinTech Accelerators in Tel Aviv

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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Product Design Journey with Code & Pepper

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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8 Hottest FinTech Accelerators in London

Update

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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Transparency in Software Development… Revealed

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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5 Questions About Product Development: Reality Check

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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How to Select Technologies in FinTech: Part 2

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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What’s the Best Technology for FinTech: Part 1

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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Bet on Reliability: Choosing a Technology Partner

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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Software Development Poland: the Leading CEE’s Programming Hub

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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12 Elements of a Solid Software Development Process

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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Code & Pepper at TechCrunch Disrupt: FinTech Innovation in San Francisco

The annual TechCrunch Disrupt event in San Francisco has just wrapped up, and it was an unforgettable experience for everyone involved, including our very own Code & Pepper team. As a sponsor, we’re excited to share our participation in this prestigious event, showcasing our unique services in the FinTech industry and supporting innovative startups through our sponsorship of the startup battlefield. Let’s dive into the highlights of TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco and Code & Pepper’s role in this exhilarating event.

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Team Augmentation Benefits and Values for FinTech Businesses

“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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The Meaning of Performance in FinTech Apps

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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UX Design Patterns to Improve Transparency and Feedback in FinTech Apps

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 patterns / ideas that will make your application more transparent and trustworthy for new and regular users.

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