How to Start a Fintech Company: Stages of Launch, Expenses, Top Tips

The term fintech relates to companies that operate in the financial technology industry. Fintech itself refers to the integration of software and hardware into financial services companies for better performance and delivery to consumers.
Virtually any incumbent financial institution is now engaging technology in its workflow. High investment in technology-based solutions by banks and firms causes the growth of the fintech market. In 2019, it was valued at USD 5504.13 Billion. By 2025, the global fintech market is predicted to grow at a CAGR (Compound annual growth rate) of nearly 23%.
So, if you’re thinking of starting your own fintech company, now is the time. Discover how to launch a fintech company and what the essential for a successful start along the following lines.

Steps of Starting a Fintech Company

The term fintech company describes any business that uses technology to modify, improve, and automate financial services for businesses or consumers. Here is a step-by-step algorithm for starting your own fintech company from scratch

Explore the Legal Regulations

Fintech is a highly regulated industry in any country. Therefore, before starting a fintech company it’s essential to get to know the ins and outs of the sphere including legal limitations, requirements, and legal authorities. For instance, fintech companies in the EU are regulated by GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), AML (anti-money laundering), and KYC (know your customer) procedures. Keep in mind that the laws may vary from country to country and even within the country (the USA and UAE).

Hire the Team

One of the key ingredients for a successful fintech company launch of is the right fintech building team by your side. However, finding a knowledgeable team is never a piece of cake. You can try out the old good Google Search, search through search forums for firms and agencies like Clutch or Good Firms, or trust the word of mouth.

Opt for Custom Software Development

Heavyweight fintech products require custom software development. The tech stack that most software providers use for fintech app development includes programming languages (Javascript, Python, Java, Ruby), frameworks (React, Node. js, Spring, Django), and databases (MySQL, Redis, and PostgreSQL).

Develop and Enhance

Once you’re done with the previous steps, it’s time to proceed to building a fintech company. Remember that releasing a fintech company to the audience is never the finish line. Starting a financial technology startup evolves into its constant maintenance and updates.

Starting a Fintech Company: Choosing the Right Niche

One of the relevant aspects to consider before starting a fintech company is the identification of your niche. Here are the fields that the financial technology industry covers and some of the examples of famous apps that belong to them. You’re highly likely to have at least one in your app list.

• Loan lending: SoLo Funds, Buddy Loan
• Insurance: Oscar Health,
• Personal finance management: Mint, Money Patrol
• Investment: Robinhood
• Fintech bank: Revolut
• Crowdfunding: GoFundMe, Patreon
• Cryptocurrency: Binance, Coinbase

Build a Fintech Startup with MVP

MVP (minimum viable product) is a term that refers to a basic version of a product with minimum scope of features. MVP is used to test the waters, collect user opinion, and enhance the product. The necessity of building MVP is best explained by the advantages it gives.

Winning the source of funding

MVP will help investors gain confidence in the product you’re pitching and its ability to “justify” the investment by obtaining the desired outcome.

Testing UX and usability

Building MVP will before starting a “full scale” development will help test the fintech company’s ability to provide continuous value and engage users.

Testing business concept

Delivery of a product with a core set of features rather than a heavy-featured product will let you verify that a product’s concept resonates with its audience’s needs.

Verify monetization strategy

With the help of MVP, you’re allowed to create a sustainable source of income and test your assumptions based on performance data gathered.

Undoubtedly, starting small and growing your product in s smart choice to save some budget and mitigate potential risks, especially in a saturated and competitive fintech market.

Fintech Company Development: Choose the Right Team

Talented fintech company developers are the key contributor to a fintech company project. Therefore, starting entrepreneurs often face tortures of choice: a dedicated team or separate freelancers. From an objective point of view, outsourcing your financial tech startup to a dedicated development team is a more reasonable choice.
Firstly, a fintech company starting is an iterative process that implies a lot of in-team communication. It goes without saying that keeping connections between independent freelancers is a much more challenging task.
Second, a dedicated team is already “equipped” with all the necessary talents for full-cycle development, which boosts the time-to-market delivery.
Third, a knowledgeable fintech launch company team like Perfsol is fully aware of all requirements and must-have features of a fintech company. If needed, they will suggest a few custom ideas for making your fintech startup stand out.

TOP 5 Examples Of Successful Fintech Companies And What To Learn From Them

From the world’s fintech giants to local fintech startups – here are the examples of 5 fintech companies worth learning from.

Square

In 2009, Square set out with a mission to simplify mobile payments for businesses and individuals. Since then, the company has grown into a financial services powerhouse. Square has become a household name providing diverse financial services, such as peer-to-peer payments through the Cash App and business loans through Square Capital.
What can we learn from Square?
Start a fintech company that is adaptable and responsive to evolving consumer needs

Stripe

Stripe emerged as a key player in the fintech world by providing a developer-friendly payment processing platform. This platform has enabled businesses to integrate payment solutions into their websites and applications seamlessly. Stripe's international reach and commitment to customization and scalability have been key to its fintech prominence.
What can we learn from Stripe?
Offer customizable solutions – allow businesses to tailor their payment systems

Ant. Group

Ant Group, an affiliate of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, transformed financial services in China and beyond. Its flagship product, Alipay, revolutionized mobile payments and made financial services accessible to millions. Beyond payments, Ant Group diversified into wealth management and insurance, creating a comprehensive financial ecosystem.
What can we learn from Ant.Group?
Make financial services available to underserved populations for substantial growth and impact.

Robinhood

Robinhood is one of the most popular brokerages in the U.S that disrupted the brokerage industry by introducing commission-free trading. This approach to investing made the stock market more accessible, particularly to a younger and tech-savvy audience. Robinhood is driven by the idea of democratizing finances that, apart from transparent pricing, is reflected in a user-friendly mobile app.
What can we learn from Robinhood?
Democratize finance and make it accessible to a wider audience.

Monobank

Monobank is a Ukrainian fintech startup that has gained recognition for its outstanding approach to mobile banking services, unique branding, superior user experience, and support system. Monobank's approach stands as a testament to the power of local success – it has primarily catered to the Ukrainian market and its specific needs.
What can we learn from Monobank?
Being No.1 in the local market can be better than reaching worldwide recognition.

How to Find Investors for Fintech Company Launch

Once the MVP is ready, it’s time to start looking for investors. Here are some of the best venues that fintech company startups can apply for.

Furthermore, building strong partnerships within the fintech ecosystem can greatly benefit your company's growth and success. Look for opportunities to collaborate with established financial institutions, technology providers, and regulatory bodies. These partnerships can provide access to resources, expertise, and potential customers. Additionally, staying up to date with industry trends and regulatory changes is crucial in the fast-paced fintech landscape. Engage in industry events, conferences, and networking activities to foster relationships, exchange ideas, and gain valuable insights. By actively participating in the fintech community, you can position your company for continued innovation and long-term success.

Online Fundraising Platforms

Random people can donate to your fintech company project and get a certain amount of equity in return. Some of the most popular crowdfunding platforms are SeedInvest and StartEngine.

Events

Attending thematic events ensures the connection between startups and investors. Some of the vivid examples of such events are WebSummit in Lisbon, Collision in Toronto, and TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco.

Social Media

A tool to obtain vast public coverage and launch smart advertising campaigns. Start from such social media environments as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Accelerating programs

These often represent one general fund replenished by several investors who want to deploy their money. Apart from financial support, accelerators often provide assistance with corporate mentoring, product promotion, presentations to other investors, and strong network establishment.

How Much Does it Cost to Make a Fintech Company

Let’s overview the cost of starting a fintech company based on examples of a few famous financial technology projects. We rely on the data based on the data from the web
Coinbase, a digital currency exchange platform received $225.3M funding. Cryptocurrency trading platform Binance got $25M, Oscar Health which is an insurance app, received $892.5M.

If the cost of starting a fintech company seems overwhelming, don’t get discouraged fast. Foremost, your fintech company doesn’t need to compete with Binance at the very beginning. Second, a final paycheck for starting a fintech company can be reduced up to two times provided you engage the Ukrainian developers. Ukraine is a paradise for startups looking for a vast talent pool with affordable rates. For instance, Ukraine-based development company Perfsol has a bespoke expertise in fintech company development. Perfsol team has been working on such projects as MXNEY, Transformify, ReserverMeg. With a personalized approach and attention to customer goals, your fintech company can become a game changer in the industry

The Perfsol team is ready to help you achieve your goal. Contact us to get expert advice and discuss cooperation details!