Turnkey APIs: Simplifying User Experience
Fueled by consumer demand for more robust and user-friendly financial solutions, fintech is now a force unto itself with API-driven applications at the forefront of the industry. Financial institutions are recognizing the value of this new sector and are now merging with this cross-section of finance and technology to improve how they do business and interact with clients. While the demand for newer and better technology is an important factor in the success of this new wave of digital financial solutions, it is the simplification of user experience, both for consumers and developers, that is really pushing the boundaries of these industries. With turnkey APIs at the ready, integrating and digesting financial data has never been easier.
UX for Developers
Using and incorporating an API should be a painless process for a developer. When it isn't, the momentum of a product launch may come to a grinding halt, or, worse, the end performance of the API and the quality of UX for consumers is negatively impacted. Ideally, an API should be designed in such a way that any developer would want to use it. With a turnkey integration solution, the developer user experience is a lot simpler (which means less time to market) than it is with a custom push API.
Understandable and Intuitive
API documentation should only need to be read once before it can be understood and applied. Documentation should be understandable and intuitive, using naming conventions that are easy to understand, even if a developer has never seen the documentation before. It should also be designed to anticipate the data resulting from each call. Ready-to-use APIs necessarily have these features, making them quick and easy to use, with setup often taking just a few minutes.
Adaptable
The benefits of any API lie in its application and the programs that it connects. APIs need to be adaptable and integratable to keep up with the inevitable changes and improvements that will be needed down the road. A turnkey API provides a seamless developer experience while allowing for future implementation of a more agile user interface that requires less code. This system also makes customizing integrations quick and easy.
Standardized
Creating a great API-enabled product doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. Following best practices, an API should lay the groundwork for even better APIs and future integrations. The developer user experience with a turnkey API is instructive as well as standardized as it establishes the coding foundation on which all subsequent applications will be based. This makes it more than just a communication tool between two data sources. On the other hand, a poor developer user experience can threaten the entire structure of a company, making it vulnerable to competition from more technologically savvy competitors.
UX for Consumers
Consumers are an essential component of each fintech application's success. Without them, even the most innovative API-enabled financial solution won't make it past the beta stage. However, an application needs to do more than just run in order to gain the loyalty of consumers, it also needs to work well. Turnkey APIs are ideal for creating a personable and user-friendly consumer experience.
Embedded Account Integration
The best fintech turnkey APIs allow for easy account integration with both web and mobile applications, as well as bank authentication with thousands of banks, brokerages and credit unions. A top-level user experience will also include vivid graphics and color schemes that showcase the uniqueness and creativity of the brand.
Standardized Login
A great user experience has the right balance of familiarity and innovation. Ready-to-use APIs give consumers the ease of logging into the connected platform just as they would if they were logging in to their bank or brokerage account. And just like that, important data is pulled in to the application, ready to be processed and analyzed for the benefit of the consumer. This simplified procedure goes a long way toward making the user experience better.
Multi-Factor Authentication
This issue of security is a valid concern when it comes to personal financial data. However, the most advanced turnkey APIs can easily handle a wide variety of the industry's most common authentication checks. This includes security features ranging from multiple choice questions and image recognition to anti-bot CAPTCHAs. With these features in place, consumers know that the application they are using is just a secure as more traditional banking methods.
A personal investment app use case, analyzed by Toptal, found that consumers significantly reduced their signup time when an application used turnkey integration, which allowed the software to scan for a consumer's personal information and reduce the signup process to just a few easy steps.
This fits with the idea that successful SaaS providers have a simple onboarding process and easy to navigate UI.
The opportunity for improvement in the banking and financial service sectors helped fuel the birth of fintech. More cutting-edge advances and an increase in consumer demand for improved financial solutions helped turn the nascent industry into a digital movement. With fintech firmly rooted in API-based applications, it is the quality of the user experience, for developers and consumers alike, that will ultimately determine the success of any fintech company.
