How To Build A P2p Payment App For Money Transfer Like Venmo

By Author: Nazar Kvartalnyi
Total Articles: 25
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Almost every day people have a necessity in peer-to-peer money transfer services. The most common reason to transfer money is to pay for a service/product, to repay a debt, to send money to relatives or sellers. And this list has many more options because it’s not just a one-time activity.

If you try sending your online funds to peers once, there’s a big chance you’ll never use any other payment option. Why? Online paying is an easy, convenient, on-the-spot, and contactless transaction. The world needs this technology more and more these days. Covid showed that digital payments were more popular due to less physical contact with ATMs and banknotes. In 2020, there were about 760 million users of contactless mobile payment methods worldwide according to Statista.

Thus, startups try to build a payment app like Venmo, because they understand that the type of payment application is in-demand and there’s a target audience to use it. If you are a startup or an existing business, who wants to know how to build a p2p payment app, specifically how to make an app like Venmo, this article is what you’re looking for! ...
... Here, we will talk about

what is a peer-to-peer payment app?
payment application’s market share
P2P payment app features
how to create a p2p payment app like Venmo
Inoxoft’s experience with payment apps

Let’s proceed!

What is a peer-to-peer payment app?

A peer-to-peer payment application is a user-oriented platform that allows two peers to send each other money via a bank account or debit/credit card. So, this app connects a buyer with the seller directly, and vice versa. Washington Post displays the top 3 P2P payment apps that are currently disrupting the world’s markets. These are:

PayPal

The motto of PayPal is

PayPal is for everyone who pays online.

PayPal connects sellers and buyers and has more than 200 million active accounts all over the world.

The benefits of PayPal are in:

buying online
sending money
buying directly on eBay
making secure transactions
being simple and convenient in use
being cross-platform and available worldwide
being free-of-charge and upfront

Cash App

Cash App is the P2P payment application that makes it easier for you to

... send, spend, bank, and invest.

Among the benefits of Cash App you can find:

A QR code to download a mobile app
Send payment to anyone instantly
Design a style-matching debit card
Direct deposits time is way faster
Use a minimum of $1 to buy stocks and bitcoin
Each transfer is highly secure

Zelle

Zelle is a financial payment app that allows sending money to

... repay somebody or be the one to get paid back for your contributions instantly.

The benefits of Zelle are in:

Sending money for all kinds of things
Reaching an account within 1 minute
Transferring money safe
Being present in numerous banking apps
Working between U.S.-based banks
Being free-of-charge to use

Features of a P2P payment app

A payment app like Venmo should include the following features to be in-demand and quite popular on the market of competitors:

Real-time payments

An option to make payments to accounts or private debit/credit cards in real-time and without fees. This will ensure users will not waste hours waiting for the transaction to be a success. Especially, when digital cash has to be sent and received immediately. Here, speed is the priority.

Money transfer to any person

An option that links payments to a bank account or debit/credit card and allows sending money from your account or card to the other person’s account or debit/credit card of another bank. Of course, transactions between banks will require a fee, but this option is essential.

Cash transfer security and user authentication

Encryption of fintech data transfer by providing security of connection and data protection with blockchain technology is one of the most common things in P2P payment app. Also, an authentication option that will be confirmed only by a unique pin code or your fingerprint should be implemented by the development team. This will eliminate the possibility of account attacks by cybercriminals.

Simplicity of usage with seamless UI/UX

An easy and convenient money transfer process that has a few steps to follow should be a priority. Users like it when the app is simple to navigate through and the actions are logical. And the design of the interface has to be app-specific, i.e. it should contain a digital card or a prototype of a wallet.

Transfer tracking

Tracking your money transfers based on days, weeks, months, and so on should be also taken into account. Perhaps, you have sent money to a seller and the seller did not get the costs and won’t send you the products you’ve ordered. What’s then? Your operation has to be visible in the history of transactions so you could deal with this issue and understand where and when you made different payments.

Customer support

Customer support is what makes your app extra approachable. Thus, with the help of customer support, your users will feel taken care of while asking about transaction status and unexpected technical issues, or anything else. What’s more, if this is a mobile app and you’d like to store it in Google Play or the App Store, customer support will be one of the crucial factors your app will be accepted to these application storage platforms.

Push notifications

Push notifications will inform users their money transaction has been successful both in receiving and sending cash. And this is great to be notified right away instead of wondering if it was successful or whether the person received your transaction at all.

Account personalization

Account settings personalization will make it easier for users to set up their accounts and choose the preferred payment option. Also, they will be able to fill in and manage their personal details like age, location, status, etc.

Scan and pay touch-free

Paying for the products or services using a contactless payment method that requires only your setting up of the online P2P payment account is the technology of today. Of course, to pay with the smartphone your device should support NFC.

Steps to create a P2P payment app like Venmo

Now that you know about the most needed app features of how to create a mobile payment app, it is time to focus on the very process of app development. So, consider the following steps to build an MVP and also:

1. Research your target audience and set up the purpose of the app

If you’re having that contagious idea to create a p2p payment application but aren’t sure how to create a payment app and if this app will be feasible and in demand on the market, then start from a product discovery service to be on the safe side. The discovery phase allows gathering valuable product analytics and user feedback. It is risk-free and will cost you less than deploying an MVP or a full product without being sure of the final results. By making a discovery phase you will understand your target audience better and will certainly define the aim of your app both for yourself and your users.

2. Choose a development team and a technology that will match your needs and expectations

Selecting a team to bring your project idea to life is as essential as everything else. A team of software engineers should know how to build a payment app with seamless mobile application architecture and a great UI/UX design. They should not only be experts in software development but also be on the same page with their clients so that the final product was in everyone’s best interest. The features that should be present when you build a peer-to-peer payment app that will impact your technology choice are:

notifications and push messages
unique ID and fingerprint verification
digital wallet account
bill and invoice sending
Money transfers (sending and receiving)
transaction history

If you need tips on how to hire software developers or hesitate which technology to choose, you can always view our guidelines according to the choice of a team to outsource as well as how to hire a CTO for a startup.

3. Implement various online payment methods for your users

If you want your app to bring profits, have a look at the possible mobile app monetization models and try to meet as many reasonable user expectations as possible. And, also, the main methods of online payment are:

Online eCommerce payments
On-the-spot payments at retailers
P2P payments within the system’s network

Thus, in your pursuit of how to build a mobile payment system, don’t forget these payment options.

4. Think about the best ways to enclose a user’s account or card details

Data encryption, two-factor authentication, PCI-DSS, and other regulations compliance adherence are the main pillars of how to create a money transfer app. Also, get to see our post on Mobile Banking App Security to get more insights.

5. Engage in performance testing to ensure your system works well under different loads

Performance testing should start parallel to the development process. It is best to ensure your app is

fast and responsive towards user actions
in-demand and has a good feedback
effective with a max amount of simultaneous users
innovative, simple, and gets user preference among competitors
stable under different loads

To ensure all these factors are met, don’t underestimate the power of performance testing and the work of testers.

6. Make sure to use ready-made solution APIs or build your own

APIs can cut down the development time. The APIs are already the ready-made solutions you can integrate into your P2P payment application. However, some of the APIs like in Cash App and Venmo cannot work outside of U.S. So, to be on the safe side and work according to your needs, you can always build your own APIs. But, everything depends on the niche you choose, type of app, development team, technology, security, and so on.

Consider Inoxoft your trusted partner

Inoxoft is your international software outsourcing partner that can help you implement your best ideas into real life. We provide custom mobile applications development, QA automation testing services, UI/UX design and development services, and other services.

Inoxoft has experience in working with the financial industry and integrating different payment systems into applications both in mobile and web development. Our success can be measured with the help of our satisfied clients, who obtained not only a product to grow and develop their businesses further, but a sophisticated, innovative, and user-friendly application that impacts the daily lives of users in a simple but effective way.

So, if you are looking for a company to build you a peer-to-peer payment app - choose Inoxoft. Contact us to receive a detailed consultation, initiate a discovery phase, or build an MVP based on your requirements.

Final thoughts

The article has spoken about the most common aspects of how to develop a peer-to-peer payment app. In developing an innovative app, better than Venmo, it is vital to understand what your audience desires to see, what are your requirements, what technologies to choose, and what features would positively impact your users. P2P app development is a process you should approach with reason. The more your app will allow you to do, be user-friendly, and be easy to use, the more you will win among your competitors.

Originally published at https://inoxoft.com/blog/how-to-build-a-p2p-payment-app-for-money-transfer-like-venmo/

NAZAR KVARTALNYI has a Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. Microsoft certified professional and .Net specialist with experience in project management and mentorship. Since 2015 co-founder and COO at Inoxoft.