Things To Consider When Choosing a Lending Software Development Partner

If you plan to build lending software, the first step is to locate the right partner to develop your software. The global market has made outsourcing development services an established practice of using technology to gain an advantage and keep ahead. However, the true challenge lies in choosing the best company to develop software for your firm. Selecting a custom lending software development company is more naive than it might appear initially. Make sure that you consider every aspect to make the correct choice.

Select the software that ensures a smooth lending experience for the consumer and you. Successful lending should make difficult borrowing easy for the consumer and (or) speedier loan creation for the lender. Take care of all aspects to ensure you pick the correct software to do the job.

In this post, we’ve compiled an essential list of factors to consider when selecting a lending software development partner. 

So, let’s get started. 

Who Is a Custom Lending Software Development Partner?

Many companies have different requirements regarding software development. Many look for a single software developer to develop the SaaS product. Certain customers want a focused team of developers who can handle their venture. Others, however, want to work with a company that develops software to manage development.

In reality, partnerships for software development may mean something different to various people. Your requirements determine the type of software development partner you could be. If we attempt to interpret the word “software development partner, ” that would be the company or group of experts facilitating the software development process. These partners could be:

• End-to-end Software development
• Give you some or all remote developers
• Create a new feature or function that is part of an existing product
• Refactor your program
• Modernize old applications
• Form a whole team of developers

A lending software development partner lending program is typically an outsourcer that guarantees technical expertise, technological capability, and speedy development, all at much less cost. They have many years of experience building software of the same size and within your field, sometimes even within your specific field. This can help ease the burden and difficulties of products, software, and your SaaS creation lifecycle.

Key Considerations To Find The Right Custom Lending Software Development Company

Suppose you’re interested in learning about software development. In that case, it’s essential that you work with a software development service provider that understands the financial concept and industry-specific needs. Working with a reliable software development team can drive your company forward faster than you ever thought possible. 

We’ll explore the essential things to consider when hiring a custom lending software development partner.

Software Development Models

The software company you choose to work with might work with a particular software development method or give you many options:

• The functionality you describe in the new product and then the designer performs the job you gave them. The model does not suggest that you write functionality or (or) business specifications documents. The best choice is an expert development firm to perform this job. It should create drafts and spoken descriptions instead of writing documents.
• Contrary to the earlier method, in this case, you must create functional requirements documents (and maybe the business requirement one as well) before the developer can move on to developing your software. In order to accomplish this, a well-established development company is also needed, although maybe not as skilled as previously, and one that can do it based on the documentation you supply.
• All planning for your product, including gathering requirements through designing the architecture and choosing the right technology stack, is entirely your responsibility. This is why you will require an experienced software developer to offer programmers and testers, not all of the development team, including the product manager and business analysts.

In any case, pick the one that fits you most. Find out where you’re at regarding your experience with the product, which can help you decide on the model you’ll choose.

Domain Proficiency

For a robust SaaS loan solution for the marketplace, it is necessary to hire a professional with previous experience using this type of software. Your development team should also be adept at integrating safe payment gateways and constructing additional payment tools to create the complete lending platform.

However, your expectations are not limited to implementing technology. Furthermore, the team needs to be aware of the differentiators in payment methods and choose those that are adaptable and easy for users.

Tech Expertise

At this point, you must interact with your prospective developer in person to test their knowledge “first-hand.” Choose the method of communication that is most effective for you. It can be online calls, face-to-face meetings, or the initial RFP submission.

How do you evaluate? First, you must look at your developer’s tech stack regarding the kind of product you’re planning to develop, such as a web-based application, a mobile application, one that needs cloud migration, and (or) API integration.

• Web-Based Apps

These kinds of peer-to-peer lending app development may need knowledge of Python, Java, and JavaScript, along with front-end frameworks such as React, Angular, and Node.js. Consider their knowledge of popular technology stacks, which include the frameworks mentioned above.

• Cloud Platforms

You’ll likely transfer your service to cloud computing, which can reduce the implementation time. An experienced SaaS development business should have extensive knowledge of cloud platforms like Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, and AWS.

• Mobile Apps

It’s always one of two options: Android, which requires proficiency in languages such as Kotlin and Java, and iOS and iOS, which respectively require expertise in Objective-C and Swift. If you are planning to create an application that runs on multiple platforms, it is essential to hire professionals with a solid background in popular frameworks such as React Native.

• API Integration

The likelihood is that you’ll require the integration of an API in your lending application. Concerning API development, the RESTful API is the preferred method. Beyond that, you’ll need a solid understanding of databases. 

• Other Languages

Based on the capabilities you want to incorporate into your app, you might require additional skills in your work. If you wish to include automated features, seeking Python specialists will most likely be necessary. If, for instance, you’re looking to incorporate an analytics function, which is also required for prior experience in Python development, SQL, and NoSQL databases, Tableau, Power BI, and other software.

Communication Approach

Communication is crucial to keeping the lending software development services running smoothly, so this element shouldn’t be ignored. Prior to the actual development process beginning, select the most preferred ways to communicate with the development team.

Once you’ve agreed on the means of communication, determine how often the developers will send you progress reports on the software. These could be standups where everyone reports about their respective aspects of the project, or the team’s manager only reports to you about all progress made by the time they speak.

MVP Process

Instead of investing massive amounts to build a colossal application from scratch, a smart choice is to slowly build your app and then start by creating an MVP. An experienced provider will give the MVP within a reasonable period to allow you to begin making money immediately and with less expense. It is important to note that this application must be as minimal as possible. Otherwise, it could mean you start the lending process with enormous loss.

Software Architecture Understanding

An enticing SaaS loan software is one with a user-friendly as well as a secured layer. This is crucial when you are working with an open API. It is essential to ensure the integration of your application with different components and APIs. Additionally, you should provide support to third-party developers that can help with your application’s capacity and maintainability.

This is achievable through the assistance of an experienced development company proficient in these architectural patterns, such as microservices and layers. For a better understanding of the development team’s experience before the patterns, you can conduct in-depth sessions. In which you may discuss how they used different patterns on various projects and how they decided on which pattern to use.

Technology Perspectives

In defining the structure, you must get at the core of issues rather than entrust it to the team developing it. One of the most critical questions you must ask yourself is what technology should be used from a particular perspective. 

However, the market lending software will operate, and its expectations will be based on social, economic, or force majeure, such as the worldwide pandemic. The best method to safeguard yourself from unanticipated surprises is to choose the right surprise company to build a microservices-based structure. This way, you’ll launch quickly and grow without hindering your progress.

Omnichannel And Cross-Platform Strategy

Yes, you’re a Fintech lender. However, you can be limited to online lending. You could find customers in other areas, such as the unbanked and underbanked, rural areas, or even social organizations. Developing a strategy for reaching these people across all channels and platforms and selecting the best development team to make that happen is the case for you.

Think About Time Zone Differences

There is a possibility of finding an accomplice within your country, but usually, the accomplice resides in a different country. Then, there is the matter of the time-zone contrast. Problems related to this could affect the effectiveness of correspondence.

If the custom lending software development company has been openly operating this venture, it’s not a huge issue. On the other hand, if you’ve got two organizations in different regions of the world working together and sharing information, there could be a challenge. The majority of companies also use a flexible schedule. It can accommodate the possibility of gatherings or decisions even in the face of massive differences in time.

Security Practices

Let’s get to talking about security. Your loan application must have access levels and controls that are easily granted or canceled. Be aware that your application will likely process lots of confidential information such as credit card or social security numbers as well as addresses names, etc. As only those involved in the loan’s underwriting or disbursement process must be able to access it. Additionally, prospective app developers must know how to include two-factor authentication during registration and be familiar with e-signatures, encryption, firewalls, and anti-virus tools.

Updates Policy

The SaaS lending program can’t afford downtime or will lose customers and money. If downtime leads to data leaks, there will be more problems, so it’s essential that you choose the best team for your business to ensure the software runs without interruption.

You can assign them a second important job: stabilization maintenance after releasing updates. Make sure you are prepared to release regular updates. Your designated developers must be able to organize and execute every update without disrupting your application’s work.

Best Practices For Strong Partnership With Lending Software Development Company

Specific issues could slip through your radar if you’re preparing to begin your peer-to-peer lending app development partnership. This could result in several misunderstandings and unstated assumptions. To avoid this, you should know tips to aid you in preparing better.

Learn The Tools

One primary factor in preparing yourself and your team members for an external partnership in software development is acquiring the tools for remote work. Familiarity with communication and collaboration tools is essential to managing them effectively and ensuring they work in harmony with your external team for software development.

Assign a PoC

It is essential to have an individual point of contact within your group who knows the entire details of your project and is quick to collaborate with your partner in software development to work on the project. They must be committed to the project and available when the development team plans to have meetings or discussions if they follow the agile software development method that requires continuous meetings, sprint plans, and other talks to ensure better repetition. There should be a PoC readily available for such.

Prepare The Team

Sometimes, in-house teams may be reluctant to acquire an outsourcing partner for software development, mainly if they are involved in technology. That’s why you must be able to explain the reasons for your group. 

It is essential to come up with the reasons for having remote product development by an external company. Also, you can set your team’s culture as more cooperative and willing to listen to ideas. They need to accept the idea even though it’s being developed remotely.

Set-Up The Process

Making the right decisions before working with a developer partner is crucial to the success of your project. If, for instance, you’re developing software as a service product, knowing the nuances of the SaaS development process will help you get the proper method. Sprints will be scheduled based on research, MVP design or prototyping, the development of your product, integration testing, and so on.

Ensure Bandwidth For Communication

Another aspect you must be prepared to handle is your communication capacity. It is important to know that despite using an external firm to develop the product, you will be the internal resource and communicate frequently. There will be demo days, sprint sessions, status report meetings, sessions on meeting milestones for your project, and other things. Prepare yourself in advance for those.

Be Aware Of The Total Costs Involved

The most crucial aspect to be prepared for is the expense. Outsourcing costs about half the cost of making the item on your own. It is essential to be conscious of the overall expenses associated with outsourcing. Although you can save on costs by outsourcing your software development, some costs come with outsourcing that must be outlined. These include the cost of hiring, knowledge transfer, and other expenses.

Assess The Risks

Although working with a partner in lending software development services is a good idea, it is important to be aware of the potential risks. These could include intellectual property, the quality of the code, and many others. That’s why it’s recommended not to give your core business tasks to a third party. However, you should consider outsourcing other duties associated with these.

Limit The Liabilities

When outsourcing software, it is essential to ensure that you do not create liability that could affect your company. Consider integrating services and management to ensure that you do not let your control slip away.

Prepare a Service Level Agreement

The service-level agreement is one of the most important documents to set up when you are preparing to establish a partnership for software development. This is, without a doubt, one of the essential documents you need to prepare that you will need for your relationship. The document should contain all the services you’re looking for from your supplier. Any confusion or ambiguity will be eliminated when you’ve got the document in place.

Final Thoughts

Every business wants to develop efficient and reliable software. This is why you should partner with an experienced and reliable software development firm to be on your side. When you have the right software for lending and tools, you can stay in the marketplace. More efficient and user-friendly processes and integrated compliance are two weapons you could use to win the fight for consumers’ attention. 

While there isn’t any magical formula for selecting a partner, specifics like project development expenses, extensive knowledge, a track record of success, and an ideal location are among the top factors to consider. If you are choosing an organization to develop lending software, it is important to take into account details that go beyond the hourly cost.