Modern Approaches to Banking Application Testing Checklist
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The BFSI sector is currently going through a massive phase of transformation floating on the wings of technology. Banks are stepping from in-person services to virtual services through applications and web pages. During this phase, there is an organic increase in the number of banking applications launched in the fintech market. Today, one bank can have multiple banking applications depending on the needs of the customers and the array of services it offers.
Since banking applications are so important to the finance sector today, fintech application testing is equally important. Proper algorithms in place to create and test fintech applications need to be put in place for useful banking applications that can be used by customers. In this article, we will discuss the checklist for banking application testing and the tests that need to be done.
Checking and testing different aspects of FinTech applications includes checking for user interface and usability features. The design and the layout of the banking application is an important part of the user interface of the application. The user interface should be engaging and extremely functional. The design and layout of the application need to be minimalistic and clean for the users to use it easily. The user interface testing is the first point to tick from the Banking application testing Checklist.
When testing the usability of the application, you need to test the navigation features and flow. The navigation of the application should be very simple and easy to use so that people of all ages can use it. The navigation of the application should be accessible and convenient for every user, for which navigation testing should be done on every banking application.
The banking application should work on multiple devices, and this can only be done when the design is responsive across different platforms. The banking application should be designed for cross-platform use so that it runs on multiple operating systems and on different devices. A person should be able to use the application on a desktop, on a phone or even as a web page. The responsive and interactive design increases the accessibility of the fintech application.
The banking application is mainly used to conduct transactions and payments through the Internet. By using a bank application installed on your phone, you can complete transactions within seconds and with simple taps of the screen. A banking application should have multiple payment gateways and smooth transaction processes that should support intra and inter-bank payments easily.
When the transaction gateways are highly efficient, funds transfer can happen within minutes, and the user does not need to go to a bank. The whole idea of creating a virtual bank in your smartphone entirely depends on smooth transactions. Therefore, transaction testing falls under the checklist for banking application testing.
These days, banking and payment applications also help their users pay their monthly and quarterly bills. These applications also help set up an auto payment feature, which allows the banking application to pay the bills without any intervention from the user. The auto payment feature works best for the subscription model of services and products. The bill payments are very streamlined and quick with the help of an efficient payment application. When testing the transaction gateways and processes, the testing team also needs to check for bill payment ease.
Account balance checks
Another action that the user will often take with the banking application is to check for his account balance from time to time. After a major transaction or banking decision, people usually check their balances. The account balance checks should be accurate and quick to ensure a hassle-free experience for the user. The account checking process should be easy to complete and display the most recent updated information regarding the money left in the bank account.
The banking application should be quick and efficient in handling errors that arise in the user process. The banking application should work fine despite the errors that might arise from time to time. The error should be handled in a transparent manner and should be reported both to the bank and the user. For example, if the user gives the wrong input in the process, the error should be intimated to the user so that he can rectify the error.
The failure of transactions and refund of money from the payment should also be intimated to the bank and the user. The user should know if the transaction has fallen through or failed so that he knows the status of his account balance.
Any kind of unexpected user behaviour should also be dealt with by the application very smoothly, giving alerts regarding the behaviour so that the user can take appropriate actions. These are the different types of tests that should be a part of the Free banking application testing checklist provided by the software developers and testers. The transaction testing and error handling tests should be run by the testing team before the application is finally deployed in the user group.
The back end of the banking application is just as important to be checked and tested to ensure that the application’s integrity is intact and it is useful to the people interacting with it. The bank application will deal with traffic of sensitive data and information from the users. So, the backend of the banking application needs to be tested thoroughly for vulnerabilities and security threats. The backend database testing should be done properly to ensure that the data that is put through the application is managed properly.
The information has to go out through secure and protected channels, so it is important for the testing team to check for the database security and the security layers so that the information channels are protected. Security checks and tests should happen from time to time to check for the vulnerabilities that might arise with time.
The network speed and data retrieval speed should be checked to ensure that the processes are completed at a high speed. The data retrieval speed depends on the network connectivity strength and the ease of transferring data from databases to other interfaces. The data security and retrieval speed should be checked with multiple checks and testing cases.
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layers, which authenticate the website address and also ensure that the connection is strong and can be enabled with encryption of the data. The SSL certificate of the website and the application shows that it is secure enough to carry out data encryption and transfer to different interfaces.
The data channels need to be tested thoroughly to test for data integrity when the data is at rest or in transit. The data should not be compromised or leaked in any form. The data channels should be secure to let the data in transit reach the checkpoints safely. Therefore, data encryption and security checks are very important for banking applications and fintech apps.
Strong processes of user authentication and authorization is also an important aspect of a secure banking application. The login and logout processes should be secure and safe so that only the registered user can access the application and take action with it. Multiple tests should be conducted to verify the authentication procedures associated with both logging in and logging out.
The authentication of user identity should be multi-factor so that the user is protected from fraud and stealing. Multi-factor authentication can include a PIN, security questions, or a captcha. The MFA mechanism should be tested properly for the banking application to work well.
The access controls also need to be checked by testing teams to ensure that the user can control access to people depending on his needs and wants. The access control should be secure so that the controls are not misused.
Regulatory Compliance
The testing team and the application development team should focus on creating the application according to the rules and regulations of the BFSI sector so that the application is held to the highest industrial standards. The application should adhere to data protection rules so that the user has well-protected data and can trust the application.
The application in question should also go through all the tests needed to ensure that the features and usage adhere to Anti Money Laundering rules.
The banking application should also have a secure and robust eKYC process in place so that customer identification can happen quickly and easily. The KYC process should be according to the rules and regulations of the BFSI sector.
The performance of the banking application should be highly efficient, speedy and scalable. The application should run properly under high and low loads. The load testing procedures need to be used by the testers so that the application can maintain its performance under different loads. The application should ideally run properly even under peak loads.
The testing team also needs to check for the breaking point of the application system to determine the peak load that the system can handle. After determining the breaking point, the developers need to maintain the load below or improve the application to increase its peak load and heighten its breaking threshold.
Evaluate the system’s behavior under extreme conditions As a banking application, the application will come under a lot of stress factors from time to time. In the Best Free Banking application testing checklist, stress testing is also included. The application needs to be run and observed under extreme conditions to determine its vulnerabilities and reduce them with improvements.
The testing of the banking application under extreme conditions and stress factors will help the testing team find the software vulnerabilities so that the vulnerabilities can be reduced and crashing conditions can be avoided. These vulnerabilities are minimised either before deployment or in successive improvement cycles.
Once the banking application becomes popular, it will need to be scaled up. The testing team has to conduct scalability in order to determine how easily the application can be scaled or not. The scalability of the application needs to be increased so that it can include new customers for the bank or financial institution.
The banking application needs to be highly responsive at all times. So, the testing team needs to increase the load on the application to test its response time and performance lag to see if there are any major issues with the application. After the development team has made the application scalable, these aspects of the software need to be tested by the testers to ensure that the application works under fluctuating operational conditions.
The testers also have to check for the integrations that have been made with the application to ensure that its extended features are working and integrating smoothly. The testing team has to design and conduct API testing so that the API features work properly.
Third-party integrations have to be checked from time to time so that no vulnerabilities and cyber threats to the application arise.
The end-to-end encryption on transaction channels and their integrity need to be checked from time to time. This testing process is needed to ensure that the end-to-end transactions are completed smoothly.
The banking application software should be highly compatible with multiple browsers and search engines so that the user can open the payment methods through multiple platforms when the need arises. The testing team has to test the compatibility with multiple browsers like Google Chrome, Opera, and Firefox.
The testing team also has to check for the compatibility of the application with different devices and its cross-platform functioning, like on iOS and Android, as well as on multiple devices.
The banking application should be available to as many people as possible, and for this to happen, the application should work on multiple mobile operating systems like iOS, Microsoft, and Android. The application must be designed to function smoothly on various mobile devices produced by different manufacturers.
The banking application should be tested with other devices like tablets and desktops. Its adaptability should be high so that it can fit into desktops and tablets and work like a native app with its high performance.
The banking application should be compatible and useful with multiple operating systems like Windows, macOS and Linux so that the users can access the interface on browser and desktop screens.
The recovery time objectives of the banking application should be tested to ensure that the application has low downtime and high performance to be run on multiple platforms. The RTOs should be clear and efficient when observed after testing.
The RPO should also be tested to ensure that the databases are secure and the application easily enables data recovery after an error or major snag. The RPO should be low, and the time taken to recover data from the databases after a glitch should not be high. The banking application should have a strong data backup so that no major data is lost.
The data backup frequency and retrieval should be checked from time to time to ensure that backup happens periodically and the data is retrieved easily from the data backups.
Once all the rest of the tests of the Free banking application testing checklist are done, the testers have to do real-time user testing. The banking application should be put through real-world scenarios of use and stress factors to see how it really works in the field. The company has to collect user feedback to improve the functioning of the application.
The user feedback collection and observation should happen in a systematic manner to ensure that the application is tested and improved according to the needs and wants of the potential customers. The user feedback collection channels should be interactive and secure so that the users feel safe while using the application.
Once the user-based testing is done and the application has undergone all the changes based on real-world scenarios, the application needs to go through a final round of approval from the project manager and clients to be deployed in the market.
When testing a banking application with the most advanced fintech capabilities, it is important to check the security and performance of the software. The testing team has to create tests that check the application on all aspects of speed, accuracy and performance before sending it out for final approval. The testing team and the development team should be highly coordinated with each other.
The professionals involved in the development of the banking application should be aware of the recent cyber threats and cybersecurity trends. The development team should be aware of the most important fintech trends of the time. A good fintech app testing company remains ahead of its time and exceeds the expectations of clients and collaborators.
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