How to develop a P2P Payment App?

 What Is a P2P Application?

A P2P Application uses a peer-to-peer (P2P) network, unlike the traditional client-server network.

The data here is stored on every device connected to the network (called nodes or peers) and not centrally on a single server, giving the end user more power over their data.

There is considerably less cost in building the infrastructure, as you'll save on the cost of maintaining servers, hiring highly skilled technicians, and much more.

And most importantly, the chances of failure in the P2P network are less likely or negligent.

Even if a node (peer) in the network gets affected somehow, it does not mean that the whole system would be corrupted; it just means that one single node will not be available until fixed.

Which makes a P2P Payments Application such a lucrative business to venture into, with low setup costs and high-profit margins.

But that's not something you'd tell your user base to get them to use your payments App, right? It's not of use to them.

So, what makes the P2P Payments App so appealing that it generated such big numbers in profits for the likes of the Cash App? 

Why Are P2P Payments Applications On a Rise?

While we can quote a dozen reasons to support the cause, we'd like to focus on the most prominent one: user data confidentiality and ease of use.

While using a P2P Payment Application, a user need not share the complete banking details, but instead, the payment can be made using the recipient's email address or phone number./

That's pretty much it. Wait! Before you lay out plans for your next P2P Application like The Cash App, we have to tell you the negatives too.

Challenges Faced When Developing a P2P Payments Application

Legal Compliances

If you want to enter the world of Fintech, it's widespread that you'd have to face a lot of heat from the legal side.

You have to be highly vigilant in how you operate. After all, it's a matter of the hard-earned money of the common folk you're dealing with. The government will be highly involved to ensure you're doing it correctly.

You'd have to take approvals from FTC (Federal Trade Commission), follow Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AML) and Electronic Funds Transfer Act while taking care of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), along with many other things.

Secure Data Management

If Paypal, one of the world's most used payment service providers, could be hacked due to underlying vulnerabilities. Chances are that any other P2P App could also be a target.

Thus, data security stands as one of the most prominent challenges in this space.

Currency Conversion

If your P2P Payments Application supports cross-border transfer, it must be good at currency conversion. And the rate at which currency changes value is very rapid.

Now, in the case of Paypal, it can easily support international transactions, as it takes up to 3-4 days to transfer the amount to your bank, which is a lot of buffer time to do the maths.

But in the case of a P2P Application, the transactions need to be in real-time, and the buffer times are generally in seconds, so that is a problem you'd want to have a solution for.

Dispute Settlement

In cases of dispute, you need to have a pre-prepared strategy to resolve it. Failure to do so will lead to distrust, primarily since P2P Applications deal with money.

If you're still enthusiastic about venturing into P2P Payments Services, let us introduce you to how you can take your first step towards doing that with Mobile App Development Company in Gurgaon.

Steps Involved In Development of a P2P Application Like Cash App

Choosing The Application Type

To start the process, you must define what kind of a service provider you'd be, whether you'd be a standalone application that deals with payments single handedly or partners with a bank/social media or any other institution.

The goals should be clearly defined with the intent, target audience, and services you'll offer.

Integrating Features and Technology Stack

The second step involves choosing between tech stacks and features you'd embed in your application.

Some common ones without which your P2P application would be incomplete are login features using secured OTP/ID, transaction history, forwarding invoices, loading money from an account onto the hot wallet, and vice versa (if your applications support that), two-factor authentication and much more.

Designing Simple Yet Intricate UI/UX

When it comes to financial matters, it's scarce to come across something that can be easily understood.

But that should not be the case with the user experience of your application. If it's also complex to use or understand, then all you'll see is a very high drop in retention rate and a declining growth curve.

So, the design should be simple yet effective enough to carry out all the financial transactions with much ease and understandability.

Setting Up Secured Connections

We've already talked about how important security is in handling payments. And thus, a security check becomes very much necessary in the development lifecycle of a P2P payments application.

The best approach to follow here is to go for internal and external testing so that you can tie leakage at both ends.

Beta Testing and Bug Fixing

Finding faults and fixing them in your applications using stages of testing such as Alpha and Beta testing is a must.

Getting The Paperwork Done and Deployment

The last step would be to file for legal compliances, get approvals, transfer all the rights to use the applications from the developer (if you're working with external development agencies), and deploy the applications into the real world.

If all this seems too much to handle on your own, then a simple solution would be to hire an App development company that can facilitate all this for you.