Finova Banking App
A mobile-first banking experience for a European challenger bank.
The Challenge
Finova was entering a crowded market. They needed a mobile app that felt native, handled money securely, and could compete with banks that had decade-old codebases and unlimited budgets.
Timeline: six months to launch. No pressure.
Our Approach
We focused ruthlessly on the core flows that users touch daily:
- Instant balance visible within 300ms of app open
- One-tap transfers between accounts and contacts
- Real-time notifications for every transaction
- Card controls to freeze, unfreeze, and set limits instantly
- Spending insights that categorize automatically and surface patterns
Everything else—loan applications, investment products, support chat—came in v2.
Technical Highlights
Biometric-first authentication using FaceID/TouchID with secure enclave storage. Fallback to PIN only when biometrics fail.
Optimistic UI updates for transfers. Users see immediate feedback while the actual transaction processes in the background with proper rollback handling.
Offline resilience for balance checking and transaction history. The app remains useful even on the metro.
End-to-end encryption for all PII. We can’t read user data even if we wanted to.
Results
- 50,000+ downloads in first quarter
- 4.7 stars on App Store (1,200+ reviews)
- 18 seconds average time to complete a transfer
- Zero security incidents since launch