Testing Banking & Financial Applications: Challenges, Trends, & Best

Practices

The most significant trend of 2016 will be the platformification of banking ~

Cornerstone Advisors

Banking and Financial Services industry has been a forerunner in adapting and scaling up
to the changes as and when they happen in the IT world. It is, thus, no surprise that
Digital Transformation has been indicated by the upcoming trends and digital initiatives
like Mobile Wallets, P2P transfers, Ping Pay, Omni Channel Banking etc. to be is the
future of BFSI Industry. As per Juniper Research, by 2017, more than 1B mobile
subscribers (15% of global mobile subscribers) will be using mobile banking.

The Banking domain is replete with ever changing and cutting edge technology, with
intricate functionalities intertwined into the applications. Being at the center of any
commercial activity, it has a huge functional framework spread across Cards and
Payment Gateways, Delivery Channels, Specialised service offerings such as Corporate
Banking, Centralised Banking, etc.

http://gallop.net/

Secure and smooth support for transactions, ease of access, and performance are vital
for any banking application to succeed.

Challenges and Trends in the Banking Sector

Omni-channel Banking With almost everyone getting hooked to the concept of

anytime, anywhere banking, financial houses are trying to launch digital only banks
that is, banks without branches. Offering end-to-end functionality of a regular bank on
the minimal and highly diverse front-end of a mobile poses a huge challenge.
Web Security, Regulatory & Compliance Banking portals usually are major targets for

hacking and fraudulent activities and thereby penetration testing poses a significant
challenge. Regulation of Banks became even more critical after the 2008 Banking Crisis
as improper functioning of a Bank has a big, negative impact on regular life. Today,
banking institutions need to comply with international security standards such as BASEL
III or BCBS 239 (addresses the Banking systemic risk and the operational risks of the
banks), FATCA and AML (keep vigil on tax evasion and other illegal monetary
transactions), SEPA (takes care of cross border payment regulation), and PCI DSS make
testing of financial applications very important and very challenging.
Performance Failures Performance failures in banking portals can have a serious

effect on daily life. Meeting the required performance levels involves taking into
consideration the infrastructure, connectivity, and integration with the backend. The
transaction spikes must be monitored at regular intervals and Stress and Load tests
must also be regularly performed to ensure support for multiple transactions at any
given point in time.

Some other IT trends already showing their impact and presence in the field of finance
are Testing Center Of Excellence (TCOE), big data analytics, cloud, and virtualization.
Even though these are not very pocket-friendly technologies to be maintained, they are
here to stay and will continue to grow.

Additionally, some other commonly faced challenges in testing Internet Banking are:

http://gallop.net/

Variety in internet connections and browsers

Usage paths
Usability testing
Security and Performance testing

And then there are specific challenges in Testing Mobile Banking Apps

Broad range of devices

Configuration and design vulnerabilities
Security Testing
Time to Market

Best Practices

A few best practices that will help manage the aforesaid challenges in testing banking
applications are:

A clearly defined, end-to-end testing methodology

Performing overall testing that encompasses all the requirements and workflows
Testing the application for performance, security, and functionality
Additional testing of the application for the UI, UX, integrity of Data, and support
for multiple and concurrent users

Trying to implement the above mentioned practices require large investments both in
terms of expenses and efforts, and a trusted partner can help banks save a lot of money
and time in addition to ensuring business continuity and protection.

The team at Gallop Solutions specializes in providing testing solutions to the banking
and financial services sector. Register for an informative and thought provoking webinar

http://gallop.net/

on Apr 13, 11:00 AM EST to learn how you can benefit from the latest test strategies
that are being laid out to help you succeed in the digital age to provide world class
experience to Mobile Banking customers.

Tags: accounting application software testing, banking application testing, banking applications,
banking domain testing, best practices for bfsi testing, bfsi testing, challenges in bfsi testing,
finance application testing, financial applications testing trends, insurance testing services, mobile
banking testing, payment engine testing, stress testing banks, stress testing finance, testing
financial application, testing services company, testing trends, trading app testing, trends in bfsi
testing, wealth management application testing

http://gallop.net/