Cashless payments were in trend even before the pandemic. However, the strict social distancing norms across the world have encouraged more and more people to adopt contactless payments via e-wallets.

While there are a variety of e-wallet types existing, it gets cumbersome for one to calculate the cost of e-wallet development, especially when the requirements aren’t clarified. In this article I will take you through the factors that significantly influence the e-wallet app development cost.

The Cost of E-Wallet App Development

Although it isn’t straightforward to calculate the cost of digital wallet app development, I can give you a ballpark figure. So, based on the required features and the technology to implement them, the cost to develop an e-wallet can range between $30,000 to $100,000.

Features Affect the E-Wallet App Development Cost Most Significantly

Among several factors that influence the cost to develop an e-wallet, the feature set of an e-wallet is the most significant one. Many mobile wallet development companies will overwhelm you with a pool of features that can be unnecessary for your e-wallet app. The selection of features integrated into your ewallet app should depend on your target demographics and user base.

Hence, I will recommend you to focus on the core functionality of your app, while choosing the appropriate set of features to implement. Here I’m mentioning the advanced features for an e-wallet app.

Third-Party Bill Payments: If you want your users to use their e-wallet more frequently, you need to allow them to use their wallet balance for several purposes. They should be able to pay their loans, utility bills, etc via the app only.

Customer Management: The vendor app should facilitate customer management features, so that the vendors can view every customer’s transaction history.

Loyalty Points: If you want your customers to be with you for the long term, it is essential for you to offer them loyalty rewards in the form of wallet balance or deals for third-party merchant payments.

Payments To And From Bank Accounts: Your users expect your e-wallet to facilitate money transfers from and to bank accounts. Many users have started using e-wallets for all their financial needs, so this feature is important for your e-wallet.

NFC Payments: Although only flagship smartphones support the NFC hardware, it is still a feature to consider to make your e-wallet stand out from the competition. However, if your target market is a developing or underdeveloped country, then it isn’t worth enabling NFC into your e-wallet app.

Bill Splitting: Another financial operation that people want in an e-wallet app. This feature should be made simple. For example, the user should only have to enter the bill amount and the mobile number of the friends involved.

Cash In/Out at Merchants or ATM: We’ve seen the success of this feature with M-Pesa. In the Africaln region, the e-wallet allows users to visit an M-Pesa vendor and cash in or out their wallet money. This feature is a must if the majority of your target user base is unbanked or underbanked.

Financial Budgeting: Your users will love this feature, as they don’t have to separately install an application for their money management. They will be able to identify their spending habits, track their expenses, and focus on saving (ofcourse, if they want to) all within the digital wallet app.

Chatbot: Powered by technologies like NLP (Natural Language Processing) and AI (Artificial Intelligence), chatbots are the modern solution to inefficient and ineffective customer support. With chatbots in place, you’ll be able to resolve customer issues 24/7.

How To Create A Mobile Wallet App?

The process of e-wallet app development begins with the decision of whether to build your app by yourself or reach out to an e-wallet app development company that has expertise in crafting FinTech solutions. I won’t go into the debate of in-house vs outsourcing as it is evident that both practices have their own pros and cons.

For e-wallet app development, I would recommend you to seek a development partner as the development requires expertise in compliance management and digitizing the financial services. Also, with outsourcing, your e-wallet app development cost will be comparatively low.

Another recommendation is to choose the agile development methodology. It is a good approach to launch the e-wallet app with limited features, and then based on the user feedback, launch more features.

Location of Your Development Partner Also Plays an Important Role

Another significant factor that affects e-wallet app development cost, is the country where your software development partner is located. Typically, with software development outsourcing, projects are executed on the hourly rate basis. Hence, the cost to develop your e-wallet app will also be reliant on the location of your development partner. The following are the software development hourly rates for different regions:

North America: $46.35

Western Europe: $67.20

Eastern Europe: $32.29

Latin America: $45.71

Asia: $25.83

Africa: $28.00