How to Develop a Cash Advance App Like MoneyLion: Key Features and Cost Insights

Emergencies in the financial sector can strike quickly and without warning, triggering an immediate rush to cover bills or bridge gaps in paychecks. Stress levels can rise rapidly when daily routines and mental wellbeing are compromised.

Cash advance apps like MoneyLion allow the ability to access smaller amounts whenever needed, supplying emergency funds when financial emergencies occur swiftly and abruptly.

The story of MoneyLion’s success tells itself. Today, they serve over seven million customers, offering cash advance services, budgeting tools, and investment options to help young people manage their money.

Are You Interested in FinTech through the development of Cash Advance apps? Making a cash advance app will make a statement for your business while providing vital financial services that offer assurance and peace of mind for those in need.

What is the MoneyLion App?

MoneyLion offers users an emergency fund in the form of interest-free cash advances. It also provides budgeting tools, financial insight, and even investment tools that help users manage their financial affairs and control their money.

MoneyLion is more than a quick relief. Its users show commitment by using the app at least four times weekly—evidence of its effectiveness as a financial and budgeting tool. In addition, MoneyLion has earned acclaim throughout FinTech circles because of awards like the 2021 Benzinga Fintech Awards Best Mobile App award.

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Features of Cash Advance App Like MoneyLion

Are you also interested in knowing the most essential characteristics of a cash advance loan app? Keep reading to discover how to design a loan application that is distinct from other loan apps.

Sign Up & Profile Verification

It takes a lot of work to apply for and receive approvals for a payday loan. So, the first and most important feature consideration is a simple sign-up process. The user’s account should be able to be joined with the app’s account in just a few seconds.

Apps for money lending should make approval as easy as it is when a person needs money so that the customer earns a profit. Invite the borrower to verify their account to ensure the safety of all parties involved.

Money On Demand

If someone is in an emergency and needs immediate cash, it will be a huge turnoff if they can’t receive the money after the lengthy process. Thus, your cash lending applications should allow users to make just one click to ask for cash.

The amount of money demanded could be directly transferred to the client’s account or retrieved by the user at the designated store.

Repayment Options

As a business, you can incorporate the benefits of repayment options. When the paycheck is transferred to a user’s account, the loan funds amount can be debited immediately from the user’s account. This makes it easy for customers to track the reimbursement.

Additionally, you can offer the option of paying the loan faster than you think is needed to allow the customer to settle his debt much more quickly. If customers need extra time to pay, they must create an invoice for the same amount. This makes your money lending app one of the top instant loan applications.

Quick Alerts

Does your app provide predictions for loan money? Do you need to remind your customers about the debt payments due in the near future? Do you want to remind them of upcoming costs? Are you interested in knowing more about the applications for money lending?

Introduced a brand new service for your company? With the help of short alerts via the mobile application, users can access all the details you’ll need to share. You can also inform your customers in real-time when they spend more than they ought to.

Freeze/Unfreeze Cards

What if the users of your business lost their debit cards? Perhaps they misplaced it? Perhaps even altered the date? In these situations, your company must be able to offer the option to freeze existing cards and then allow them to make an application for new credit cards.

This is a sign that you are taking good care of your customers and improving customer satisfaction. If customers wish to free up any of their frozen cards, the mobile app for money lending must be able to use the card, or else you’ll lose your customer.

Loan Calculator

This app has a unique feature: a loan calculator. This feature is practical because the application roughly estimates the amount owed after customers pay interest.

This enables consumers to make a well-informed decision. The feature is an offer if your company depends on a long-term loan. It will save you and your employees from the tedious and lengthy process of formulating the loan amount.

Voluntary Tipping

Consider a voluntary tipping system if your app offers the option of lending money for free or with a small fee, as low as $1 for a monthly membership. This will motivate your customers to leave a note on your service at their convenience.

Credit Score Building

Are they spending more than they’re expected to pay back? With credit score-building capabilities, this problem can be resolved. The application can rapidly monitor rent payments made to credit agencies.

And build your credit ratings, giving them an advantage in credit building. Your business will know that you can loan the most money.

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Core Features of Cash Advance Apps Such as MoneyLion

When building apps like MoneyLion, only the instant loan feature can fail to capture the interest of your intended users. To stand out from the competition, you must offer a variety of new features. Here are some features you can include in the Payday Advance Mobile Application.

Credit Monitoring

Credit monitoring is among the essential features in every cash advance application. The feature for monitoring credit allows users to create credit reports and credit scores, in addition to your credit score, history, credit accounts, and much more, all through one application on mobile. It also helps users stay on top of scams by receiving email notifications via push and push messages regarding new account openings and other information.

Financial Tracking

One of the main reasons that cash advance applications always attract the app’s users is that they need help keeping track of their money. You can assist them in tracking their expenses and provide tips that will allow them to cut down on their costs and save money every month. It is possible to introduce this as a premium service that helps you track the expenses of your customers and provide them with suggestions on how to reduce unnecessary expenditures.

Financial Education

One primary reason people need help with their finances is their level of illiteracy. You can provide financial education to premium users to assist them in acquiring information and lessons on managing money, budgeting, savings and investments, insurance, debt management, investment management, stock trading, and many more to improve their financial knowledge and reduce the unnecessary costs they incur.

Online Banking Services

Transactions can give them access to their bank details and the ability to manage their bank accounts. This will allow them to monitor their bank balance, check their transaction history, transfer amounts, generate online statements, and more. This can help them simplify their banking experience by using one application and efficiently managing their accounts.

Personal Loans

Alongside immediate loans, you can let users get personal loans via the mobile application. Including a personal loan section allows users to obtain loans to consolidate debt, pay for improvements to their homes, pay medical expenses, and other purposes. To include this feature in your mobile application, you must contact the mobile app development company in Canada, which can assist in delivering the correct algorithms for calculating the amount of interest charged, the period for repayment, the application process algorithm, and much more, leveraging their years of experience and knowledge.

Cashback Rewards

One of the tools that can help you attract your intended public’s attention is offering cashback rewards. Who doesn’t want an extra few dollars in their pocket, right? It is possible to hire app developers to help you create a brand-new feature that will offer cashback or other rewards to your active customers based on their transactions.

Credit Building

Some people have better or excellent credit scores that could hinder them in various situations, such as receiving an advance loan. This is why you could add a feature to your payday advance application to help them establish a credit score. Credit building can assist users in improving their credit scores and also getting loans directly from your app. You can provide them with valuable details and individual assistance to help them achieve an excellent credit score.

Personal Finance Tools

If you’re an expert, you can integrate third-party tools with your mobile app to provide the best possible service to the people you want to reach. Integrating third-party tools reduces the burden of managing resources for you and offers high-quality and interactive features with the most minor mistakes. Be sure to get Fintech app development services from the top app development firm to decrease the chance of failure.

When you plan to invest a specific amount of money into your fintech app concept, you must find a way to earn some cash back to assist you in enhancing the offerings of your cash-advance app concept.

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How to Develop a Money Lending App Like MoneyLion

Let’s examine the steps involved in money lending app development. Although it’s not easy, the result is worth it.

Get an Idea, Depict Uniqueness, and Understand the Requirements

Begin by determining what type of installment loans the loans mobile apps allow. This can help you narrow down the essential functions of your smartphone loan application. It will also allow you to look at your potential competitors in terms of application for money. To get a more detailed explanation, consider asking yourself questions like

• What is the primary objective of your money-lending application?
• What can you do to achieve this purpose of money apps?
• What makes your service and its name distinct from competitors?
• What are the necessary features to incorporate into loan applications for money?
• What can customers without the smallest commitment gain advantages of your product?
• What are the cost estimates of cash lending apps?

Understanding these can help you develop an idea for creating a flexible application for borrowing money for your company’s needs.

Register Your Business

Selecting exemplary service and registering as an organization is essential since it’s a financial structure. In this regard, you must adhere to all government regulations to ensure you do not violate the laws while seeking ways to create loan applications. For instance,

Your company’s name must be distinct and not copied or pasted.

The domain must be brief and able to represent you, such as Techugo.

After you have decided on your URL and followed the legal guidelines (you should engage a professional lawyer), the product is ready for construction.

Find an App Development Company

Finding a seasoned team of tech engineers and designers is an absolute requirement. You must choose the right partner who can master the process to ensure the project is prosperous and profit-oriented.

When looking for a mobile application development firm, the tech stack, portfolio, and references from past clients are all worth a look. Ensure that the business is skilled in offering UX/UI design services, as the apps for money lending must have an interactive design to provide an excellent user experience. Creating an MVP app to test whether your app is successful in the marketplace is possible.

Design & Develop

Once you’ve finished all the planning research, legal requirements, and legal procedures, now is the time to start doing some actual work by creating applications for your business. However, you’re working with an entire team of developers and designers; therefore, they’ll create everything from scratch, designing UX/UI, wireframing, programming and implementation, etc. It is essential to make it simple and operate according to the functionality and features provided. The unique approach of loans for money focuses on including demand-based services while developing an application.

Test

When your money lending app is complete, testing it before launching it is essential. Without this step, the application’s development is finished since it tests its functionality. To avoid all bugs and issues, make sure you are checking your software for loans.

The Quality Analyst team will utilize specialized software, and following the complete examination process, you will be assured of a bug-free application. Additionally, it is crucial to open it to consumers should any issue arise after the product has been released.

How Much Does It Cost To Develop Cash Advance Apps?

The type and complexity of the app, as well as the number of features, the UI/UX design, and other components, need to be identified in order to establish the exact cost for the best cash advance application. In a conversation with an Android app development company in Canada, you should be accurate and include the required information.

Developing cash advance apps like Moneylion costs around $15000 to $35000 USD. The level of complexity, features, and functions of the app, as well as the location and experience of developers that you choose to hire, the platform on which you wish for your application to be run, the device you use, the knowledge of the app development teams, and many other aspects, can influence the price.

If you require an estimate for your app’s development costs, contact an app development firm specializing in finance, such as Techugo, and supply them with your exact app development needs. Techugo can assist you in getting the estimate and will provide you with the best support for app development.

Factors Affecting the Overall Development Costs?

Remember that these estimates are only estimates. The actual development costs for an application are contingent upon its specific requirements and may change as you progress in the development process. We will look into what this might mean!

App Platform

The first app development platform you select—one of the two—iOS or Android—can result in a hugely expensive cost. Although Android is more popular, developing for both platforms often results in an additional cost. Some companies may choose Android initially due to its greater reach prior to considering iOS development for preferences or for the market.

User/UX Design

The design of the user/UX experience directly impacts the development cost; applications needing a number of iterations to provide a smooth user experience typically have higher development costs. The initial investment in well-designed interfaces may yield dividends in the future through improved customer engagement and loyalty to the brand.

App Development Team Size and Expertise

The size of your app development team and experience play a significant role in the total expense, and their total cost ultimately determines the final amount. Finding experts, full-time developers, and an iOS app development company in Canada with years of experience will save you money over the long term when contrasted with hiring freelancers; experienced developers with a successful track record in fintech application development will swiftly achieve the goals of your project while delivering the best profits.

App Maintenance & Updates

Regular maintenance and updates are essential to ensure that the application operates optimally, that bugs are resolved swiftly, and that security updates are released. However, the costs of ongoing updates to keep pace with technological advancements or market demands could quickly mount up, so estimating these costs is crucial to ensuring the longevity of your app.

Select an App Development Agency

The costs for development vary greatly based on where you locate the development agencies you contract with. Outsourcing development services to countries such as Asia or Africa with lower hourly rates than those within North America or Britain may help manage budgetary pressures and meet objectives cost-efficiently. When outsourcing development services, you should assess each firm carefully for its expertise, communication capabilities, and cultural compatibility before outsourcing the services.

Technology Stack

The cost of developing your app depends significantly on the technology stack. Programming frameworks, languages, tools, and more modern technologies like AI and machine learning could significantly impact the cost. Though AI/ML technology like speech recognition and AI offer exciting capabilities, they could significantly increase the cost of development. Be sure to consider all of this in relation to your budget and determine the best solution for your development time and cost while delivering all functions.

Features and Functionalities

Features can significantly impact development costs. Apps that are merely functional are more likely to have lower costs than those that offer budgeting tools, financial information, or investing alternatives. While adding additional options adds value and draws users, you must know how to reduce development costs by selecting the most essential features specific to your intended user.

How Can Cash Advance Apps Like MoneyLion Generate Revenue? 

Even though cash advance apps like MoneyLion have significantly changed the economic landscape, some are uncertain about the sources of their income. A study from 2023 found that more than 60% of the cash advance app’s income is derived from Premium features or services that are subscription-based rather than interest alone.

While your primary revenue source could be through selling advertising products, it’s essential to consider other strategies:

Interest and Fees

Cash advance apps generally make their main revenue stream by charging interest on advanced funds, usually with higher APRs than traditional payday loans, characterized by high APRs. However, apps for cash advances can charge fees associated with the origination of loans, late payments, or account maintenance, which must be included in revenue calculation.

Subscription Models

Certain cash advance applications use different tiered subscription models. Customers who pay annual or monthly subscription fees gain benefits such as speedier loan processing, more significant borrowing limits, and exclusive educational and financial tools, which provide businesses with a cash source.

In-App Advertising

Implementing carefully targeted in-app advertisements based on users’ financial needs into apps can bring in additional revenues without affecting the user experience or disrupting the flow of users—thus generating greater profits without affecting the flow of users. Businesses can earn profits while improving everyone’s user experience.

Affiliate Partnerships

Cash advance apps frequently form partnerships with businesses and financial institutions to expand their options and diversify sources of income. Partnerships with these companies could enable apps to suggest the use of budgeting or credit card tools offered by these firms and to earn an income if customers join through the application.

Cross-Selling Financial Products

Cash advance apps offer businesses the chance to connect with an untapped market of consumers for additional financial products, such as credit cards, savings accounts, and insurance policies, through cross-selling them by using cash advance apps—commission on every sale made by cross-selling financial products using applications for cash advances.

Data Analysis and Insights

The anonymized data of user interactions that apps collect is of immense value for credit bureaus as well as financial institutions, providing cash advance applications a fantastic opportunity to generate extra income through the sale of insights that can help other companies enhance their risk assessment models or gain access to market data more precisely.

Late Payment Fees

While late payment charges may seem odd, they can help ensure timely repayment and create additional revenue for businesses if they are implemented responsibly and without affecting users’ trust.

Referral Programs

Referral programs are a cost-effective method of increasing the number of users who download apps and also monetizing them. Offering discounts or rewards in exchange for user referrals will encourage app expansion when more users sign up and use cash advances, providing additional revenue to businesses.

Premium Data Insights

Cash advance apps offer businesses and researchers deep analysis of user behavior and transactions with a cost-per-use analysis that is beneficial for understanding market trends, meeting customers’ financial needs, and making informed business decisions. High-quality data insights gathered through cash advance apps that track users’ financial transactions can be particularly beneficial.

Conclusion

Ultimately, designing apps like MoneyLion is a thrilling and fulfilling experience. We’ve looked at the crucial aspects, the technology stack, and the financial considerations necessary for a successful market launch. This requires a thorough understanding of financial regulations, a solid tech stack, and an enthusiastic team of experts.

As the need for easy-to-use financial services increases, Apps for mobile banking like MoneyLion could significantly impact how people manage their money. By paying attention to your users’ security, experience, and regulatory and compliance issues, you could develop a useful device that allows users to manage their financial well-being.

Get in touch with us today to start developing your innovative cash advance app and transform financial solutions!