Hire Fintech developers pre-screened for technical and cultural fit

Due to the increasing consumer demand for accessible financial tools, the global adoption rate for fintech services has reached its highest point. Three out of four consumers have reported using a money transfer or fintech service, which is expected to rise. 

The global digital banking market value is estimated to reach $53.5 billion by 2030. To meet this demand, financial institutions are competing to hire vetted and experienced fintech developers to quickly establish themselves in an aggressively growing market.

Hiring the right fintech talent can be challenging, especially if an organization is unfamiliar with hiring software developers. However, with reliable data and expert assistance, organizations can source developers with the technical skills to create and maintain efficient fintech solutions.

Fintech Software Development Products

Fintech developers design, implement, and maintain both internal and customer-facing tools across the financial sector. The following are business-essential fintech apps that programmers can implement and manage for overall organizational success.

Banking Apps

Modern mobile banking apps demand a streamlined, secure, intuitive UX to attract customers and remain competitive with larger financial institutions. Across the industry, top banking apps include the following basic features:

• Mobile functionality allowing customers to execute key banking functions
• Strong encryption and security systems ensuring secure data transfer
• Integration capabilities allowing customers to safely transfer funds between institutions or individuals

Insurance Apps

Because consumer technology now plays a more pivotal role in the claims process, insurance apps require constant optimization from seasoned fintech experts. Fintech developers implement the following:

• Automated underwriting: This feature customizes pricing and risk selection, allowing customers to pick from a broader range of products.
• Up-to-date software and programming interfaces: Strong back-end programming helps organizations effectively incorporate third-party data and reporting tools.
• End-to-end insurance solutions: Processes such as claims management are constantly adjusting to the latest technological advancements.

Money Lending Apps

Fintech programmers assist in ideating and implementing new concepts in money lending fintech software. They will draw on their deep knowledge of Python, PHP, and other coding languages to build a lending app that streamlines the loan request process. These apps typically include features such as credit scores, loan application forms, billing, and more.

Peer-to-Peer Payment Apps

Fintech developers are vital for creating peer-to-peer payment apps like Venmo, Zelle, or CashApp. Also known as digital wallets, these apps let users send and receive money through an app by linking it to their bank account and credit cards. Because these apps don’t necessarily have the same protections as a traditional financial institution, security is paramount to success.

Trading and Investing Apps

Fintech developers also assist in creating trading and investing apps, providing easy access to investing platforms. These apps empower customers to invest in options, ETFs, and stocks while on the go. They can also buy and sell digital currencies like Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrency Apps

Fintech developers help develop e-wallets, websites, apps, and other necessities for cryptocurrency companies. They can also work with an established fintech development team to detect and mitigate tech issues and troubleshoot cryptocurrency transaction-related problems. Some types of cryptocurrency apps include:

• Crypto mining apps: These apps allow users to verify and add new transactions to the blockchain for a particular cryptocurrency.
• Crypto trading apps: Similar to traditional stock trades, trading app users speculate price movements, buy, and sell cryptocurrency.
• Crypto tracking apps: These trackers monitor cryptocurrencies' current value and analyze market trends.

Important Fintech Developer Skills to Consider

Once a hiring team establishes the need for a fintech developer, hiring managers need to develop a sound recruitment process. Before contacting and interviewing applicants, it's essential to define business requirements for the fintech product. These questions help pinpoint the type of developer needed in a project:

• What position(s) are being targeted?
• How many years of industry experience does a new hire need?
• How many fintech developers will be hired? How many of these are junior, mid-level, or senior developers?
• What is the hiring budget?

Beyond detailed responses to these questions, hiring teams must establish the necessary technical and soft skills required for the role.

Technical Skills

To determine the role’s required technical skills, identify the tech stack, or essential libraries, programming languages, specialized knowledge, and frameworks they’ll need to utilize. This knowledge mostly depends on specific development project requirements, though with proper forecasting, prerequisites may expand as a project’s scope grows. 

For instance, if an organization wants to create a cryptocurrency mining app, the candidate must thoroughly understand blockchain technology. If the goal is to eventually expand the application to include crypto tracking capability, knowledge of API integration is also needed. Establishing the need for either a front-end or back-end developer requires thorough product analysis and leadership foresight.

Front-end Developers in Fintech

Front-end developers are responsible for translating design into code to create a great user experience. To do their job well, front-end developers need to know the following skills:

• How to test apps and websites using different browsers and devices
• Search engine optimization (SEO) to boost organic traffic to a website
• Web performance optimization (WPO) to ensure faster loading times and seamless UI
• Various frameworks and libraries, such as ReactJS, AngularJS, Bootstrap, jQuery, and Ember
• Languages such as Python, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), and Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
• How to use version control systems to track changes made to code

Back-end Developers in Fintech

Back-end developers manage an app’s development that users can't see. The backend is crucial to app development, as the frontend won't work without it. Responsible for creating and maintaining servers, application programming interfaces (APIs), databases, core app logic, and more, back-end developers are expected to have a thorough knowledge of popular backend languages like PHP, Node.js, Java, and Scala. They should also know how to execute the following processes:

• Store data in databases such as MongoDB, MySQL, and PostgreSQL
• Use relational (SQL) and non-relational (NoSQL) databases
• Create servers and utilize machine learning to process user requests
• Create APIs
• Create and deploy data structures such as list functions and array operations as financial software solutions

Soft Skills

Based on the technical skills needed in front-end or back-end fintech development, hiring teams can establish required soft skills. Generally, all fintech professionals should have the following soft skills to be considered for the role:

• Communication skills: Candidates need strong communication skills when working as part of a team. Good communication skills will help build team morale and reduce the likelihood of conflict in project management.
• Problem-solving skills: Ideal fintech developers should be able to solve challenging problems effectively as they arise.
• Adaptability: Every software developer should be adaptable enough to handle unpredictable situations and expectations.
• Proactivity: Hire a fintech developer who acts without waiting for directions. Proactive team members can finish tasks faster and prevent issues before they occur.
• Time management: In a competitive industry, developers need to meet deadlines based on fintech project requirements. 
• Patience: Collaboration across workflows means fintech developers must be patient with project stakeholders.

How to Find a Fintech Software Developer

There are many ways to find and hire skilled fintech engineers who can integrate into an established company or startup. Depending on an organization’s hiring priorities, there are several methods to source and locate fintech talent. These include:

• Tech job boards: Because of the specific skill required in the fintech industry, using dedicated technical job boards provides an easy method to ensure candidates meet baseline requirements while excluding non-technical applicants.
• Recruiting firms: If an organization’s hiring priority is speed, most recruitment firms have a tech recruitment strategy, including sourcing, vetting, and interviewing, making it a popular option among well-established companies with more resources.
• Outsourcing: An increasingly popular option in software development, outsourcing allows companies to hire overseas talent at a lower cost but potentially sacrifice communication and quality control when compared to an in-house team.
• Freelancers: Hiring freelancers and consultants is a valid option for startups due to project-by-project flexibility, though less popular and cost-effective for long-term assignments.
• Talent acquisition platforms: With long-term workforce planning in mind, companies like Revelo connect businesses to an established pool of vetted applicants who best fit their specific organizational needs.

10 Steps to Hire Fintech Developers

Methodically approaching the hiring process allows hiring teams to establish a timeline, quantify effectiveness, and create a template to simplify future talent acquisition efforts. The following steps will help you navigate the entire fintech hiring process.

1. Define Tech Project Requirements

Before beginning recruitment efforts, hiring teams and associated leadership need a holistic understanding of singular or ongoing project requirements. If, for example, client-facing features and app appearance are paramount, the primary focus should be front-end development. Establishing baseline requirements increases hiring efficiency and decreases the chances of a mis-hire later in the process, saving organizations time and money.

2. Create a Job Description

A comprehensive job description, including educational requirements, level of expertise, responsibilities, benefits, and expected compensation, provides insight into an organization and creates expectations for the role. Approach the description from an advertisement perspective—top candidates are experienced and know what they want in a role, so a strong description needs to be appealing and informative.

3. List the Job Posting

Platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed maintain massive numbers of users, but if reach isn’t vital to a recruiting strategy, consider also posting the open fintech developer position on more tech-specific platforms, such as Dice, Blind, or Built In. While hiring teams receive a higher volume of applications on general job boards, targeting platforms may connect recruiters to talent more suited to a specific role.

4. Review Resumes and Schedule Interviews

Regardless of the volume of applicants, developing a process to review resumes saves time and resources, though the volume may inform how to approach it. If hundreds of applications are submitted, use tools like text-skimming software to provide keyword analysis for resumes, portfolios, and cover letters. 

When an appropriate number of resumes remain, it’s vital to establish an individual or team to read these documents and gain applicant insight. While automated systems provide much-needed initial labor, appropriate leadership needs to review applications and create a shortlist of top candidates.

5. Assess Technical Skills

At this stage, requisite technical skills have been established through defining project requirements and creating a job description. Testing candidates’ technical aptitude provides a strategic, legally-sound method to work through a shortlist. When designing the assessment, include current developer responsibilities in addition to potential future skills that may be needed as the development team grows or project direction changes.

6. Assess Soft Skills and Cultural Fit

Though soft skills are more broadly understood than specific technical fintech skills, take the time to develop thorough benchmarks for mandated soft skills and cultural competencies. Despite having vast technical knowledge, strong applicants who don’t mesh with their peers or a company’s culture will underperform. High-validity assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Gallup Test provide relevant personality insight, but it’s vital to directly interact with candidates before making an offer. 

7. Check References

Reviewing references allows hiring teams to vet candidates based on past interactions with high-level professionals and their peers. When checking references, develop a standardized line of questioning to ensure that a fintech developer’s core competencies are discussed in detail. While it’s unlikely that a reference will cite an applicant’s conduct issues or soft skill shortcomings, devote some time to explore these topics, corroborating that the soft skill assessment results match an applicant’s past behavior. 

8. Make an Offer

Before contacting the chosen candidate, notify other shortlisted applicants who don’t meet the criteria for employment. An organization’s top choice may decline the offer, so it’s vital that hiring teams keep three to five top candidates in the recruiting funnel until the top choice officially accepts the offer.  

Based on the organizational budget and long-term talent acquisition plan, offer employment to the top fintech developer applicant consistent with the compensation range mentioned in the job description. Allow the applicant an appropriate amount of time to review and accept the offer before contacting the other candidates.

9. Onboarding and Team Integration

Once a fintech developer accepts the offer and is officially employed, provide them with the necessary IT and human resources information and begin onboarding. Based on the size of an established team, the onboarding strategy may include a traditional orientation or a more individualized approach. Generally, team leadership should introduce the new employee to relevant team members, establish daily expectations, and provide the employee with the resources to succeed in the role.

10.   Engagement and Retention

As a fintech developer becomes more accustomed to their role, deploy engagement and retention strategies to both develop their skills and promote a strong organizational culture. Aside from compensation, continued education, regular communication, and deliberate resource management help developers gain autonomy in their role, ultimately boosting engagement.

Hire Fintech Developers With Revelo

Securing top fintech developers is often integral for startups and industry leaders to succeed in the financial services industry. While other software engineers assist in creating and implementing associated software, specialized fintech developers provide the expertise and technical skill needed to elevate applications and carve out space in a competitive market.

At Revelo, we provide organizations at all levels with access to a talented pool of pre-vetted Latin American developers. Additionally, we manage payroll, benefits administration, taxes, and local compliance for ongoing employee support throughout their tenure, allowing you to focus on core business functions.

Contact us to begin hiring fintech developers for your upcoming projects.