The following is a guest post by Hemanth Kumar Yamjala, Associate Manager in Digital Marketing at Cigniti Technologies.
Testing financial applications is the need of the hour given the spectre of cybercrime. It should comprise conducting various types of testing such as functional, performance, and security, besides understanding the integrated domains.
Why test?
One of the reasons why mobile-based transactions have become such a rage is their convenience in handling financial payments. Whether it is the paying of utility bills, doing online shopping, booking movie or airline tickets, or paying for the tickets in a concert, app-driven financial transactions are here to stay. At the core of such services are the financial applications. These applications store, manage, process, or analyze financial data and information. Since so much is underpinned on the successful functioning of these applications, financial application testing becomes critical.
A multi-tier financial application allows concurrent user sessions. As it is integrated with various APIs of third-party applications, regulatory websites, trading accounts, and payment gateways, there could be complex workflows and value chains that make testing imperative. As a greater number of customers are using financial applications for making transactions on the go, Fintech companies are looking to set up platforms that deliver seamless customer experiences.
Factors to consider while testing financial apps
Financial services testing should follow an end-to-end methodology to test various aspects such as business requirements and banking workflows, functional testing, security testing, data accuracy and integrity, concurrency, performance testing, and user experience.
- Business involvement
The test specialists should collaborate with the business analysts and other stakeholders to understand the business requirements of the application. The business requirements and deliverables ought to be analyzed by specialists testing financial applications, development leads, and business analysts to obtain optimal testing results.
- Domain understanding
Given the various domain interfaces of a financial application, the test specialists should understand and possess adequate knowledge about them, which could be about the type and scope of testing – UI, security, load, stress, or functionality or aspects like brokerage, working procedures, or banking, among others. The testers, by knowing the respective domains, can write better test cases and simulate user actions to obtain better test results.
- Impact analysis
It is about analyzing how the changes made to the application can impact other aspects of the application. This calls for a calibrated regression testing involving automation, which would enable the BFSI testing team to identify the affected areas of the application and get them fixed.
- Functional testing
This type of banking application testing exercise requires access to all source codes and architecture to identify and fix glitches and vulnerabilities. The typical test activities comprise preparation and review of test cases and their execution, including application testing, integration testing, regression testing, and user acceptance testing.
- Security testing
Usually financial application security testing is conducted at the end of both functional and non-functional testing. Apart from looking at the resident vulnerabilities and glitches, the testing should ensure the application adheres to the industry regulations related to security like PCI.
- Performance testing
As more people are using such applications, they need to be tested for load and stress thresholds. It will help make the application robust, scalable, and resilient thereby ensuring better load management.
Conclusion
As financial services are expanding into new territories and gaining new customers, the need to foster efficiency, security, and risk management become apparent. By embarking on a massive testing exercise, financial institutions can ensure the success of such applications and secure customers against any security breach.
Hemanth Kumar Yamjala has 10+ years of experience in IT Services, predominantly Marketing, Branding, specializing in Digital. Currently a part of the marketing for Cigniti Technologies with functions such as leveraging digital marketing channels for lead generation and promotion.