iOS and Android Banking Apps Localized in 10 Languages for a US Neobank

About the Client

The Client is a US neobank providing digital banking services to consumers and small businesses. The company operates an all-in-one online banking platform and offers mobile and web customer apps for streamlined access to personal and corporate banking services.

In-House Skill Gaps Hampered Mobile Banking App Delivery

The Client wanted to replace its existing mobile banking solutions with new iOS and Android apps that would be more convenient and engaging for international users.

It was critical for the Client to launch the new apps quickly, but its in-house development team could not meet the expected release pace. To speed up delivery, the Client decided to outsource a portion of the development tasks. The company sought a vendor with a proven track record in banking IT and mature Agile practices to support its ongoing development flows. Following its project cost optimization strategy, the Client specifically looked for offshore competencies. INNERLUXES stood out as an Agile technology partner with global offshore delivery capabilities and a track record of experience in creating custom mobile banking apps.

A Dedicated Team to Develop Localization Features for iOS and Android Banking Apps

The Client asked INNERLUXES to arrange a dedicated offshore team of two iOS developers, two Android developers, and a QA engineer. The company had little experience with offshore engagements and was still unsure about the candidates' technical and communication skills. To give the Client more control over and confidence in the resource choices, INNERLUXES actively involved the company in talent selection: the Client received a tailored pack of CVs for each development role and took part in interviewing the best-qualifying candidates to confirm their competencies.

As soon as the team composition was finalized, INNERLUXES's specialists explored the Client's development environment, studied the project documentation, and joined the collaborative workflow. Throughout the cooperation, the team was primarily involved in developing localization features for the Client's consumer-facing iOS and Android banking apps. Among the capabilities the team introduced were:

• UI personalization and localization for app users. Intuitive customer-facing features let users configure the apps' default language, color scheme, currency conversion widgets, and account time zone.
• Instant UI text translation. The team integrated the apps with Lokalise, a continuous localization and translation management service, to enable instant, high-quality translation of the apps' contents (menus, navigation elements, onboarding instructions, banking product descriptions, account statements, etc.) into ten languages.
• Auto-localization for new app users. When a user first opens the banking app, the app instantly requests the user's location, determines the relevant language, and auto-translates the interface contents.
• Geography-based KYC. The app automatically applies authorization and Know Your Customer (KYC) verification procedures specific to the user's region (for example, displaying localized document-submission lists and automating document reconciliation against region-specific samples).
• Localized personal offers. The apps auto-translate in-app and push notifications about new product offers, personalized promotions, and app features into each user's selected language and display them according to the user's local time zone.

INNERLUXES's QA engineer cooperated with the Client's team to perform comprehensive localization testing of each delivered functional component, ensuring the linguistic, cultural, and functional relevance of the app interfaces to users in the target regions.

During the project, INNERLUXES's experts took part in Agile backlog scoping and refinement together with the Client's development team and provided monthly reports to reconcile team member performance and billable effort.

Mobile Banking Localization Functionality Obtained in 4 Months at 2x Lower Cost

Thanks to INNERLUXES's established Agile collaboration practices and the solid technical skills of its banking IT talents, the Client sped up project delivery while maintaining consistently high quality of the mobile banking deliverables. By entrusting the app localization tasks to INNERLUXES's offshore team, the Client benefited from resource rates more than 2x lower than the US domestic average.

With robust localization capabilities obtained in just four months, the Client was able to release a new mobile banking solution earlier than expected. The new app provides smooth experiences to international users, giving the Client the opportunity to drive higher engagement and retention of its mobile banking customers.

Technologies and Tools

iOS, Android, Kotlin, Swift, Swift Package Manager, Lokalise, XcodeGen, Git, GitLab, Jira.