UAE Fintech Mobile Application - Case Study

Bilingual Fintech Mobile Application for Investing in Real Estate

The company and product

Our client has an inspiring mission of allowing new users from all over the world to make micro-investments in the UAE real estate scene.

In less than three months, Monterail designed and delivered a mobile application with versions in both English and Arabic for iOS and Android.

The application allows verified users to browse properties, see estimated return calculations, and manage their portfolios. An admin dashboard allows our partner to manage users and properties safely, and every step was taken following local cybersecurity and compliance laws.

Client’s feedback

No Name

Founder and CEO of Fintech Startup in Dubai

Positive impact on the business

Overall, the journey with Monterail has been very good. I believe we worked on a quality MVP that will have a positive impact on the business. Communication was also very good, with no delays.

The Challenge

Before working with Monterail, our client had a website ready with all the basic functionality where users could choose properties and perform micro-investments.

They believed it was time to launch a mobile version in order to provide a more user-friendly and convenient experience.

The application should allow users to browse properties and instantly see a breakdown of expected ROI. And, similar to the website, it had to be bilingual (English and Arabic) and follow strict financial and cybersecurity guidelines to be compliant with regulators.

A Monterail representative got in touch and soon they met in Dubai, which helped answer questions about the potential partnership. This was especially important for them as they had bad experiences with suppliers that didn’t deliver as requested.

Key challenges of the project included:

Tight deadlines to deliver a successful MVP
Complex business logic following local guidelines
Bilingual application with different designs for each language

The Process

The client came to us with precise requirements and the user journey mapped out, which allowed us to kickstart right away. And, since other teams had already worked with similar MVPs and the Arabic language before, so team members could trade technical and practical tips from the get-go.

We chose Flutter as a trusted frontend technology to build Android and iOS versions. Its rich widgets library with Material Design support helped us save time and deliver faster since we could focus on business logic instead of creating UI elements from scratch.

On the backend, we chose Node.js as it offers many ready-made libraries and frameworks and also elegant Content Management Systems, speeding up the whole project building and implementation. It proved to be a good choice for an MVP, allowing for a faster time-to-market.

We combined Node.js with an open-source data platform (Directus) to power up the admin panel, where all user and financial information is managed.

Other integrations helped ensure a smooth and safe verification process. Checking identifies is done automatically with the Identomat KYC (Know Your Customer) solution; phone number verification is safer with one-time password codes generated by SMSala; and banking data verification is hassle-free, as all data such as bank and branch is filled automatically when users add the IBAN number (done with IBANAPI).

Having a bilingual application was a must and that can be a challenge, so we needed a stack and processes to make it happen effortlessly.

For one, the two languages have different displays: English is LTR (Left to Right) and Arabic is RTL (Right to Left). This heavily impacts design, from text to progress bars and even the choice of icons. From early on, our designers ensured a smooth experience no matter the language.

Additionally, the translation is not always one-to-one. For example, the words “first” and “second” in English have different translations in Arabic depending on gender. To help address this, we used neutral forms as much as possible.

Flutter handled most of the edge cases well. We also streamlined the process by using a third-party translation integration tool (Loco). In practice, it allowed stakeholders to translate text directly on the application instead of resorting to the usual spreadsheets, which can be cumbersome.
The communication followed standard Agile practices to ensure our partner was always in the loop. They participated actively in our daily development updates and weekly demo meetings.

This is how we made it happen:

Partner was involved and always kept in the loopSmart and scalable tech stack with
Flutter and Node.js
Leveraged previous expertise in bilingual applications

What our people say

Iván Piña López

PROJECT MANAGER

Smooth and rewarding collaboration

It was a very smooth and rewarding collaboration. Working on the Arabic adaptation was straightforward and following local cybersecurity guidelines is something we are used to doing.

The Outcome

Together, we crafted a fully-fledged mobile application in just under twelve weeks.

Users can browse properties, simulate investments, and manage their investor dashboards in both English and Arabic. As soon as payment is verified, it’s updated on the app. What’s more, most sensitive content is only available after their account has been verified.

This MVP allows our partner to increase their user base by making the process of investment hassle-free. Additionally, the application’s architecture ensures it’s easy to test and deploy new functionalities.

The success of this project hinged on the following factors:

Constant and transparent communication
Choosing a tech stack ideal for an MVP
Delivering user-friendly and bilingual application