The programming language is still being upgraded regularly, and Java engineers are gaining more and more experience with the use of technology for financial solutions.

Why are FinTech companies using Java?

First of all, the financial sector needs standards and stability. Java has been around for years, and its star never fades. The language is among the top 5 most popular technologies according to the most recent Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2019 with more than 41% of developers working with this programming language.

Although the competition is getting stronger, and many other programming solutions can serve to build financial apps and platforms, Java is still considered the standard.

Java has kept its role as a leading corporate programming language for more than 20 years. Its presence is especially strong among financial services providers. For banks and insurance companies, security and scalability are the essential features. These companies are processing big, sensitive data daily.

Fraud-proof security features

They need to be a step ahead of the criminals trying to breach their security systems, as well as provide top availability rates, and the ultimate user experience as the market is very competitive.

Java is made for both big data processing and security. It has a wide range of built-in security features, runtime constraints as well as an advanced security manager.

One significant advantage Java has over its rival technologies is that it’s able to work on any device. Java operates in a virtual environment that can be launched anywhere, and the same code can be used. Java applications can be quickly moved from device to device.

Java is fully portable. Since the language works on a virtual machine JVM, that can be installed on any device, notwithstanding the operating system, the Java environment for your application can be launched not only on any smartphone or laptop but also on any other machine. It works independently of your operating system. JVM also supports other programming languages e.g. Scala, Kotlin or Groovy.

Java is also the most common technology for building native Android apps – the dominant mobile app platform – which makes it very useful for developing mobile applications.

Well-tested technology solutions

Another reason for Java’s popularity is tradition. Banks and insurance companies have long used Java for building their internal systems. The programming language is well structured, allows excellent data processing, and provides in-built safety features which are great for digitising both traditional banking and FinTech startups.

Long tradition means Java is well-tested in finance-related uses. There are also many engineers that worked all around the market on different systems. They know the requirements, culture, and all the reality behind Java.

In some companies, Java is legacy software.

The long tradition of Java app development for finance results in a wide range of libraries and ready-to-use solutions for personal finance features, credit card integrations, and other vital features.

Best programming languages

The biggest competition to Java in Fintech is Python and C# (utilising .NET and related frameworks). However, it’s not easy to find people that can use these languages in finance.

Many FinTech companies cooperate with big systems and financial institutions that have a long tradition of Java.

Java is multithreaded, which means two or more threads can run concurrently. Multitasking is advantageous in financial technology.

Java has been used for projects with high-level dependability for a long time. The community of Java engineers and the technology itself has improved over this time and built a competitive advantage over different solutions that make it very unlikely for Java to lose its dominating position in the finance industry. Java product development teams are able to deliver the highest security standards.

How do our Java development teams work?

Our Fintech Java teams include not only developers but also business analysts, architects, designers, and quality assurance engineers.

The first step is the scoping session where we recognise the project stakeholders and their needs. We arrange the goals in a hierarchy that helps us adjust priority to each planned task and determine the workflow.

Both a business analyst and a software architect are an integral part of our FinTech Java development teams. This gives our clients a guarantee that everyone is on the same page and understands, how the end product should work and what problems of the end users it should solve.

At Future Processing we work using Agile methodology. Contrary to the waterfall approach, we don’t consider building software as a linear process where the team goes from point A to point B. Instead, we run iterations in every product development stage.

The idea is to release a working functional MVP (a minimum viable product) that will perform the most necessary actions. Such an MVP can be handed directly to the testers and end-users. The goal is to get the first feedback as soon as possible. This methodology adjusts faster, and the product we build fits better to the needs of the stakeholders.

Transparency and free flow of knowledge within the team are one of Future Processing’s core values. We want the product’s documentation to be created based on conversation, not by a single specialist sitting alone in front of a computer screen. Our clients can get in touch with each member of the team working for them directly using a chosen messaging system. We also know that a face-to-face meeting can move things forward. That is why, in the early stages of more complex projects, we arrange direct meetings as necessary and regular video calls with each member of the team.

Our highly skilled Java development teams have done dozens of projects for numerous industries. We have delivered several advanced products for clients from all over the world, working practically for every type of client: from small FinTech start-ups, through scale-ups, to the biggest banks and insurance companies.

We have experience with Java technology that ranges from preparing applications for publishing companies, solutions for transportation, through working on projects for the insurance industry, international real-time money transfer systems, risk management solutions, to using Java in delivering entertainment solutions or products based on blockchain technology.

We work using, among others, the following tools and technologies: Spring Framework, Spring Boot, Apache Camel, Apache Spark, Groovy, Spock, Gradle, Docker, Hadoop, Kafka, Microsoft Azure, or Amazon AWS.

All of the above-mentioned provide functionality on a par with innovative design and solid architecture.

Why are so many companies looking for FinTech software development companies?

FinTech is probably the hottest business sector, globally. The world of finance has finally matured enough to embrace the newest and most disrupting technologies. At the same time, the new generations of users are already used to perform all their most important activities on mobile FinTech apps.

The upside for every FinTech venture is enormous and creates huge brain drain among the specialists and engineers working with the most wanted technologies. This is one of the biggest challenges for the FinTech industry.

Since it is almost impossible to recruit Java (or Python) developers or designers directly to your start-up, FinTech is turning to software development companies, whose core business is to recruit and educate the best talent.

Finally, only software development agencies offer quick scalability of the engineering team. When needed, you can double or even triple the size of your team in just a few days. This is crucial taking into consideration the cost of world-class software developers with experience in finance-related projects as well as the dynamic process of modern product development, which requires a different scale of resources on each stage.