Global digitalization, the development of artificial intelligence tools, and changing regulatory requirements have led to numerous transformations in the banking sector. Users are constantly striving to get a better user experience, so banks are forced to look for new methods to guarantee the smooth and uninterrupted operation of their software. One of the solutions is to involve new approaches to testing that would guarantee the release of effective and reliable applications and programs without compromising quality.
In this article, we will discuss the latest trends in quality assurance in the financial industry and identify their strengths that can contribute to improving software quality.
9 Key Trends You Should Keep in Mind
Changing business requirements and user needs are driving banking QA innovation. Below, you will find the top trends that have quickly become must-haves.
1. Using AI Technologies
Modern quality assurance teams are using AI tools to quickly detect errors, improve platform security, and increase test coverage. Artificial intelligence is able to analyze large data sets and identify patterns that humans may miss. Due to its features, it becomes an indispensable assistant in the process of testing banking software, which requires detailed analysis and minimizing even the smallest errors.
2. Strict Compliance with Regulatory Requirements
The banking sector is one of the areas that requires strict adherence to regulatory standards. If a company avoids meeting the current legislative framework, it risks losing its reputation or receiving a fine that will entail large-scale losses. Given the seriousness of the implications, testing teams must verify compliance with the regulatory landscape and take into account its variability.
3. Involvement of Automation Tools
Manual testing is no longer able to evaluate complex banking applications and programs. It delays the release, allows gaps, and requires a lot of work on the team. The solution may be partial or complete process automation. It is able to perform repetitive tests, help meet deadlines, and invest in identifying potential pitfalls at an early stage. As a result, you can get higher-quality and more reliable software with minimal time investment.
4. Adapting the Testing Approach to Using New Programs and Providing Services
Modern software should not only work flawlessly but also withstand high loads and easily integrate with other programs. Therefore, quality assurance engineers should devote time to performance testing along with integration testing to ensure stable information exchange. The banking domain has many interaction channels, each of which should be evaluated.
5. Incorporating Security Testing into Every Stage of the Product Lifecycle
Conducting security testing at the final stages cannot guarantee sufficient protection for the large amounts of confidential information stored by a bank. Therefore, it should be implemented throughout the entire SDLC to comply with standards and prevent threats. Teams can resort to testing authentication flows and data encryption, as well as penetration tests.
6. Compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR, regulates the processing of user data and requires banks to strictly follow its standards. Testers should check how the bank receives the data, for how long it is stored, and how easily the user or service can access it. In addition, compliance with the regulation contributes to increased security, and has a positive impact on user trust.
7. Ensuring the Quality of Bank Card Usage
Regardless of what purpose users look for, they should be able to use bank cards without any obstacles. The process should be free of delays and errors, and ensure stable interaction even during peak load. The task of engineers is to test different scenarios of interaction with payment gateways and optimize them as necessary.
8. Using Advanced Analytics in Real-Time
As banks process more and more data, they need to adjust their testing strategies and find new solutions to speed up the process. They can use AI-based analytics and continuous monitoring to create a proactive approach to problem-solving. Teams can focus on areas with higher risk and then move on to lower-risk ones to ensure that critical functions are up and running first.
9. Payment Services Directive (PSD2) Compliance
One of the modern trends accompanying the industry is open banking. It involves third-party services accessing their users’ information for the purpose of performing payment transactions or verifying their identity. To ensure security during every interaction, engineers can check the implementation of multi-factor authentication and encryption to guarantee that user data is securely protected when integrating with other systems.
To summarize, following trends in banking quality assurance has several benefits. They improve user experience and meet various business requirements, along with increasing the productivity of testing teams and the growth of the banking industry.
