The financial industry is facing some serious roadblocks. Legacy systems slow things down, IT teams overload, and compliance rules change. Financial institutions must move fast, but traditional app development takes too long and costs too much.
At the same time, customers expect smooth mobile banking, faster loan approvals, and secure transactions. However, most financial institutions struggle to keep up because of limited IT resources and long development cycles.
How do banks, insurance companies, and fintech firms move faster without breaking the bank?
Enter citizen development for financial services.
With no-code and low-code platforms, financial professionals without coding experience can build apps, automate workflows, and ensure compliance without waiting months for IT to do it. Instead of relying on expensive software development teams, compliance officers, risk managers, and loan processors can create their digital solutions in days.
This article explains citizen development, why it's a game changer for banks and financial firms, and how companies use it to get ahead.
The current challenges in financial services
The financial sector is dealing with some tough challenges that make innovation difficult.
1. Slow digital transformation
Many financial institutions rely on legacy IT systems that are expensive and complicated to upgrade. Because of this, many organizations struggle to launch new digital services quickly. This slows down digital transformation in finance and makes it difficult to compete with more agile fintech players.
2. IT backlogs and bottlenecks
IT teams in finance companies are constantly overwhelmed. Security and compliance requirements mean that every new app or workflow needs IT approval, slowing things down. Business teams often wait months for new tools they need right away. This is one of the reasons why low-code in financial services is gaining rapid momentum.
3. Strict compliance and regulatory demands
Regulatory requirements constantly change, making it challenging for financial firms to stay compliant. Most institutions depend entirely on IT teams to implement compliance solutions, which can take months. Citizen developers in financial industry roles can help close this gap by building apps that respond quickly to new compliance needs.
4. High costs of custom development
Custom software development is expensive and time-consuming. Hiring developers, building infrastructure, and maintaining apps add significant costs. Financial institutions need a more cost-effective way to build digital solutions, which is why no-code for banking has become a strong alternative.
Financial services need a better way to innovate quickly, reduce IT workload, and adapt to regulatory changes. Citizen development is the answer.
What is citizen development in financial services?
Citizen development allows non-technical finance employees, such as compliance officers, risk managers, and loan processors, to build business apps and automate workflows without depending on IT. This concept is at the core of citizen development for financial services.
Think of it like Excel for app development.
Before spreadsheets, finance professionals had to rely on IT teams to generate reports and calculations. But Excel gave them the power to do it themselves without needing a developer.
Citizen development does the same thing but for building apps. With easy-to-use, drag-and-drop no-code and low-code platforms, financial teams can create:
- Loan approval workflows
- Customer onboarding apps
- Compliance dashboards
- Fraud detection tools
And they can do all this without writing a single line of code.
Key benefits of citizen development in financial institutions
Financial companies that adopt citizen development are seeing significant advantages. Here’s why they’re making the shift:
1. Faster digital transformation
Business users can create their apps in days or weeks instead of waiting months for IT to build a solution. This accelerates digital transformation in finance, helping institutions stay competitive.
2. Reducing the IT backlog
Citizen development frees IT teams to focus on security, infrastructure, and complex projects while business users independently handle workflow automation. This collaboration model is one of the reasons why low-code in financial services is being widely adopted.
3. Better compliance and risk management
Compliance teams can quickly build reporting tools to track regulatory changes, reducing manual errors and penalties. With citizen developers in financial industry teams, institutions can ensure faster compliance alignment.
4. Lower costs
Building apps with no-code and low-code tools is significantly cheaper than traditional development. No-code for banking eliminates the need for large development teams for everyday tools and workflows.
5. Driving innovation
Employees working directly with financial processes understand their pain better than anyone. With no-code tools, they can create solutions instantly instead of waiting on IT. This empowers a new wave of citizen development for financial services.
Real-world use cases of citizen development in financial services
Financial companies are already using citizen development to solve real problems. Here are some examples:
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Use case
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How citizen development helps
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Loan approval automation
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A bank used a no-code platform to create an approval workflow, reducing loan processing time from weeks to hours.
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Customer onboarding and KYC compliance
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Compliance teams built a document verification tool, cutting manual errors and speeding up onboarding.
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Fraud detection and risk management
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Risk analysts designed a dashboard to flag suspicious transactions in real-time without waiting for IT.
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Regulatory reporting automation
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Finance teams automated report generation, eliminating the need for manual spreadsheets.
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Claims processing in insurance
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Insurance teams developed a claims approval workflow, reducing paperwork bottlenecks.
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These are just a few examples of how citizen development for financial services makes finance faster, more secure, and more cost-effective.
Best practices for implementing citizen development in finance
For financial organizations to successfully implement citizen development, they need a clear strategy. Here’s how to do it right:
- Set up governance and IT oversight: IT should establish guidelines to ensure security and compliance while allowing business users to innovate.
- Identify the right citizen developers: Train compliance officers, operations managers, and finance teams to use no-code tools effectively.
- Provide structured training: Workshops and learning resources help employees understand best practices and avoid mistakes.
- Align with IT strategy: Citizen development should work with IT, not replace it. A strong partnership ensures security and scalability.
- Monitor and measure performance: Track adoption, application success rates, and compliance to continuously improve citizen development efforts.
How Kissflow enables citizen development for financial services
Kissflow provides a secure, easy-to-use platform for financial institutions looking to embrace citizen development for financial services.
Why financial firms choose Kissflow
- No-code simplicity: Business users can create applications without coding skills, supporting no-code for banking use cases.
- Built-in compliance and security: Aligns with financial regulations and data protection laws.
- Easy IT collaboration: IT teams can oversee and manage citizen-developed apps.
- AI-powered automation: Speeds up financial workflows and eliminates manual work.
- Enterprise-grade scalability: Handles high-volume financial transactions and automation, making it ideal for low-code in financial services.
Financial firms that use Kissflow can cut costs, reduce IT bottlenecks, and build solutions faster without sacrificing security.
The financial industry is changing fast
The financial industry is changing fast, and companies that can’t keep up will be left behind. Citizen development is helping banks, fintech companies, and insurance firms move faster, automate smarter, and stay compliant, all without overloading IT teams or burning through budgets.
