Equities and ETFs, right inside the bank app

Executive summary

• Inside the bank’s app, a customer can now trade equities and ETFs, including the US stock market, run a portfolio, and plan goals.
• We built the module as a Flutter SDK embedded in the main app, and our middleware connects it to the provider’s external backend, which ties in the remaining integrations.
• The project is still running, and the first weeks after launch already showed brand-new customers starting to invest.

About the client

The client is a leading UAE bank, expanding its banking ecosystem with integrated wealth management and self-directed investing. The project runs under an NDA, so the bank’s name is not disclosed.

What happened and why it matters

A leading UAE bank wants to give customers self-directed stock investing right inside its mobile app. No separate app, no switching anywhere. The customer logs in where they always do, and in the same place they buy equities and ETFs, run a portfolio, and plan goals.

The hard part is reaching a broad base of customers, including people who have never held a brokerage account. So we keep the screens simple and put the module inside an app people already know. We take responsibility for the outcome itself: that a customer actually starts investing.

What we did

• We build the Wealth module as a Flutter SDK, embedded in the bank’s main app, with its own release cycle.
• Our middleware connects the module to one external provider backend (under NDA), which acts as the integration bus to the other systems.
• On our side, we do the whole thing: business analysis, UX/UI, the mobile app, and the backend, meaning the middleware.
• We design on the bank’s design system, so the module looks like part of the app.

Who was behind the project (team at peak)

• 4 Business Analysts
• 5 Mobile Developers (Flutter)
• 4 Backend Developers (middleware)
• QA Tester

The challenge of banking and investing in one app

We have to fit a full investing module into an app that keeps changing, and connect it to the market: quotes, orders, settlement. Our app talks to that world through one external provider backend, and that backend aggregates the other integrations. On top of that, the whole thing has to carry new markets, products, and regulatory requirements.

What we worked on

• A base for new markets, products, and regulatory requirements.
• Self-directed investing in equities and ETFs without leaving the bank’s app.
• Connecting the module to the provider’s external backend, which ties the rest of the integrations together.
• Screens simple enough that people with no experience can start too.

An embedded module and a layer that shields the app

The Wealth module runs as part of the bank’s app but keeps its own development and releases (Flutter SDK). Our middleware and API-orchestration layer connect it to one external provider backend, and that backend is the bus to quotes, orders, and the other services. We add new features on our side, without rebuilding the whole bank app.

What the end-user gets

• Self-directed investing. The customer searches US equities and ETFs, checks quotes, adds names to a watchlist, places orders, and reviews order history.
• Portfolio. One view of the investments: value, performance, allocation, holdings, transactions, orders, and the account’s cash balances.
• Investment goals. The customer sets a goal with an amount and a date, funds it once or on a schedule, and projections show whether they are on track.

Our approach

We run the project end to end on our side. Analysis, design, the mobile app, and the backend work closely together. Our analysts have become a true partner to the bank’s Product Owners, turning the vision into concrete requirements. The customer logs into the bank’s main app, and the Wealth module opens inside it.

New investors from day one

The results showed up right away. Two weeks after launch, 1,984 active, logged-in customers were using the module, twice as many as the bank’s previous investing app (which had around a thousand).

The interesting part: 751 of them had never invested before. A module inside an app customers already use got people going who probably would not have started on their own.

Results at a glance

• 1,984 active customers in two weeks, twice as many as before.
• 751 brand-new investors, about 38% of active users.
• In the first two weeks: 1,143 buys and 600 sells of equities and ETFs, plus 909 deposits and 601 withdrawals on investment accounts.

What it gives the bank

• Self-directed investing in the same app where the customer does their banking.
• New investors: the bank reaches people who had not invested before.
• A base to add new markets and products on

Next steps: a foundation that scales

The project is ongoing. New markets (international and local), products (e.g., cryptocurrencies), and features are added on our side through the same module and middleware. The app runs on the provider’s external backend, so development moves at the pace of that integration.