Short answer
A digital wallet app lets users hold a balance, send money, pay merchants by QR or card, and track spending. Infikey builds wallet apps on licensed partner rails with KYC, a double-entry ledger, fraud limits and PCI-aware card handling. A wallet MVP typically costs USD 35,000–70,000.
Updated · Written by the Infikey Technologies delivery team
Types of wallet we build
- Closed-loop wallets: balance usable only with one business, such as a retailer, cafe chain, campus or gaming platform. Fewest regulatory requirements.
- Semi-closed or prepaid wallets: usable at many merchants. In India these are Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) under RBI rules; in the UAE they are Stored Value Facilities under CBUAE; in the UK they are e-money under FCA rules.
- Pass-through wallets: no stored balance; the app links bank accounts or cards and initiates payments, for example through UPI in India or Open Banking payment initiation in the UK.
- Crypto-asset wallets: custody or non-custodial wallets. We only take these on where the client holds the relevant VASP or crypto registration.
The type you choose decides the licence, the KYC level and the limits your app must enforce, so we confirm it with your compliance adviser before design starts.
Core features of a wallet app
| Area | Features |
|---|---|
| Onboarding | Mobile OTP, tiered KYC (minimum and full), document and liveness checks, device binding |
| Money in | Bank transfer, UPI collect, debit card top-up, payment links, salary or payout credit |
| Money out | P2P transfers, merchant QR payments, bill payments, withdraw to bank |
| Cards | Virtual and physical prepaid cards issued through a card-issuing partner, freeze and limits |
| Engagement | Cashback, rewards, referral bonuses, spending insights, split bills |
| Security | PIN and biometrics, transaction limits, velocity checks, suspicious activity alerts |
| Back office | Ledger, reconciliation, dispute handling, customer support console, regulatory reports |
Compliance and licensing by market
| Market | Common route | Software requirements |
|---|---|---|
| India | RBI PPI licence or partner with a PPI issuer or bank; UPI via a PSP bank | Full-KYC and small-PPI limits, interoperability for full-KYC PPIs, payment data stored in India, card tokenisation |
| UAE | CBUAE Stored Value Facilities licence or partner; DFSA/FSRA in free zones | Emirates ID and UAE Pass onboarding, AML screening, wallet limits, local data handling |
| UK | FCA EMI authorisation or agent of an EMI | Safeguarding of client funds, Strong Customer Authentication, Consumer Duty journeys |
| US | Sponsor bank and BaaS provider, or state money transmitter licences | BSA/AML monitoring, Reg E error resolution, OFAC screening |
We build the controls; the licence holder (you or your partner) owns the regulatory relationship.
Plan your wallet app
Share the wallet type, market and any partners you have. We reply with a licensing-aware scope and budget range.
Wallet app development cost
| Scope | Budget (USD) | Budget (INR) |
|---|---|---|
| Closed-loop wallet inside an existing app | 12,000–30,000 | 10–25 lakh |
| Wallet MVP: KYC, top-up, P2P, QR pay, admin and ledger | 35,000–70,000 | 30–55 lakh |
| Full payments app: cards, bill pay, rewards, multi-partner | 70,000–150,000 | 55 lakh–1.25 crore |
Partner certification (bank, UPI or card issuer) runs on the partner’s schedule, so we start it early. For a quick estimate, try the app development cost calculator.
Technology choices
- Mobile: Flutter or React Native for one codebase on iOS and Android, with native modules for biometrics and secure storage. Not sure which? See Flutter vs React Native.
- Backend: Laravel or NestJS, PostgreSQL with a double-entry ledger, Redis for limits and rate controls, queues for payment callbacks.
- Security: certificate pinning, root and jailbreak detection, encrypted local storage, server-side limit checks, KMS-managed keys.
- Operations: real-time monitoring of failed payments, daily reconciliation and an alert channel for fraud spikes.
Project blueprint
Closed-loop wallet and rewards app for a retail chain
Based on the requirements we hear most often from buyers like this.
A retail chain with stores in several cities wants customers to load money, pay at the till by QR and earn rewards, so it can cut card fees on repeat purchases and understand shopping behaviour across stores.
What we would build
- iOS and Android wallet app with top-up by UPI, cards and net banking
- Double-entry ledger with daily reconciliation against the payment gateway
- QR payment at the till, integrated with the store POS
- Rewards engine for cashback, tiers and campaign rules
- Admin console for limits, refunds, fraud alerts and customer support
How success is measured
- Share of store revenue paid through the wallet
- Repeat purchase rate of wallet users against other customers
- Card and gateway fees saved per month
- Ledger reconciliation breaks per month (target: zero)