Acceptance Criteria Template: Notion for Fintech
Fintech acceptance criteria must verify financial accuracy to the cent, regulatory compliance to the clause, and error handling that never silently loses money. Standard acceptance criteria templates are insufficient because they do not account for the regulatory and financial precision requirements unique to fintech.
This Notion template provides fintech-specific acceptance criteria patterns with linked compliance databases.
Template sections
5 sections covering the complete acceptance criteria workflow.
Transaction Accuracy Validation
Every story involving financial calculations must include acceptance criteria specifying decimal precision, rounding method, currency handling, and reconciliation. Use a Notion database linking each financial story to its accuracy requirements. A rounding error that seems trivial on one transaction becomes material across millions of transactions.
AC: Balance calculated at 8 decimal places, displayed at 2. Rounding: banker rounding (round half to even). All amounts stored as integer cents in the database. Multi-currency: amounts stored with ISO 4217 currency code, conversion rates from ECB feed updated hourly. Reconciliation: daily automated check that all accounts sum to zero. Any discrepancy > $0.01 triggers immediate ops alert.
Tips
- Create a Notion database of financial accuracy requirements linked to stories
- Specify rounding method explicitly - different rules produce different results at scale
- Test with boundary amounts: $0.005, $0.015, maximum transaction limit, and zero
- Include reconciliation as an acceptance criterion, not a separate ops task
Regulatory Compliance Checks
Map each acceptance criterion to specific regulatory requirements using Notion relations. This creates an audit trail showing how each feature satisfies regulatory obligations. Include KYC verification levels, AML screening results, PCI-DSS data handling, and state-specific requirements as explicit criteria.
AC: New user registration completes KYC Level 1 (name, DOB, SSN last 4, address). Identity verified against at least 2 independent databases. OFAC SDN list checked before account activation. High-risk country screening applied per company AML policy. All verification results stored with timestamp and source. Failed verification: account created in restricted state, user prompted to submit additional documentation.
Tips
- Use Notion relations to link AC to specific regulation clauses in a compliance database
- Include both positive (verification passes) and negative (verification fails) criteria
- Specify the verification data sources and minimum match requirements
- Document the restricted account state and user communication for failed verification
Financial Error Handling
Financial errors require acceptance criteria that specify exact user communication, system behavior, and recovery procedures. Unlike standard software where retry-on-error is acceptable, financial errors may require human intervention, regulatory notification, or explicit user consent before retry. Specify each error scenario as a separate criterion.
AC for payment processing errors: Declined card: show decline reason (insufficient funds, card expired, do not honor), offer alternative payment method, do not retry without user action. Network timeout: mark transaction as pending, do not charge user, resolve within 4 hours, send status notification. Duplicate detection: if same amount to same recipient within 5 minutes, prompt confirmation. Partial authorization: reject (do not accept partial), show full amount required.
Tips
- List every error scenario as a separate acceptance criterion with specific behavior
- Never accept partial authorizations in consumer fintech - it confuses users
- Specify timeout resolution SLAs as acceptance criteria
- Include notification requirements for pending and failed transactions
Security and Fraud Prevention
Fintech acceptance criteria must include fraud detection and prevention measures. Specify rate limiting, velocity checks, device fingerprinting, and behavioral anomaly detection as criteria on stories that involve money movement, account creation, or sensitive data access. These are not optional security enhancements; they are regulatory expectations.
AC: Transfer rate limit: maximum 5 transfers per hour per user. Velocity check: daily transfer total exceeding $10,000 triggers enhanced verification. New device: first transaction on a new device requires SMS verification. Geographic anomaly: transaction from a new country requires email confirmation. All fraud checks logged with decision rationale for regulatory review.
Tips
- Include rate limiting and velocity checks as acceptance criteria, not post-launch enhancements
- Specify device verification requirements for new devices and locations
- Log fraud detection decisions with rationale for regulatory review
- Test fraud rules with both legitimate and fraudulent transaction patterns
Data Retention and Privacy
Fintech products must comply with data retention requirements that vary by regulation. Include data retention, deletion, and portability as acceptance criteria. CCPA requires deletion on request. GLBA requires 5-year retention for financial records. These can conflict, and your acceptance criteria must specify which applies.
AC: Transaction records retained for 5 years per GLBA. User deletion request (CCPA): delete PII (name, email, phone) but retain transaction records with anonymized user reference. Data export on user request: provide transaction history, account statements, and tax documents in machine-readable format within 30 days. Deleted data purged from all backups within 90 days.
Tips
- Specify retention periods per data type based on applicable regulations
- Document the conflict resolution between retention requirements and deletion requests
- Include data export format and delivery timeline in acceptance criteria
- Test that deleted data is actually removed from backups within the specified window
Copy-paste template
# Acceptance Criteria — Fintech (Notion) ## Functional - [ ] [Standard functional AC] ## Financial Accuracy - [ ] Decimal precision: [calc] / [display] - [ ] Rounding: [method] - [ ] Currency handling: [approach] - [ ] Reconciliation: [frequency and threshold] ## Regulatory - [ ] [Regulation]: [Specific clause and requirement] - [ ] Audit logging: [fields and retention] ## Error Handling - [ ] [Error scenario]: [User message, system behavior, recovery] ## Security - [ ] Rate limiting: [limits] - [ ] Fraud detection: [checks] - [ ] Device verification: [requirements]
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