User Story Template: Linear for Fintech
Fintech user stories carry regulatory weight that standard templates ignore. A story that changes how money moves, how accounts are created, or how balances are displayed must include compliance acceptance criteria alongside functional requirements. Missing a regulatory criterion can result in enforcement action, not just a bug report.
This Linear template embeds fintech compliance, transaction accuracy, and audit requirements into the user story format.
Template sections
5 sections covering the complete user story workflow.
Regulatory Acceptance Criteria
Every fintech story touching financial data, user accounts, or transactions must include acceptance criteria mapped to specific regulations. PCI-DSS for card data, KYC/AML for account onboarding, SOX for financial reporting, and state money transmitter requirements for payments. Use Linear labels to classify stories by regulatory scope so compliance reviews are targeted, not blanket.
Story: As a user, I want to link my bank account for ACH transfers. AC: Plaid integration for account verification (no manual entry of routing numbers). KYC verification completed before first transfer enabled. AML screening against OFAC SDN list before account activation. Audit log: account link event with timestamp, user ID, verification method, and Plaid session ID. Regulatory scope: BSA/AML, NACHA rules.
Tips
- Create Linear labels for regulatory scope: PCI-DSS, KYC/AML, SOX, MTL
- Map each regulatory AC to a specific regulation clause for audit traceability
- Include audit logging requirements as acceptance criteria on every financial story
- Require compliance team review for any story with a regulatory label
Transaction Accuracy Requirements
Financial transaction stories require precision that other software does not. Specify decimal precision (typically 2 for display, 4-8 for calculations), rounding rules (banker rounding for fairness), currency handling (ISO 4217 codes, not symbols), and reconciliation requirements. A 1-cent rounding error across millions of transactions becomes a material financial discrepancy.
Story: As a user, I want to see my account balance update in real-time after a transfer. AC: balance calculated at 8 decimal places, displayed at 2. Rounding: banker rounding (round half to even). Currency: stored as integer cents (avoid floating point). Reconciliation: balance update event triggers ledger entry, daily reconciliation job validates all accounts balance to zero sum. Discrepancy alert: any account with more than $0.01 difference triggers ops notification.
Tips
- Specify decimal precision for calculation vs display explicitly
- Use integer arithmetic (cents) to avoid floating-point errors
- Include reconciliation requirements as AC on every transaction story
- Add discrepancy detection and alerting as acceptance criteria
Error Handling with Financial Context
Financial errors need different handling than standard software errors. A failed transaction cannot be silently retried without user consent. An incorrect balance display is a regulatory issue, not just a UX bug. Specify error handling for every financial operation: what the user sees, what gets logged, whether retry is automatic or manual, and what notification is sent.
Story: As a user, I want to send money to another user. Error handling: insufficient funds (show exact shortfall amount, do not retry), recipient account closed (show message, no retry, notify sender), network timeout (do not retry automatically, show "transfer pending" status, resolve within 4 hours), duplicate detection (hash of amount+recipient+timestamp within 5-minute window, prompt "Did you mean to send twice?").
Tips
- Never silently retry financial transactions - always get explicit user consent
- Show specific error amounts (shortfall, limit exceeded by how much) not generic messages
- Include duplicate transaction detection with configurable time windows
- Specify SLAs for resolving pending/indeterminate transaction states
Data Privacy and Access Controls
Fintech stories must specify who can access what financial data. Different from standard RBAC because financial data has regulatory access restrictions: only authorized personnel can view transaction details, and every access must be logged. Stories must define access policies alongside functional requirements.
Story: As a support agent, I want to view a customer transaction history to resolve disputes. AC: support agent sees transaction amount, date, status, and merchant name. Does NOT see: full card number (last 4 only), bank account number (masked), or SSN. Every access logged with agent ID, customer ID, timestamp, and business justification. Session auto-expires after 15 minutes of inactivity. Access requires active support ticket linked to the customer.
Tips
- Define data visibility per role as acceptance criteria on every data display story
- Include access logging as a required AC, not an optional enhancement
- Specify session timeout and re-authentication requirements for sensitive data views
- Require business justification (support ticket) for customer data access
Linear Workflow for Fintech Stories
Configure Linear workflow states to include compliance review gates. Standard Linear flow (Backlog -> In Progress -> Done) is insufficient for regulated work. Add Compliance Review as a workflow state for stories with regulatory labels. Stories cannot move to Done without compliance sign-off recorded as a Linear comment with specific approval language.
Linear workflow: Backlog -> In Progress -> Code Review -> Compliance Review -> QA -> Done. Compliance Review trigger: any story with PCI-DSS, KYC/AML, or SOX label. Compliance reviewer assigned from rotating roster. SLA: 48-hour review turnaround. Approval format: "Compliance approved. Regulatory scope: [list]. Reviewed by: [name]. Date: [date]." Rejection returns story to In Progress with findings as Linear comment.
Tips
- Add Compliance Review as a Linear workflow state between code review and QA
- Trigger compliance review automatically based on regulatory scope labels
- Define a standard approval comment format for audit traceability
- Track compliance review turnaround time and adjust roster if SLA is breached
Copy-paste template
# User Story — Fintech (Linear) **As a** [user/merchant/admin] **I want to** [action] **So that** [benefit with financial context] ## Acceptance Criteria - [ ] [Functional criterion] - [ ] [Regulatory criterion with clause reference] - [ ] [Transaction accuracy requirement] - [ ] [Error handling with financial context] - [ ] [Audit logging requirement] ## Regulatory Scope - [ ] PCI-DSS: [Applicable clauses] - [ ] KYC/AML: [Requirements] - [ ] SOX: [Controls] - [ ] State MTL: [States affected] ## Compliance Review - Reviewer: [Assigned from roster] - SLA: 48 hours
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