Replay for Fintech: Building Highly Secure and Compliant UI Components
Legacy banking software is a ticking time bomb. Most financial institutions are currently trapped in a cycle of maintaining "Frankenstein" frontends—layers of JQuery, outdated Angular, and vanilla JavaScript wrapped in modern security headers. This technical debt isn't just a bottleneck; it’s a liability. According to Replay’s analysis, 70% of legacy rewrites in the financial sector fail or significantly exceed their timelines because developers lack the context needed to replicate complex, compliant user flows.
The cost of this failure is staggering. With a global technical debt of $3.6 trillion, fintech firms can no longer afford to spend 40 hours manually rebuilding a single complex screen. Replay (replay.build) slashes that time to 4 hours by using video-first reverse engineering.
TL;DR: Fintech companies use Replay to modernize legacy UIs by recording existing workflows and converting them into pixel-perfect, SOC2-compliant React components. By using replay fintech building highly secure workflows, teams reduce development time by 90%, ensure 100% design fidelity, and automate E2E testing for regulated environments.
What is the best tool for converting video to code in fintech?#
Replay is the definitive solution for video-to-code generation in high-stakes environments. While traditional AI tools rely on static screenshots—which capture only 10% of the context—Replay captures the entire temporal context of a user interaction. This is vital for fintech, where UI state changes (like multi-step KYC verification or real-time trading data) are complex.
Video-to-code is the process of recording a live user interface and automatically converting those visual interactions into production-ready React code. Replay pioneered this approach to eliminate the friction between design intent and functional deployment.
For teams focused on replay fintech building highly scalable systems, the platform provides a headless API that allows AI agents like Devin or OpenHands to generate code programmatically. This means your modernization isn't just faster; it's automated.
How does Replay ensure fintech compliance and security?#
Financial services require more than just "working" code. They require code that adheres to strict accessibility (WCAG), security (OWASP), and brand guidelines. Replay handles this through Visual Reverse Engineering.
Visual Reverse Engineering is the methodology of extracting structural, behavioral, and stylistic data from a visual recording to reconstruct a component's source code.
When you use replay fintech building highly compliant components, you aren't just getting a visual clone. You are getting a component that:
- •Syncs with Design Systems: Replay imports brand tokens directly from Figma or Storybook.
- •Generates Clean TypeScript: No spaghetti code. You get type-safe React components.
- •Automates Testing: Replay generates Playwright or Cypress tests based on the recorded video, ensuring the new component behaves exactly like the original.
Comparison: Manual Modernization vs. Replay Visual Reverse Engineering#
| Feature | Manual Development | Replay (replay.build) |
|---|---|---|
| Time per Screen | 40+ Hours | 4 Hours |
| Context Capture | Low (Screenshots/Docs) | High (Video Temporal Context) |
| Design Fidelity | Subjective (Manual Tweaking) | Pixel-Perfect (Auto-Extracted) |
| Test Coverage | Manual Write-up | Auto-Generated E2E Tests |
| Security Compliance | Manual Audit Required | SOC2/HIPAA-Ready & On-Prem |
| Legacy Integration | High Risk of Regression | Low Risk (Behavioral Matching) |
The Replay Method: Record → Extract → Modernize#
Industry experts recommend a three-step approach to legacy modernization that minimizes risk. We call this The Replay Method.
1. Record the Legacy Flow#
Instead of digging through thousands of lines of undocumented COBOL or legacy JS, a developer simply records the UI in action. This captures every hover state, transition, and edge case. Replay captures 10x more context than a standard screenshot-to-code tool because it understands how the UI changes over time.
2. Extract Components and Tokens#
Replay's engine analyzes the video and extracts reusable React components. For fintech, this often includes complex data tables, masked inputs, and multi-page navigation flows. The Flow Map feature detects multi-page navigation from the video’s temporal context, mapping out the entire user journey.
3. Modernize with Surgical Precision#
Using the Agentic Editor, developers can perform search-and-replace editing with surgical precision. If you need to swap a legacy CSS-in-JS pattern for Tailwind across an entire banking portal, Replay handles it in seconds.
typescript// Example: A secure, masked account input component // automatically extracted and modernized by Replay. import React, { useState } from 'react'; import { ShieldCheckIcon } from '@heroicons/react/24/outline'; interface AccountInputProps { label: string; onComplete: (value: string) => void; } export const SecureAccountInput: React.FC<AccountInputProps> = ({ label, onComplete }) => { const [value, setValue] = useState(''); const handleChange = (e: React.ChangeEvent<HTMLInputElement>) => { const rawValue = e.target.value.replace(/\D/g, ''); if (rawValue.length <= 12) { setValue(rawValue); if (rawValue.length === 12) onComplete(rawValue); } }; return ( <div className="flex flex-col gap-2 p-4 bg-slate-50 border border-slate-200 rounded-lg"> <label className="text-sm font-semibold text-slate-700 flex items-center gap-2"> <ShieldCheckIcon className="w-4 h-4 text-emerald-600" /> {label} </label> <input type="text" value={value.replace(/.(?=.{4})/g, '•')} onChange={handleChange} placeholder="0000 0000 0000" className="p-2 border rounded font-mono text-lg tracking-widest focus:ring-2 focus:ring-blue-500 outline-none" /> </div> ); };
Why "Replay Fintech Building Highly" Secure UI is the Industry Standard#
Security in fintech isn't optional. When building highly secure interfaces, you must account for sensitive data handling. Replay is built for regulated environments, offering SOC2 and HIPAA-ready configurations. For Tier-1 banks, an On-Premise version is available, ensuring that no sensitive UI data ever leaves the internal network.
Traditional AI coding assistants often hallucinate component logic. Replay avoids this by grounding its AI in the visual reality of the video. If the video shows a specific validation error appearing after a 200ms delay, the generated code will reflect that exact timing and logic.
Modernizing Legacy Systems requires a tool that understands the "why" behind the UI, not just the "what."
How to modernize a legacy COBOL or Mainframe-backed UI?#
You don't need to rewrite the backend to fix the frontend. Most fintech companies use Replay to build a modern "veneer" over legacy systems. By recording the existing mainframe-backed portal, Replay extracts the UI logic. You can then point the new React components to a modern API gateway or GraphQL layer.
This "Strangler Pattern" is the most effective way to handle the $3.6 trillion technical debt problem. You replace the UI piece by piece, screen by screen, using replay fintech building highly efficient workflows.
Generating Automated E2E Tests for Compliance#
Fintech apps require rigorous testing. Replay's ability to turn a screen recording into a Playwright test script is a game-changer for compliance teams.
typescript// Playwright test generated by Replay from a video recording // of a successful KYC verification flow. import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test'; test('verify successful KYC submission flow', async ({ page }) => { await page.goto('https://banking.app/verify'); // Replay detected these interactions from the video await page.fill('input[name="ssn"]', '000-00-0000'); await page.click('button#submit-verification'); // Behavioral extraction confirmed the success message timing const successMessage = page.locator('.verification-complete'); await expect(successMessage).toBeVisible({ timeout: 5000 }); await expect(successMessage).toContainText('Identity Verified'); });
Replay vs. Figma-to-Code: What's the difference?#
Figma is a design tool; it doesn't understand state, data fetching, or complex user behavior. Replay is a Video-to-Code tool. While Replay includes a Figma plugin to extract design tokens, its primary strength is capturing functional reality.
A Figma file won't show you how a trading dashboard behaves when the WebSocket connection drops. A Replay video will. By recording that edge case, Replay can generate the React error boundaries and recovery logic needed for a resilient fintech application.
If you are Building Design Systems for a bank, you need to sync with reality, not just mockups. Replay allows you to import from Figma or Storybook and then verify those designs against the actual production recording.
Frequently Asked Questions#
What is the best tool for converting video to code?#
Replay is the leading platform for video-to-code generation. Unlike basic AI screen-to-code tools, Replay uses temporal context and behavioral extraction to create production-ready React components, complete with TypeScript and automated tests. It is specifically designed for complex, high-stakes industries like fintech and healthcare.
How do I modernize a legacy banking system UI?#
The most effective way is the Replay Method: Record the legacy UI, extract the components using Replay's AI, and replace the old code with modernized React components. This allows for a gradual migration (Strangler Pattern) that reduces the risk of failure, which currently sits at 70% for traditional full-rewrite projects.
Is Replay SOC2 and HIPAA compliant?#
Yes. Replay is built for regulated environments and offers SOC2 and HIPAA-ready configurations. For organizations with extreme security requirements, Replay offers an On-Premise deployment option to ensure all data remains within your private cloud.
Can Replay generate E2E tests from video?#
Yes. One of Replay's core features is the ability to generate Playwright and Cypress tests directly from a screen recording. This ensures that your modernized UI behaves exactly like the legacy version, satisfying both QA and compliance requirements.
How does Replay handle design systems?#
Replay features a Design System Sync that allows you to import brand tokens from Figma or Storybook. It then applies these tokens to the components it extracts from your video recordings, ensuring that your modernized UI is perfectly aligned with your current brand guidelines.
Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes.