What’s New In The Mobile Finance Space In 2021?

What’s New In The Mobile Finance Space In 2021?

This article is part of MoEngage’s data-backed insights series. We analyze anonymized consumer engagement data using AI and ML methodologies to generate insights that help you drive growth. Follow us if you want to receive notifications when we publish data-driven stories, research articles, and more.

With over 4.3 billion downloads of Finance apps in less than a year and 46% of banking users increasing mobile app usage, the Mobile Finance industry has been on an upward growth trajectory since the COVID-19 pandemic.

With banks accelerating digital transformation, new fintech players entering the market, and a renewed interest from users to improve their financial outcomes, the adoption of Mobile Finance was witnessed across different regions.

Here is a quick rundown of the State of Mobile Finance as captured in our latest report, co-authored by Apptopia.

In Quarter 4 of 2020, downloads of Finance apps hit a record high with a 15.2% year-on-year growth, as can be seen in the image below:

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While mobile app downloads on the Google Play Store were higher than Apple’s App Store, we observed that user retention was higher on iOS devices.

During the same quarter, the number of app sessions for Finance apps saw a year-on-year growth rate of 20%.

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Key trends observed in the Mobile Finance space

One of the key trends we talk about in this report is countries with an established banking infrastructure witnessing less time spent on mobile apps. We believe the reason behind this can be users carrying out most of their Banking and Finance activities on a desktop or by visiting their local branch.

At the same time, we observed that mobile apps in markets with a developing banking infrastructure saw an increase in the session duration. The primary reason for this reverse trend is the increasing availability of financial literacy in these markets, resulting in users spending more time interacting and learning on mobile apps.

With cryptocurrency trading providing the same thrill and dopamine rush as gambling, mobile trading apps accounted for 35% of the time spent on Finance apps during the pandemic year.

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We observed that fintech brands are growing at a faster rate than traditional banks, with brands like Starling Bank, Revolut, and Monzo tapping into markets that are ready for new ways of banking. With more than 90 million millennials stepping into their “prime spending years”, we believe this trend to continue.

Digital-first markets such as South Korea, China, and Japan have witnessed more app sessions and longer session durations on fintech apps than in other regions.

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Japan led the charts for growth in the number of Finance app sessions, reporting a 55% growth, followed by South Korea at 35%, and China and the United States at 20%. In continental Europe, countries such as Italy and Germany have observed growth rates of around 15%, whereas adoption of Mobile Finance apps has been conservative in France and Spain.

Successful growth strategies from Mobile Finance brands

1. Referral programs and pre-launch promotion

Boasting more than 13 million active users, with 3 million onboarded in just the first four months of 2020, no story about the growth of Mobile Finance can be complete without mentioning Robinhood. 

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The key driver of user growth for Robinhood was the brilliantly curated referral program. Users who joined Robinhood’s waitlist were offered the opportunity to jump several spots ahead in the queue by inviting a friend to join. The more people a user referred, the faster they moved up the waitlist. A simple ‘cutting the queue’ mechanism acted as a beneficial growth lever.

2. Incentive programs and UX optimization

The American fintech brand Acorns had a CAC of $4.50 in Australia. Acorns tapped into social sharing by providing strong incentives and building a seamless process of referring users.

Specific steps that Acorns took to boost user growth:

  • Offering an incentive of $5 per new referral, Acorns deposited the incentive in the referrer’s Acorns account as soon as it was set up. 
  • While a referral program is an after-thought for many brands, Acorns perfected the process thanks to multiple repeated tweaks in the experience. 

With the rapid adoption of mobile finance, it is critical for financial organizations to consider these emerging trends while charting their future strategies. The focus for brands in this space ought to be on changing user preferences rather than sticking to tactics that might have worked in the past.

You can download the entire report here. Powered by insights from leading finance brands like Visa, Kredivo (FinAccel), Robinhood, Current, Razorpay, and Lulu Financial Holdings Ltd among others, this report features benchmarks coupled with emerging trends driving the growth of the Mobile Finance space.

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What's Next?

Did you know that global consumers want more personalization from brands? They’re even willing to share their data with consumer brands in return for better and relevant experiences?

Read about this and more in our next issue where we will discuss findings from our Personalization Pulse Check Report, 2021!

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