Find out how your finance app ranks against the best performers in the industry

Adjust and Apptopia provide an overview of mobile finance in the Mobile Finance Report 2020.

Mobile finance is quickly establishing itself as an integral part of everyone’s daily lives, whether that’s in advanced economies—where mobile apps provide an unparalleled ease of use—or in emerging markets—where mobile finance is bringing banking services to people historically out of reach of the banking industry.

Super apps remain one of the most disruptive forces in the financial sector. In 2020, it is predicted that over 1 billion people would be using mobile payments, and it is increasingly apparent that the future of finance lies in mobile. In Asia Pacific, there is increasing scope for new businesses and services to find their niche as more markets adapt to mobile financing.

Whilst other markets are only just catching on to the ‘super-app’ strategy, the region leads the way with apps such as WeChat in China, KakaoTalk in South Korea, and Zalo in Vietnam, attracting millions of users as they bring banking services to people previously out of reach. Payment apps such as Samsung Pay and Paytm in India and Rakuten Pay, PayPay, and LINE pay in Japan are also contributing to a huge shift in the uptake in mobile banking.

As with any fast-growing sector, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest developments. Which regions are growing the fastest? What is the industry’s trajectory for growth and how has the global pandemic affected consumer behaviour?

As mobile finance takes up an ever-more central part of everyone’s daily lives, understanding the benchmarks and trends from within this fast-growing vertical is more vital than ever. In order to answer these questions and more, Adjust has partnered with app Intelligence platform Apptopia to create the Mobile Finance Report 2020.

Download your free copy of the Mobile Finance Report 2020 from Adjust and Apptopia

Adjust’s latest report highlights app finance industry trends in Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Russia, Turkey, the United States, and Ukraine, offering an essential overview of the world of mobile finance and an insight into where it’s heading.

Activity in investment apps is booming
The global pandemic has led to an unprecedented shift in global economic patterns, and apps offered by trading platforms such as Acorns, Gatsby, and Stash are democratising investing by making it easier and more accessible. This has led to a surge in activity for investment apps, which saw an 88% growth in average sessions per day from January to June 2020.

When it comes to payment apps, sessions increased by 49% between H1 2019 to H1 2020 across the countries in our survey. The most impressive growth rates were seen in Japan (75%), Germany (45%), Turkey (39%), the US (33%), and the UK (29%).

Sessions for banking and payment apps combined increased 26% on average across the countries in our survey. While all countries saw an uptick in sessions, standout markets by growth rates were Japan (142%), Germany (40%), Turkey (31%), and the US (27%).

Challenges in mobile financing
However, the continued growth of mobile finance presents numerous challenges, especially as the market becomes more crowded and customers are able to choose the apps that provide the most streamlined services.

As traditional banks close branches across the developed world and take more of their services online, banking and payment apps must make sure their users stay loyal once they have downloaded the app. Churn can be reduced by making sure that their users’ journeys are as simple and easy as possible.

As payment and banking apps continue to attract users, one key challenge faced by payment apps will be to make sure their services match their customers’ needs.

A few years ago, people mostly used their phones for basic financial tasks like checking their bank balance or making a transaction. Nowadays, anyone could manage their entire financial life exclusively from their phones. Increasing app stickiness through product development has been a big focus for many banking apps, and it’s really exciting to see just how much the sector has developed recently.

Super-apps continue to shake up the market
Super-apps remain one of the top trends in mobile. Asia gave rise to the super-app via big names such as WeChat and KakaoTalk, but other regions are now catching on with Revolut,for example, pursuing a ‘super-app’ strategy.

Whilst the continued growth of banking and payment apps will continue to provide opportunities in developing markets to meet the demands of traditionally unbanked customers, COVID-19 has also accelerated the adoption rate for payment apps in advanced economies where uptake has been comparatively low.

Japan especially seems to be moving toward the international norm of mobile finance uptake for advanced economies—meaning there is plenty of scope for the right app in the right niche. The number of sessions within payment apps in H1 has increased 75% against H1 2019. Furthermore, time spent in finance apps is up by 85% from December 2019 to March 2020.

For more insights like these, download your copy of the Mobile Finance Report 2020 today.