2020 is the Year of Fintech Apps As Economic Uncertainty Reigns, Says New Report from Liftoff and App Annie

Joint report showcases fintech app momentum in comparison to more traditional banking apps

Liftoff, the leader in mobile app marketing and retargeting, released its second annual Mobile Finance Apps Report in partnership with mobile data and analytics platform App Annie. Globally, consumers accessed finance apps over one trillion times in 2019 and that trend is only likely to continue this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic spurs widespread economic uncertainty. This year’s report provides crucial insight into mobile finance app engagement, from the type and cost of activity across apps to geographic differences in consumer usage habits.

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This latest report analyzed 22 billion ad impressions across 382 million clicks, 7 million app installs, and 5 million first-time events in 117 apps for the full calendar year 2019 to find the following:

Users flock to fintech apps as money management becomes key during financial uncertainty

In 2019, mobile money management saw massive uptake as conversion costs dropped by over 76% and registration rates rose by more than 71%. The self-reliant nature of contemporary fintech apps has taken precedence over legacy banking apps, and this trend is likely to continue with the current economic climate. In the last year, fintech apps like Mint have seen a 20% increase in monthly active users — 5% more than for top banking apps — while counting one more wallet app session per user per week, or 52 more per year than their traditional counterparts.

“With the global impact and financial uncertainty around COVID-19, money management is key,” commented Liftoff CEO and co-founder Mark Ellis. “In the coming year, finance app marketers should consider incentivizing users with campaigns that offer support in uncertain times; resources like tutorials and webinars could help acquire and retain users looking to take control of their finances.”

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Apps make financial planning accessible, but are users still intimidated?

While registrations are up more than 70% year-over-year, Liftoff’s data still suggests hesitation at the point of activation, such as making a first investment. The average user registration was completed within 14 minutes of install, but install-to-activation rose to 11 hours and 35 minutes — an increase of more than 1,000% over last year.

While apps make financial planning more approachable, activation still seems to intimidate many users. Marketers may want to explore offering tips to make the process easier for deeper engagement.

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In just one year, APAC overtakes North America as leader in finance app engagement

At $1.95, the cost to acquire a user in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region is 99% more expensive than North America (NA) and 160% more expensive than EMEA. This is a surprising shift from last year, when NA led in cost by 12x. Even so, APAC’s deep-funnel engagement shows promise: at 46.2%, activation rates are 16% higher than NA, with a nearly 65% lower cost to activate.

Marketers may want to take the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of what is sure to be a burgeoning finance app economy in APAC, taking advantage of low activation costs and high engagement while they last.

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