According to new Plaid research on customers’ use of financial applications, users are increasingly loading up their smartphones, mixing and matching to create their own version of’superapps.’ Banks and credit unions should take note — and incorporate some of the conclusions of the study into their own mobile products.
Fintech apps have become such an integral element of finance that they are no longer novel. In fact, according to Plaid, 13% of American consumers use six or more financial applications to manage their accounts. Another 34% utilize a range of three to five.
Banks must compete fiercely for screen space. Almost 79% of little over 2,000 customers use a fintech app, and nearly 37% consider themselves heavy fintech users. Plaid predicts that by the middle of 2024, one in every five users will be using six or more financial apps.
Payment applications are the most popular, with three-quarters of the 2023 sample using them. These data suggest two things at a time when conjecture about an American superapp is rife.
First, instead of waiting for someone to construct the ultimate financial bundle, customers are assembling their own from the digital buffet.
• Second, financial institutions must abandon the notion of apps as a “alternate channel.” According to the report, 56% of consumers rely on digital financial tools to deal with economic problems such as inflation. This figure is significantly higher among Millennials (71%) and Generation Z (65%). Apps have become a channel for many people.
What is the most important evolution? Fintech apps are more than just a way to conduct financial transactions. Consumers are increasingly turning to apps for financial education, including comprehension of existing and new opportunities, according to Plaid.
Plaid proposes action measures for fintech companies at the end of each brief chapter in the study. Most of these can simply be turned into a to-do list for banks and credit unions.
“With so many consumers having multifaceted goals, you can turn your app into a financial hub by addressing multiple needs,” as an example.