Brief:

• Fintech became the fastest-growing app category in the U.S. last year as consumers adopted mobile-based finance, per a study that AppsFlyer shared with Mobile Marketer. The fintech vertical was the quickest to grow among the top 10 categories in the country, lifting 53% in the second half of last year from 2017.
• Digital banking apps boosted their marketing the most in the U.S., as reflected in the 100% jump in marketing-driven installs during the second half of 2019 from a year earlier. The increase exceeded the 60% surge for investment apps.
• Digital banking apps also were used most often by U.S. mobile users, with an open rate of 5.9 times in the 30 days after installing it, ahead of the open rate of 4.1 times for financial services apps and 3.4 times for investment apps, per AppsFlyer.

Insight:

AppsFlyer's data from last year indicate that fintech app developers including banks and financial services companies boosted their marketing budgets. About half of finance app installs were non-organic, suggesting marketers had increased spending on user acquisition to stay competitive.

Financial services provided the best user experience among fintech apps, as indicated by the 50% of users who complete their registration process in the app — higher than the 37% rate among all finance apps. The higher rate indicates that consumers download financial services apps for immediate use, such as paying a bill or sending money. Registration is typically a lengthy process for fintech apps, making it a vital part of longer-term regular adoption for financial services, banks and investment firms.

Apple users tend to stick with investment apps the longest, showing a month-long retention that was four times higher than for Android users. However, digital banking and financial services apps have better retention among Android users, according to AppsFlyer.

Fintech apps weren't immune to ad fraud, as seen in the 30% install fraud rate observed by AppsFlyer, which recommends that mobile marketers be mindful of possible nefarious activity. At 5%, the U.S. posted the lowest fraud rate among countries studied, a finding that AppsFlyer considered encouraging.