- Sub-Saharan Africa saw impressive growth, with installs in Nigeria climbing 160 per cent, up 100 per cent Kenya and rising by 52 per cent in South Africa
- Digital banking installs went up 45 per cent, while traditional banks gain 22 per cent in 2021.
The Covid-19 pandemic increased demand for financial technology as people shifted to digital transactions to avert the further spread of the virus through banknotes.
The State of Finance App Marketing report by AppsFlyer, a global marketing measurement firm shows the number of Fintech App downloads globally increased by a whopping 132 per cent in the past two years.
Sub-Saharan Africa saw impressive growth, with installs in Nigeria climbing 160 per cent, up 100 per cent Kenya and rising by 52 per cent in South Africa.
In most countries, Kenya included announced a waiver on fees for virtual transactions in the first year of the pandemic.
Commenting on the growth of finance apps across Africa, Daniel Junowicz, Strategic Projects lead for AppsFlyer said the pandemic rapidly accelerated the adoption of financial technology globally and in emerging markets which helped millions of consumers and businesses remain connected.
''This trend is likely to continue and understanding how to best market their apps will be key to African businesses standing out from the crowd and growing their customer base,'' Janowicz.
He added that with this year heading for a record with total spend globally, reaching no less than $1.2 billion in Q1 alone, combining different types of marketing activities in addition to improving the registration funnel by optimizing and shortening the time from install to registration will give marketers the edge to utilize their 2021 budget to the fullest.
According to the report, digital banking installs went up 45 per cent, while traditional banks gain 22 per cent in 2021.
Finance app installs increased 20 per cent overall, but financial services and traditional banking app installs saw only a 15 per cent increase between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021.
However, only in the first quarter of 2021, traditional banks picked up speed with a 22 per cent rise in installs.
Following a 32 per cent drop in spending in Q2 of 2020, efforts rebounded in Q3 and with rising user acquisition costs, marketers increased activity in remarking, which soared three times by Q1 2021.
Overall, the growth path of non-organic installs continued upward, hitting 172 per cent growth between 2019 and now.
At least 29 of the top 40 finance markets enjoyed growth of at least 20 per cent YoY, however, it was the developing markets that dominated the number of installs.
The average number of downloads in developing markets was 70 per cent higher than the average in developed markets, with India, Brazil and Indonesia making up almost half of the global number of downloads.
“FinTech experienced a rapid digital transformation over the last year, with the pandemic leading to a shift in mindset even for those that have been slow to adapt,” said Shani Rosenfelder, Head of Content & Mobile Insight, AppsFlyer.