Fintech apps boom amid pandemic

Financial technology (fintech) apps in the Philippines soared during the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by strong user demand and aggressive marketing, according to analytics company AppsFlyer.

In its 2021 edition of the State of Finance App Marketing report, AppsFlyer reported a 68-percent growth in overall demand for fintech apps in the country in 2020.

Digital banking accounted for most of the app installs at close to 70 percent, followed by those offering loans, investments, traditional banking and financial services.

Ronen Mense, AppsFlyer managing director and president for Asia Pacific, said in a statement: “2020 was a game-changer year, impacting how businesses and consumers interact and operate.”

“The fintech sector has radically adapted to the changing environment and accelerated digital transformation, especially in developing markets where many are unbanked or underbanked,” he added.

AppsFlyer noted that marketing expenses in the country had jumped 106 percent last year. This, in turn, drove a 55-percent growth in nonorganic fintech app installs, referring to downloads resulting from marketing activities.

AppsFlyer tracked 2.7 billion app installs in AsiaPacific and 4.7 billion installs around the world between the first quarter of 2019 through the first quarter of 2021.

Across Southeast Asia, marketing to acquire new customers was directly proportional to demand, the report noted.

Overall, marketers in Southeast Asia spent a total of $244 million investing in fintech apps to acquire new users in 2020, accounting for 8 percent of the global budget. INQ