According to AppsFlyer, fintech apps will spend $3 billion on user acquisition in 2020, no less than $1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2021 alone. Fintech apps are in high demand, with global downloads growing by 132% and achieving 26% year-over-year growth in India alone (2020 vs. 2019). Globally, developing countries such as India, Brazil and Indonesia are leading the rise in fintech adoption, with these countries becoming large markets accounting for nearly half of global downloads.

Consider these numbers during the pandemic. According to Mambu's global study, 50 percent of respondents said they were using two or more financial apps, and nearly 20 percent were using at least five financial services apps. Only 18.5 percent (or less than one in five) have no financial apps at all.

Fueled by the pandemic, the personal finance industry is currently on the rise. As full adoption increases, segments such as payments, banking, lending, investing and wealth management are further driving growth in the larger personal finance space. As more users focus on personal finance, prioritizing wealth generation and management, there is a serious effort to improve financial outcomes in times of economic turmoil.

Competitor research

The first thing to do when promoting your financial app is to do your market research right. Go deep into the market and analyze what other apps are doing. This is recommended by experts and you will find this step in almost every other article on how to promote an app. However, most people neglect this step. 

So, let's start the process by looking at how competitors are using their apps in these two famous app stores.


It's time to analyze the latest trends and understand what it takes to profit from financial apps. In the Finance category, we observe almost similar strategies on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. You will find numerous apps from well-known financial companies and banks or other payment systems. All these apps are available for free download in both app stores. 

However, when we dig deeper into the advanced financial apps section, we notice something unique and new. Some well-known and influential financial mobile apps require users to pay a fee before they can use or download them. This is also an integrated in-app purchase. 

This is not the usual practice for app owners, but it appears that this unique approach is working well for app owners. 

As for the top ranked apps, we have observed that in-app purchases are usually free, and occasionally you can see pricey financial calculators in the list and both app stores. Now, you have the idea of setting up a program. However, before using any method, consider the features your app offers.

Here are more data to keep in mind:

• As marketers increasingly increase user acquisition budgets to remain competitive, nearly one in two financial app installations are unnatural. This follows a 70% increase in the share of financial apps with a marketing budget, with digital banking apps seeing a 100% year-over-year increase in user acquisition budgets, followed by investment apps with a 60% year-over-year increase.
• 28% of financial app installs are fraudulent at more than 30%. While digital banking apps have stronger protections than financial services and investments, all marketers need to be aware that some installs may be fraudulent.
• One-month retention rates for users of non-natural investment apps are four times higher for iOS compared to Android. In comparison, organic and non-organic Android users have slightly higher retention rates in digital banking and financial services apps.
• Financial services apps provide an excellent user experience, with nearly 50% of users completing the sign-up process. This compares to an average rate of 37% for all financial apps, which is due to users downloading apps when they need to use them immediately.

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User segmentation with financial apps

Here, we would recommend that you segment or break your audience into groups and use a personalized approach for each user group. Some of your target users are shopaholics, while others are always looking to save money or your finance app may be geared toward millennials. 

With this segmentation approach, you can get your users to spread the word about your new mobile app. Remember, your app needs to handle one thing at a time, but in the best way possible, even if your users are from different domains. 

1. A bunch of busy budgets

Setting a budget and sticking to it is easier said than done. The modern professional has too much to do, too many things to do, and too many things to keep serious track of receipts and purchases. That's why they rely on your app to do the budgeting for them.

You can do the push message like: "You're about to go over X budget! See how close you are." Send push alerts when people in this segment are close to exceeding their budgets for food, entertainment, shopping, etc. so they can control their spending.

Send a push or in-app message to that group when the weekly/monthly budget timeframe ends, linking to each user's spending statement. Summarize their performance, congratulate them for sticking to their goals, and provide suggestions, tips and adjustments for the next cycle if they go over budget.

2. The forgetful few 

From cable bills to heating bills, upcoming rent and loan repayment deadlines, many people pay a considerable number of bills on a regular basis. Plus, it can be very frustrating when you accidentally miss a payment. If your app keeps a close eye on bills, then you may have a percentage of users who always turn them off when deadlines are approaching. So, make it easier for people to keep track of their bills by setting up app reminders.

You can try push messages like: "Reminder: Your bill for X is due in X days! Pay early."

If users have set up automatic payments, notify them when they settle their bill and remind them to check their new bank and credit card balances. In-app message: "Congratulations! You have successfully paid your X bill! Now, set up automatic billing so you don't have to worry about late fees."

3. Tenacious traders

Does your finance app cover stocks and financial markets? Then you probably have a segment of hardy users who make a small number of trades per day. These users typically launch your app multiple times to see how their favorite stocks are performing. They are eager to buy and sell at the most opportune time. Take some of the stress out of stock trading by setting up timely alerts about market changes.

You can try push message as: "The price of X stock just went up X%. Want to sell?" or "The price of X stock has dropped by X dollars. Ready to buy?" Real-time push alerts about stocks of interest to this user segment will exponentially increase their reliability in your app.

Push message: "You just received a dividend payment on X shares. View details." Keeps users up to date on important events such as dividend payments and stock splits or IPO announcements.

Push message: "Trading closed today. Compared to X, your portfolio increased by X%. Check out the highlights." Summarize details in a clean in-app message when the user is ready to trade, giving the user the opportunity to view before proceeding.

4. Big spenders and shoppers

Many financial apps not only track accounts, but also facilitate purchases by acting as various digital wallets. For these apps, the "big spenders" user base is important. Big spenders and regular shoppers are those who use your app to make large purchases (either in terms of amount and/or volume) and therefore complete the "final" in-app action/conversion. Your goal is to target these users and entice them to make repeat purchases.

Each time a user makes a purchase using your app, reassure them that the transaction was successfully completed and summarize the details.

Push/in-app message: "Pay with X in the X Store and get $5 off! Check out the location." Give these users an incentive (a discount!) and an opportunity (highlighting key retailers) to reconvert!

5. Travelers and businesses with financial apps needs

With the globalization of businesses, frequent travel is an important part of many jobs. But despite the prevalence of employees who fly, business travel remains a hassle in terms of expense reporting, currency exchange, hotel reservations, etc., making it a tedious process. If your finance app is dedicated to expense tracking and management, be sure to create a frequent flyer segmentation. Then, trigger tweets and in-app messages to show that group how your app can simplify the financial complexities of business travel.

Automatically remind travelers of the current exchange rate when they arrive at their location (or on the day of their flight). In addition, consider how your app can help these travelers complete their reservations quickly and efficiently.

6. General persons with financial needs

Finally, this last user segmentation represents the US (or any other country/region!) The average Joes and average Janes in the U.S. This group has day-to-day financial needs, such as tracking cash flow and monitoring account security. The average financial app user is probably not a big spender or spender; their main goal is to use your app to make the chores and tasks of making money easier.

Let users know when major in-app events occur - such as getting paid or receiving a bill. Try the push message: "You just got paid! Check your account balance." 

Push message: "Note: We have detected fraudulent activity in your account and have taken security measures. Contact your bank immediately." Act quickly to alert your users to any suspicious account activity, implement preventative measures, and provide action steps to give users a sense of security.

Promote your finance apps with more organic traffic 

1. Take care of your App Store Optimization(ASO)

Keywords optimization

One of the most important steps in ASO is keyword coverage. Keyword coverage is also a prerequisite for app optimization  through titles, sub-titles and background keyword settings.

A good keyword strategy will get twice the result with half the effort, while choosing the wrong word will not only fail to achieve the expected results, but may also lead to a waste of advertising investment.

To learn more about app keyword optimization, you can check "ASO Tutorial: A Complete Guide to Choose the Right Keywords for Your App Step by Step" of our previous articles.

App rating and reviews optimization

According to a Google study on financial apps, respondents strongly agreed that ratings, reviews and descriptions influence their download decisions (18%, 20% and 18% of respondents, respectively).

App ratings and reviews have a significant impact on consumers' decisions to download or not download apps. The study shows that 50% of mobile users would not consider a 3-star rated app. For 2-star ratings, that number drops to 85%. 

In addition, 77% read at least 1 review before downloading a free app. For paid apps, that number jumps to 80 percent. So, as an app developer or marketer, you can't ignore ratings and reviews. They are very important.

Ratings and reviews greatly influence your App Store Optimization (ASO) and thus your App Store ranking. Both Google and Apple show a tendency to rank apps with more positive ratings and reviews than those with negative ones. In addition, the number of ratings and reviews your app receives is important. The more your app has, the higher your app will be ranked.

When looking for an app, users will browse the top few apps shown in the search results. If you don't rank in the top 10 for relevant keywords, then app store visitors won't find your app. Conducting reviews is also critical for new business, as it is the only source of credibility. The keywords in app reviews affect your app's ranking in the Google Play store.

To learn more about app rating and reviews, you can check "How Do App Reviews and Ratings Affect Users' decisions?" of our previous articles.

2. Market bloggers and journalists who write about finance.

If you have a money manager app, try contacting financial advisors, niche resources and professional finance writers. In addition, Forbes, Business Insider, pcmag, gottabemobile, investopedia, credio.com and other sources have reviewed the best finance and budgeting apps that you can be a part of.