Mobile banking apps in the UK are surging ahead of investment and insurance apps

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Over three-quarters of consumers in the UK use a finance app, according to a new study from Speedie Consultants that surveyed 200 people in the country. Twenty-four percent of those surveyed use their finance apps around twice a week, and 23% said they use it daily. The most common finance app users were aged 25-45, in addition to consumers over 65.

Here are the key findings from the study:

Banking apps take the lead when it comes to grasping the general population. Eighty-eight percent of those who use finance apps use a banking app, making it the most used type of finance app. Less than 2% of UK consumers don’t have a bank account and 9% don’t own a mobile phone, meaning that most consumers are able to access mobile banking apps. This leads a vast majority of consumers to use banking apps, largely because using apps is easier than logging in from a desktop and enables them to quickly check account balances, per respondents — it’s faster than if they were to go to a bank branch, for example.
However, investment and insurance apps are missing out. Just 18% of consumers who use a finance app have an app for insurance, and the same is true for investment apps. Despite 53% of millennials wanting to invest in the stock market, only 23% of them have done so, suggesting there’s a gap in the market that needs to be filled. Additionally, 28% of UK consumers don’t have home contents insurance, leaving £266 billion ($322.7 million) worth of possessions uninsured. As such, there’s a need for both better investment and insurance options that fintechs and incumbents could take advantage of.

Here’s what it means: To increase uptake of investment and insurance fintech services, these players can seek out partnerships with neobanks and take advantage of their brand awareness — which can ultimately help neobanks as well.

By integrating with neobanks, investment and insurance fintech app providers can leverage banking apps’ high adoption. UK neobank Starling, for example, has a marketplace that consumers can use to get access to additional offerings.

Its members already include wealth management app Wealthsimple and insurtechs Anorak and so-sure. Teaming up with the likes of Starling could help those providers increase awareness for and uptake of their services, but the integration has to be seamless to make such partnerships successful.

This would also allow neobanks to enhance their offerings without having to use their own resources. While some players are building their own additional services, looking to third parties to enhance their offerings might lead to more fruitful results.

Revolut, for example, recently launched its own investment option within its app, which might push existing users to use this offering rather than download a separate app for such services. However, this also means that users only get access to one specific investment service.

Going down a marketplace route — offering third parties’ products within one’s app — might be the more lucrative option, as it gives users access to best-of-breed products, including for investment and insurance.

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