3 LATAM Finance Apps That Are Winning
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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again — LATAM is the world’s second fastest-growing mobile market. With about 650 million people, that’s a lot of mobile use and a lot of untapped potential for the right apps.
What’s interesting about the LATAM market is that with a 62% smartphone penetration, there is still a large part of the population not using their mobile devices for any banking activity. In fact, only 26% of Latin Americans use online banking as their primary access to their bank accounts.
Why is adoption so low? One reason could be the ambiguity surrounding fintech laws in LATAM. Some regulations may be too restrictive, others aren’t published so remain unclear. This makes it difficult for investors to feel confident and puts a general damper on any progress that could potentially be made in digitizing the fiscal space.
Even though cash is still king in LATAM, the number of fintech startups is growing — up 65% from 2017 to 2018 and it’s not slowing down. So who’s leading the charge?
Want to learn about other winning app promotion campaigns? Download our whitepaper, 11 Winning LATAM User Acquisition Campaigns.
Banco Azteca
With over 1,800 banks in Mexico, Banco Azteca is one of the top bank choices. In fact, it ranked as the #1 app in July of 2020 in Mexico. Even before the pandemic, Banco Azteca figured out how to boost mobile app adoption.
Through the app, users can seamlessly withdraw money from ATMs without using a card. Users just need to select a specific ATM from the map, enter the amount to be withdrawn, and scan the QR code at the ATM. In addition, bankers can send peer-to-peer payments, apply for loans, make payments and control investments.
In mid-2019, Banco Azteca started a Dynamic Install campaign to preload its app on Android mobile devices across Mexico. Since beginning, Banco Azteca has increased its monthly investment in the partnership, therefore improving the results as well. So far, the app’s effective cost-per-install (eCPI) has dropped 15% while the open rate has gone from 21% at 30-days to a whopping 32% at 180-days.
As of today, the app has been downloaded over 10M times, and Digital Turbine contributed to 1.74M — that’s over 14%.
NuBank
Another bank that’s made major digital headways is NuBank. As of July 2020, it was the #8 banking app in Brazil. This decacorn already has more than 20 million customers in Brazil and is expanding to Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. NuBank’s claim to fame is that it’s a digital account with:
“Everything an account has, except what it doesn’t need.”
NuBank offers a credit card with no annual fee credit card and a very simple rewards program. For every dollar spent, users receive one point to use immediately. The only downside — this program isn’t free. Current Nubank customers must pay either R$19 a month or R$190 a year.
Still, NuBank has gotten increasingly popular. By the end of 2019, it had grown its customer pool by 4 million users in only 4 months. Believe it or not, 80% of Nubank’s Brazillian customers were sourced from unpaid referrals, and the company has spent $0 on customer acquisition.
Over the past year, Nubank in Mexico has seen a 1240% increase in app downloads and a 78% increase in DAUs. While it seems big, Mexico still only accounts for 0.2% of Nubank’s worldwide user base, in second place behind Brazil. Will this “word of mouth” customer acquisition strategy continue to pay off in Mexico, Argentina and Columbia? Only time will tell.
Want to learn more about NuBank’s app promotion campaigns? Download our whitepaper, 11 Winning LATAM User Acquisition Campaigns.
Caixa Econômica Federal
That brings us to Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), Brazil’s state-controlled bank. Founded in 1861, and operating under the Ministry of Finance (not magic), this institution may look a little different than the younger digital financial players in the space. What sets CEF apart is how it’s become more involved with Brazil’s digital banking space since the pandemic outbreak. In July of 2020, it was the #1 banking app in Brazil.
As part of a 98.2 billion reais ($19.2 billion) relief program, Brazil is using CEF to get emergency aid funds to financially vulnerable citizens. Launched in April, the digital account allows users to access their money, make payments and transfers. As a savings account, there is no physical card or checkbook.
Within two days of launching, the website where people could sign up to qualify for aid had received 240 million views. App downloads were 21.8 million for Android, and 699,000 for the iOS version. It’s a no brainer that Brazilians are signing up and engaging with CEF’s app during a time where financial strife is common for many, but it will be interesting to see if this has long-lasting effects on LATAM and digital banking.
Will CEF’s digital pandemic aid push more LATAM countries to follow suit? Will more users get comfortable with digital banking and slowly move away from the long-preferred method of using cash? In a region with rabid digital usage, anything is possible.
As of July 2020, these are the most popular apps in Brazil and Mexico:
