11m money apps lay dormant on UK mobiles
Written by Peter Walker
06/12/18
The UK is now the third largest market in Europe for financial app downloads - with a 19 per cent growth since 2017 - yet Brits currently show significant ‘app-athy’ for technology that can help them save and invest.
This is according to Wealthify, which revealed that 11.2 million downloaded money management apps remain unused on mobiles and tablets.
The online investment service commissioned OnePoll to survey 2,500 UK adults in November, finding that 67 per cent of smartphone users have added at least one financial app to their device. The majority of these are online banking apps (93 per cent), compared to just seven per cent for savings and five per cent for investing apps.
There is now an average of almost two financial apps on UK smartphones, with over two thirds of UK users saying they have downloaded one or more financial apps. The heaviest users are 35-44-year olds, who have on average 2.6 financial apps on their smartphone or tablet.
Michelle Pearce-Burke, chief investment officer and co-founder of Wealthify said: “Despite the digital revolution and a wealth of free-to-download finance apps available to help people save and invest, it is a real shame so many of these apps sit unused on people’s phones.
“The fact that so many are downloading these apps in the first place shows a clear will amongst people to take control of finances, which raises the question – what can financial app developers do to better engage with users and encourage the move from ‘downloaded’ to regular use?”
Last month, Frank Jan Risseeuw, chief executive of money management app Yolt, told FStech that he was working against this ‘app apathy’, stating third party apps will soon have to offer much more to keep consumers’ interest.
“The key to keeping a money app like Yolt relevant is ensuring that the consumers’ needs remain at the forefront of everything we do,” he commented.
