Neither video games nor dating nor shopping have a stronger pull, in terms of initial mobile app retention than financial apps, according to one report released by mobile app research firm Liftoff.
The Liftoff 2019 Mobile Finance Apps report, released earlier this month, showed that finance-focused mobile apps retain more users than retail, media, dating and gaming apps. According to the report, a financial app’s daily retention, defined by the number of new users who come back to the app after install, is 73% higher than non-financial apps on Day 1.
Interestingly, financial apps start off with a much higher short-term retention rate and then teeter off to a smaller rate after three months. The average retention rate for a financial app by the end of the first day is 34.8%. But on the seventh day after the app was first installed, that retention rate drops to 14.9%, and by the end of the month, it drops to 7.1%. Still, the long-term retention is higher than other categories, but by an underwhelming 1.2%.
Below are the full results of the overall retention of customers to financial mobile apps across a 90-day period:

The results indicate that new users are more active than long-term users, which could mean that FIs have to do a better job at engaging long-term users. “To boost engagement and stay top of mind with their audiences, marketers must develop tactics to motivate more frequent app use,” according to the report. “This is where push notifications come in (the average push notification open rate for finance apps is 15.78%). But marketers should also make sure all customer-facing communications, across all channels, is timely, personal and relevant to user expectations and context.”
Also Read: Consumers Have High Expectations of Their Digital Banking Apps
Another method of boosting engagement is by servicing customers beyond their core banking needs. Helping customers meet their financial goals is one example of such a service. In fact, a CSI consumer report from August 2018, shows that 83% of consumers want their banks to help them with meeting their financial goals. Many of the larger banks like Bank of America, Capital One, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have adopted AI-focused mechanisms such as robo-advisers and virtual assistants to provide features like PFM tools, spending insights and financial advice.
Read the full Liftoff report Here.





