India’s fintech majors PhonePe and Paytm were the most downloaded finance apps in the world in 2022, according to data.ai’s State of Mobile 2023 report. Other Indian apps in the global top 10 included Bajaj Finserv (6th position) and YONO SBI (9th position). “Unlike many other parts of the app economy, fintech has continued to be quite localized, with the majority of country’s downloads coming from publishers based in that market,” data.ai (earlier App Annie) stated in its report.
Given India’s large smartphone user base, it is no surprise that homegrown finance apps came out on top in global downloads as well. Meanwhile, Google Pay, which enjoys a massive user base in India, ranked third globally, behind PhonePe and Paytm.
Data.ai shared, “Mobile app adoption across top subgenres like Mobile Banking, Digital Wallets & Payment, and Personal Loans saw rapid growth in 2022, continuing the accelerated push to mobile that began at the start of the pandemic in 2020.”
Additionally, macroeconomic concerns such as high inflation led ‘Personal Loans’ apps to flourish across North American, Asian, and African markets. Other apps that made it to the global top 10 were PayPal, Nubank, Binance, AliPay, and Cash App.
For the Indian market alone, the top 10 finance apps by downloads were PhonePe, Paytm, Google Pay, Bajaj Finserv, YONO SBI, Bank of Baroda (BOB) World, KreditBee, Dhani, Navi, and Groww. Surprisingly, stockbroking platform Zerodha’s apps didn’t make it to the top 10.
Crypto apps, meanwhile, nosedived in popularity after a turbulent year. “Crypto trading apps took a notable downturn in 2022, along with the turbulence in the cryptocurrency market that resulted in the downfalls of cryptocurrencies like Luna and exchanges like FTX,” data.ai added.