The finance app market has been one of the areas that has seen the most app-focused activity from both incumbents and new startups. This has come in the form of NFC and peer-to-peer payments, digital currency, mobile banking, zero commission stock trading and loans, and customizable and temporary insurance options. These have been widely adopted, with over 2.5 billion users accessing financial apps, according to our Finance App Report.
Enter our Finance app 2025 market landscape which provides a breakdown of the finance app industry into its various categories.
Banking
Mobile-first banking services brought us out of the dark ages, with apps like Chime, SoFi and Current in the United States and Revolut, Monzo and N26 in Europe pushing forward data-driven features aimed at teenagers and young adults. Tide and Starling Bank have made these budgeting and mobile-first features available to business customers as well.
Budgeting
For the money conscious, there are several apps that prioritise keeping finances in the green through insights and restrictive actions. Cleo, Empower and Klover focus on providing cash a few days before payday providing additional flexibility with paying bills, while Splitwise and Finanzguru help users track bills and spending in a more efficient manner.
Saving
Putting aside a set amount each month can be difficult, but apps like Rocket Money, Albert and Monarch prioritize saving with helpful insights. Apps like Acorns and Plum automate the process of saving, by rounding up every payment made and putting the change into a savings account.
Payments
Sending payments to other people used to be a difficult process – especially in the United States – but apps like Venmo, Cash App and Zelle simplified the process by making it as easy as knowing the other person’s email or phone number. PayPal, Wise and Remitly offer cheap ways to send payments internationally, reducing the cost significantly compared to regular banks.
Buy Now, Pay Later
Klarna, Afterpay and Affirm have pushed forward a new form of credit that requires fewer checks than typical loan services, while also reducing the interest to zero percent in most cases. These buy now, pay later apps also have multiple ways to pay off the loan, providing further flexibility to the customer.
Investments
Robinhood started a tidal wave of interest in investing with its zero percent commission stock trading app, which made it much cheaper for retail investors to own and trade individual stocks. Apps like MoneyBox and Nutmeg offer much lower fees than typical brokerages through the use of robo-funds, which automate the management process of a fund.
Crypto
Binance, Coinbase and Kraken facilitate the trading of crypto altcoins on dedicated marketplaces with thousands of available coins and secure payment processing, while apps like Trust and Zengo offer a secure wallet to store and trade these coins.
Insurance
Insurers such as Lemonade, Root and Cuvva use the power of data to improve the insurance options available to customers, by offering more cost effective personalized plans. These providers remove a lot of the red tape and hidden fees that plague the industry.
Credit Score
Managing your credit score use to be a difficult process, but apps such as Credit Karma, Kikoff and ClearScore have made the experience a lot clearer with actionable insights to improve scores.
Cashback
Apps such as Shopback, Fetch and PAYBACK enable users to get cashback, coupons and vouchers for shopping at retailers, while PayPal Honey searches the web for coupons available before an item is purchased.
Accounting and Tax
Getting tax affairs in order can be quite a hassle, but there are several vendors including TurboTax, TaxFix and TaxScouts that simplify this process. QuickBooks and Xero offer more holistic accountancy software on mobile.
