The global fintech market, pegged at USD 340 billion in 2024 is booming. In India its size, estimated at USD 111.14 billion in 2024, is expected to reach USD 421.48 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 30.55% during the forecast period (2024-2029)- Source: Mordor Intelligence. Whether it is crypto, Forex, or any other part of the fintech landscape, India stands as a booming market. Crypto adoption rates are the highest in the world in India, putting them ahead of China, the US, and Brazil. By 2028, India is projected to have over 328 million crypto users. That is almost the entire population of the USA! This growing trend was solidified when between July 2022 and June 2023, India saw an influx of US$250 billion of crypto value, putting India second only to the US in that same period. The same can be said for forex trading, with the Indian forex market growth projected to have a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 9.2% between 2024 to 2032. With a thriving IT industry and an enthusiastic young demographic participating in various fintech industries, India is set to be at the forefront of the global fintech movement for years to come.
Despite this, many promising finance apps struggle to gain traction, with a significant 75% failure rate among fintech startups. A major area of concern for the developer community is to gauge how they can overcome key obstacles and achieve remarkable success in user acquisition for their mobile trade or fintech app. Let’s understand this in detail.
Challenges of a Regulated Industry and ways to address it.
Financial apps encounter unique challenges in user acquisition, particularly with stricter advertising regulations on platforms like Google and Facebook, which limit their ability to reach new audiences, as well as stringent guidelines enforced by mainstream app stores. These hurdles underscore the importance of innovative strategies.
Apps can successfully utilize mobile OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) channels and alternative app stores, including partnerships with mobile OEM specialists, to effectively acquire users in the face of regulatory constraints. These partnerships allow apps to target specific demographics and regions — such as India and Indonesia where regulations do not permit apps to run any sort of financial ads on Google’s platform — through multiple device inventories aligned with their target countries, such as Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Huawei, Oneplus or Transsion, to name a few.
One major hurdle for just about any app in this mobile ecosystem pertains to the kind of billing and payment systems that are used. Many trading and fintech apps direct users from the app to their own web store or payment portal to avoid paying Google and Apple that 30% cut for each transaction. However, both Google and Apple have “non-steering” rules in place, which effectively ban apps from directing users from within the app to another payment system or web store. These rules have been enforced even with some of the biggest players in the space, such as Netflix and Spotify. While these rules can pose many problems for fintech apps, an even bigger problem comes from Google’s recent actions in India.
Back in February and March of this year, Google removed over a dozen very popular and well-established apps from their Play Store for not complying with their payment regulations. These apps totaled close to or over 250 million downloads by Google Play Store estimates. This led to the cofounder of Kuku FM, one of the removed apps with over 50 million downloads, labeling Google as “the most evil partner to do business with” whilst stating that the “Indian startup ecosystem was completely in its [Google] control”
The Rise of Mobile OEMs as a Solution
Mobile OEMs have become critical components in many apps’ user acquisition strategies, providing access to integrated features that enable more effective reach and engagement with potential users. This approach allows apps to achieve impressive results and maintain a competitive edge in the heavily regulated fintech industry.
Mobile OEMs are providing fintech apps with unparalleled means of advertising and user acquisition compared to the competition. The less saturated nature of alternative app stores allows for a more prominent app store placement or feature, where an app is put front and center. This also allows for better app promotion within the finance category of the app store. The robust mobile OEM targeting capabilities even allow app developers to target users based on device type, for instance, allowing apps to target users using more high-end devices who might be more predisposed to use fintech apps or who have more disposable income in general.
Take all of that and add in a mobile OEM user acquisition partner who operates on performance and who can offer performance-based down funnel events such as app or account registrations, and you have a recipe for mobile OEM fintech success.
Diversifying app presence is imperative for apps—and fintech apps in particular—to avoid being held hostage by Google, Apple, and other players. This also gives app developers the further benefit of being able to negotiate the rate and cut for payments with each mobile OEM or to use a third-party billing solution entirely if they so wish. It is this freedom of choice that truly defines and sets mobile OEMs apart.
Partnering up for Mobile OEM Success
Developers should partner with mobile OEMs and mobile OEM specialists to access high-quality traffic from popular smartphone brands like Xiaomi, Huawei, Vivo, Transsion, and Oppo. Such collaborations can streamline campaign management and facilitate rapid testing and scaling across diverse regions.
It is time to follow in the footsteps of other apps that have firmly asserted that mobile OEM marketing is a permanent fixture in their strategy. In a time where every app is fighting with every dollar for every user, can developers ignore the huge advantages mobile OEM advertising offers? Certainly not.
