The Rise of Super Apps in Banking: Integrating Financial and Lifestyle Services

The concept of super apps has revolutionized the way users interact with digital services, integrating various functionalities into a single, cohesive platform. Initially coined by Mike Lazaridis in 2010, a super app offers a seamless, integrated experience by leveraging the unique capabilities of its platform. This article explores the huge potential of super apps in the financial sector, and the user experience (UX) design principles that drive their success.

Definition and Scope of Super Apps

Super apps are characterized by their ability to deliver a wide range of services within a single application, providing an ecosystem that addresses multiple consumer needs. In the financial sector, super apps integrate services such as banking, payments, investments, and insurance, creating a digital ecosystem that enhances user convenience and engagement.

Unlike mono applications that offer one function in the most convenient and understandable format, the super app advantage is in building an ecosystem capable of providing a solution for different consumer needs as an organic user flow. Such a platform collects a large amount of data about users and increases personalization and the speed of customer engagement on this basis.

So, what is the financial super app? A financial super app is a mobile application that provides a variety of financial related services, such as banking, payments, investments, insurance, and more in one convenient place. In other words, it is a digital ecosystem with wide range of features and services that are tailored to the needs of most users. These apps are designed to make it easy for users to manage their finances and use additional services on the go, so the user experience and seamless flow are extremely important. They typically offer features like account management, online shopping, mobile payments, and the ability to track expenses and investments.

Well known example of the super app is WeChat, launched in 2011 by the Chinese internet giant Tencent. WeChat messenger contains more than a million products and micro applications from financial transactions, loans and trade to games, entertainment and ticket booking. Over 800 million active users use the app every month. Other super app examples include Grab, Line and Gojek (Get).

The presence of a large number of products and the flow of big data passing through the bank can become a promising basis for building a highly personalized banking ecosystem around a specific user. And, today, there are more and more advanced technological solutions of data processing and personalization through AI in banking accessible on the market.

However, despite the technological opportunities, the key challenge is delivering the super app experience in a clear and user-friendly way.

Banking super apps already have a heavy impact on the financial industry development and digitization. The most popular super app is Alipay, service owned by Jack Ma's Ant Group has more than 1,3bn users.

One more huge financial super app example is PayTM from India. It has 350 million users and according to Aakash Gupta review, PayTM can claim to helping India digitize its payments because 11% of India’s 1.38bn people have paid with PayTM in the last 12 months.

Another fast growing financial super app is GCash in the Philippines. GCash is a mobile wallet and online payment platform used by 90 million or 90% of all adult Filipinos in the country. It allows users to pay for goods and services, transfer money, pay bills, withdraw cash, invest, buy insurance, pay for transportation and more.

European Revolut is also actively scaling its banking ecosystem by adding new features and products, including those provided by third-party institutions. In its mission to become financial super app, Revolut follows aggressive global expansion strategy, persistently increasing a wide range of products, features, and tools for the customers, accordin to WhiteSight analysis.

Another interesting example of super app in banking is a T-Bank (ex Tinkoff Bank) strategy to launch a banking super app that, along with financial products, includes a marketplace of goods and services, a health support system with the ability to choose a doctor, and lifestyle services like travel, restaurants, and events from third-party providers. The application is personalized and uses machine learning and AI to select products specifically based on the needs of a particular user.

Integrating Financial and Lifestyle Services

The core appeal of super apps lies in their ability to provide a seamless, integrated experience. Users can access a broad spectrum of services without needing to switch between multiple apps. This integration is particularly valuable in banking, where customers can manage their finances alongside their everyday activities.

1. Enhanced Financial Services: Super apps offer a comprehensive suite of financial services, including traditional banking functions like account management, fund transfers, and bill payments, as well as more advanced offerings such as investment management, insurance, and credit services. The integration of AI and machine learning enables personalized financial advice, helping users make informed decisions based on their spending habits and financial goals.

2. Lifestyle Integration: Beyond financial services, super apps incorporate a wide range of lifestyle services. Users can book travel, order food, shop online, and even access telehealth services, all within a single platform. This level of convenience is unmatched, making super apps indispensable for modern consumers who prioritize efficiency and simplicity.

3. Seamless User Experience: The UX of super apps is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly. A unified interface ensures that users can navigate between different services effortlessly. Personalization is key, with the app learning from user behavior to offer tailored recommendations and a customized experience.

The rise of super apps is fundamentally changing how financial institutions engage with their customers. By offering a holistic experience that goes beyond traditional banking, these platforms foster deeper customer relationships and drive higher levels of engagement.

Super apps create multiple touchpoints for interaction, enabling banks to stay connected with their customers throughout their daily lives. This constant engagement helps build trust and loyalty, as users come to rely on the app for a wide range of needs.

The integration of financial and lifestyle services generates a wealth of data, providing valuable insights into customer behavior. Banks can leverage this data to offer more personalized services, anticipate customer needs, and develop targeted marketing strategies.

Super apps can integrate loyalty programs across different services, offering users rewards for their engagement. For example, customers might earn points for using banking services that can be redeemed for discounts on travel or shopping. This interconnected loyalty system encourages users to stay within the app ecosystem.

As we see financial super apps combine various financial and lifestuyle services into a single mobile application. These apps collect and utilize vast amounts of user data to provide personalized services and improve customer engagement.

The future development of financial super apps relies on several key technological trends:

• Blockchain: Ensures secure transactions and data integrity.
• Gamification: Enhances user engagement through interactive elements.
• Nudge Theory: Influences user behavior by offering timely suggestions.
• Robo Advising: Provides automated, personalized financial advice.
• Voice Processing: Allows for voice-activated commands and transactions.
• Biometrics: Enhances security through facial and fingerprint recognition.
• Social Integration: Connects financial activities with social networks.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI): Personalizes user experiences through predictive analytics and generative AI.
• Big Data: Enables comprehensive data analysis for personalized services.
• Open APIs and Cloud Computing: Facilitates integration with third-party services.

When it comes to the financial UX process in designing a banking super app, the main stages are:

1. identifying the primary user scenarios;
2. analyzing and determining key app functionality;
3. creating information architecture;
4. exploring trending technologies to provide the most simple and clear solution for the user’s financial journey;
5. creating a delightful and emotional design.

Key Features for Financial Super Apps

Financial super app functionality can be based on three main banking innovations:

1. Personal Financial AI-Assistant

A Fintech super app must be a champion in personalization. It should become a handy financial assistant and advisor that's able to provide truly useful insights, based on the user's unique needs and requirements.

This can be achieved using the technology of full banking automatization, artificial intelligence in banking and predictive analytics.

When it comes to personalized assistance, the core tasks of a Fintech super app should be to:

• inform the users about any situation that requires their attention;
• help to improve users’ financial health by monitoring it and providing recommendations;
• make financial forecasts and offer uniquely crafted possibilities according to the user's specific needs and goals.

In addition, AI opens up many different opportunities to take the banking customer experience to a brand new level. For example, in the near future, it should enable the users to conduct financial operations using voice processing, gestures, neuro, VR and AR.

This kind of app should also be able to predict the exact moment when a user needs a specific product, and provide it by combining big data with behavior-based predictive analytics.

2. Financial Super App as a Platform for Integrations

Financial super apps have to integrate third-party services. The apps could use the external infrastructure of banking vendors for processing payments and other financial services.

The financial super app serves as a platform that unites financial solutions with retail services. This ensures a holistic banking customer experience that allows the user to manage everything they might need concerning their private and financial lives, all from a single app. This is the only way to deliver a full neobank service that covers every issue related to the user’s financial life and needs.

To become bank-as-a-platform, the main challenge is reinventing the financial ecosystem. This could be done by using open APIs and cloud storage. Speed and transaction security would be provided through blockchain technology used by all platform members.

3. Next Level Personalization

When it comes to banking, one of the biggest pains the users cite is filling out long and complex forms. They often ask for data that people don't even know where to find. This is where the Fintech super app takes personalization to a new level.

If we could get rid of these forms, at least in 90% of the cases, the users may cry tears of joy. We believe this can completely change the customer’s banking experience.

To provide customized proposals for each customer, AI could be used for a more accurate customer credit scoring based not only on the user's bank's profile and credit history, but also social profiles and offline activity.

This would allow the bank to generate a personalized proposal even before the user has requested it. So, no more struggling! All that the customers have to do is choose the proposal that best fits their needs and tap a single button.

This would provide not only an amazing experience for the users but also a key factor that so many financial services of today lack─speed.

Designing a financial super app involves creating a user-friendly, intuitive interface that seamlessly integrates various services. Key features include:

1. Effortless Authorization: Using biometrics such as facial recognition and fingerprint scanning to allow users quick and secure access to their accounts, eliminating the need for traditional passwords.

2. Key Data Visibility: Displaying essential financial information, like account balances and recent transactions, prominently on the dashboard, enabling users to access critical data at a glance.

3. Comprehensive Financial Insights: Offering users a detailed overview of their financial status, including income, expenses, savings, and investment performance, helping them make informed financial decisions.

4. Spending Insights: Analyzing user spending patterns and providing personalized insights and recommendations to promote better financial habits and savings.

5. Versatile Account Management: Supporting various types of financial accounts (e.g., checking, savings, credit cards) and enabling users to manage them all from a single platform.

6. Social Media-Inspired Activity Feed: Transforming the traditional transaction history into an engaging, interactive feed that displays financial activities similarly to social media updates.

7. Detailed Transaction Information: Ensuring users can easily access comprehensive details for each transaction, including merchant information, date, time, and amount.

8. Quick Payments: Facilitating instant and easy money transfers between accounts, peer-to-peer payments, and bill payments, making financial transactions more convenient.

9. Automated Bill Payments: Leveraging AI to manage and schedule regular bill payments, reducing the risk of missed payments and late fees.

10. Conversational Banking: Implementing AI-powered voice assistants to enable users to conduct banking transactions and inquiries using natural language commands.

11. Unlimited Financial Marketplace: Offering access to a wide range of financial products and services, such as loans, insurance, and investment opportunities, all within the app.

12. Personal Finance Management: Providing tools and recommendations to help users budget, track spending, set financial goals, and manage their overall financial health.

The Future of Banking with Super Apps

The future of banking lies in the convergence of financial and lifestyle services. Super apps represent the next frontier in this evolution, offering a unified platform that meets the diverse needs of modern consumers. As more financial institutions embrace this model, the lines between banking and everyday life will continue to blur, creating a new paradigm of convenience and engagement.

The transformation of financial services into super apps represents a significant advancement in the digital banking sector. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies and adhering to robust UX design principles, financial super apps provide users with a highly personalized, efficient, and engaging experience that covers different lifestyle areas. As these apps continue to evolve, they are poised to redefine the future of digital financial services, offering unprecedented convenience and value to users worldwide.

Banks that leverage the power of super apps will be well-positioned to lead the industry, offering unparalleled value to their customers and setting new standards for what banking can be. The rise of super apps is not just a trend—it's a fundamental shift in how we interact with our finances and our world.

Check out my blog about financial and banking UX design >>