Summary of the Report “German Mobile Banking App Review”
- Michael Chernyakov
- Apr 6
- 5 min read
Optima Consultancy, together with Visa, has published its 8th edition report and review of the German mobile banking app market. I did not read the seven other editions, but after reading this one, I might have to, due to the great insights I got for myself. The report provides insights into industry trends, best practices, opportunities, gaps, and innovation in mobile banking apps. This article is a summary of the key findings and some of my thoughts. So, you do not need to read it, but if you want, you can find the full report https://www.optima-consultancy.com/bankapp.
FinTech banks release 4 times more updates than traditional banks
The average traditional bank releases updates 13 times a year, versus 52 times by fintechs. This demonstrates how much faster fintechs can move in feature updates, or how much slower traditional banks move in their environment. In first place is Vivid, with just under 80 releases a year (rounding up). That is a release every 3 working days! This is a very interesting metric to compare to our release frequency.
App ratings do not tell the whole story
A review of app store ratings shows that almost all apps have a rating of 4 stars or above, but Trustpilot (a business review site) tells a much different story. Trustpilot ratings for most traditional banks are much lower than app ratings. Trustpilot might provide a better picture, as app store ratings can be influenced by in-app prompts to rate apps. Learning: If you want to increase your app rating, prompt users to rate your app.
Banks continue to build features but are reaching their limits
The industry average number of features in an app is 63, while fintechs offer an average of 85 features. Revolut, the leader in features, currently offers 129 app features. Something I noticed while using Revolut is that I often feel overwhelmed by the features and am not always sure which one I am using. Banks will need to focus on user experience or create spin-off apps that concentrate on a particular set of features, such as investment and brokerage.
An example of this is the Revolut Invest app, which is currently in beta testing. I wonder if, in the future, we might see more apps from a single bank. Another not-yet-released example outside of the report is Mono Invest, a spin-off investing app from the Ukrainian Monobank. Spin-off apps can simplify development and release cycles and support business strategy development.
More investment, brokerage, and savings features
Traditional banks and fintechs are now offering more features that allow users to invest by buying and selling financial securities. One factor influencing this trend is companies such as Trade Republic. Initially, Trade Republic focused solely on investment and brokerage; however, now, with its own full banking license, it challenges banks by offering traditional banking products like savings accounts and credit cards.
To keep customers and funds away from competitors like Trade Republic, both new and traditional banks will need to introduce more innovative investment features. Vivid and Wise also continue to innovate in the savings department, offering stock-based savings and interest-bearing saving pots.
Possible increase in sustainability features in banking apps
According to Visa research, global transactions for “sustainable” products or services (e.g., resale, EVs) have reached 5%. Spending on EVs has increased eightfold in the past three years. The report also highlights that users increasingly expect bank apps to offer features addressing climate impact, with 40% of users willing to switch banks to receive guidance on their CO2 footprint.
This specific finding feels somewhat odd to me. I wonder how sustainability features would affect revenue-generating activities for banks, such as credit and loans, where the model relies on customers spending more to drive higher profits.
Security versus User Experience
This was one of my favorite learnings in the report. The report discusses how balancing security measures and user experience in banking applications is a constant tug-of-war. From my firsthand experience with the ADAC banking app, I have to totally agree. I hear customers complain that the app has become worse after the introduction of basic security features such as biometrics. The easier it is for you to log in, the easier it can be for a fraudster.
Banks are introducing innovative features for authentication. For instance, Bunq introduced “Delayed Payments,” which allows users to set delays on payments in case of suspicion of fraudulent activity. In the Revolut app, you can set extra biometric security for actions like withdrawals and selling. Monzo has an authentication method where users can assign a trusted friend, generate a secret QR code, or choose a known location to execute riskier actions in the app.
I find the innovation and creativity behind these solutions remarkable in how they help balance security with usability. At the same time, I wonder why companies invest so heavily in these features. For me, the answer is clear: fraud cases continue to rise, and fraudsters are also evolving. Banks need to innovate and provide secure solutions that users will actually adopt.
Next — 2025
The report concludes with predictions for 2025, and unsurprisingly, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is among them, with endless applications for personalization, customer service, and more. Gamification and engagement features, such as savings goals, loyalty rewards, and badges, are also predicted to drive user engagement.
The cherry-on-top prediction is the incorporation of sustainability features, and all of this must be wrapped up in a seamless user experience.
The following are points that I recorded from the report for myself that relate to my role.
I added them below in case you want to actually read more about them:
Page 5: The report outlines the categories of features, e.g., account management and card management. We have defined the features in the same or similar categories. However, the list provides confirmation for our categories and offers guidance for naming future feature categories. This allows for better market comparison when the same category names are used.
Page 8: The average login time in the market is 5.1 seconds. This is something that can be checked and reflected on in our app’s performance.
Page 10: Offers a list of investment features that banks provide. This can be used for defining and reflecting on our app, conducting competitor analysis, and supporting design research.
Pages 12 & 13: Gamification within banking mobile apps for user engagement and loyalty. Currently not very popular but increasing in other markets. However, some gamification elements appear to lean towards gambling and betting, e.g., “Spend $10…try your luck and win up to $50 cashback.”
Page 14: Ideas for sustainability features in banking apps.
Page 16: Statistics about SEPA Instant payments and the digital behavior of younger generations.
Page 18: Different features for Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
Page 19: Information about savings, security, and virtual card features.
Pages 20 & 21: A feature table for each bank, helping to understand what each bank offers for competitor and design research.
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