The Need for European Finance Apps to Step Outside Their Lanes

The financial landscape in Europe has matured, but also fragmented.

Whilst traditional banks, neobanks, and investment platforms each lead in their respective corners, they remain siloed in their strategies.

The biggest wins in the next year will be from those who step outside their lanes and borrow from their neighbours.

New data reveals three dominant user acquisition strategies, with each tuned for different conditions. Yet, it also highlights a striking divide.

Most financial sub-verticals are still led by local Western European companies, but investment and money transfer apps stand out as exceptions – these are increasingly dominated by international players.

Across all categories, however, the data uncovers missed opportunities to boost retention, acquisition, and long-term value.

THE RETENTION MASTERS

Traditional banks have perfected the art of customer retention, with over half (55 to 85 percent) of their conversions coming from retargeting existing customers.

Their primary strategy revolves around converting existing customers to mobile through deep link-enabled customer journeys.

This approach certainly delivers impressive results. Traditional bank apps achieve retention rates double that of neobanks at the 30-day mark, supported by sophisticated cross-selling and upselling through retargeting campaigns.

With 45 percent of their app installs coming from owned media, traditional banks have built sustainable acquisition models around their existing ecosystems.

However, this strength masks a critical weakness – traditional banks show zero recorded growth in new user acquisition, whether organic or paid.

This reflects both a gap in user acquisition capability and the reality that as more of their existing customers migrate to apps, the pool of first-time app users is shrinking over time.

Aliaksei Ustauski, Sales Strategy Director – EMEA and LATAM, AppsFlyer

THE BALANCED EXPERIMENTERS

By contrast, neobanks have seemingly cracked the code on new user acquisition, surpassing traditional banks in both the UK and France, with the latter showing a dramatic 2:1 ratio of new users choosing neobanks and digital wallets over traditional banks in 2025.

Germany, proving ever more conservative, is expected to follow within 18 months.

Their success stems from experimenting with the media mix. Whilst traditional banks rely heavily on owned media, neobanks spread their bets more widely with a significant investment in ad networks, demand-side platforms (DSPs), and platforms like TikTok.

This diversified approach allows them to capture the younger demographics that traditional banks generally struggle to reach.

Yet, neobanks harbour a surprising blind spot – retargeting represents only a tiny percentage of their total conversions.

This highlights a missed opportunity to improve unit economics through better retention and cross-selling strategies.

THE VOLUME HUNTERS

Investment apps, meanwhile, operate in an entirely different universe.

75 percent of their installs come from paid acquisition campaigns, and their performance correlates directly with market sentiment, particularly cryptocurrency prices, creating volatility but also the potential for massive scaling opportunities.

These apps have embraced a high-volume, low-retention model by necessity. Day one retention averages just 19 percent, dropping to eight percent by day seven and a mere four percent by day 30.

Like neobanks, only a tiny percentage of their conversions come from retargeting as their business models depend on constantly attracting fresh users.

Interestingly, many investment apps rely on agencies and lesser-known media sources for user acquisition, contrasting sharply with the owned media strategies of traditional banks and neobanks.

This long-tail mix allows rapid scaling during bull markets but brings lower traffic quality.

Most tellingly, this segment is dominated by international players. Over 85 percent of non-organic installs in retail trading and investment apps in the key Western European regions of France, Germany, and the UK come from companies based in Australia, China, Eastern Europe, and Israel.

This stands in sharp contrast to nearly every other finance subvertical, where local Western European companies still hold the upper hand, with money transfer and investment apps as the only exceptions.

Each segment’s specialised approach, whilst effective within its niche, creates blind spots that competitors are exploiting.

Despite building substantial user bases through superior acquisition strategies, neobanks are essentially leaving money on the table. Their three-to-four percent retargeting rate suggests they’re treating customers as one-time acquisitions.

Traditional banks demonstrate that retargeting rates of 55 to 85 percent are achievable in financial services, so there is a significant opportunity for neobanks to improve customer lifetime value.

EXPANDING THE MEDIA MIX

Traditional banks remain locked into narrow acquisition channels.

Their 45 percent owned media dependence, whilst efficient for converting existing customers, limits their ability to expand beyond their current base.

The branch closure trend accelerates this challenge; as physical touchpoints disappear, traditional banks need new ways to attract first-time customers.

They need to take a leaf out of neobanks’ books and evolve their media strategies to capture users who discover financial services through digital-first journeys.

IMPROVING RETENTION STRATEGIES

Investment apps’ acceptance of four percent day-30 retention rates reflects an assumption that high churn is inevitable in volatile markets.

However, other financial service segments have proved that higher retention rates are achievable.

During bear markets, in particular, better retention strategies could mean the ability to survive downturns.

LEARNING FROM ADJACENT STRATEGIES

Specialisation may have worked in the past, but it is time for financial apps to learn from adjacent strategies.

Whether that means neobanks that already offer investment products putting more focus on them, or traditional banks scaling new user growth through diversified media, the opportunities exist.

One thing is clear – the most effective strategies aren’t always invented in-house.

In today’s crowded market, they’re often adapted from others who’ve already figured out what works.