Thailand sees Fintech app installs more than double despite marketing spend increase of just 25%

AppsFlyer, the global attribution leader, released its 2021 edition of the State of Finance App Marketing report and found that in Thailand marketing spend drove a disproportionate surge in non-organic installs (NOI). From Q1 2020 to Q1 2021, a 25% increase in marketing spend saw installs more than double to 56%.

This can be attributed to strong demand for Fintech Apps in Thailand; which increased by 64% during the same period. In fact, Thailand was the only Southeast Asian (SEA) country that did not see a drop in consumer demand when lockdowns began in Q2 2020, noting instead a rise of 9%.

AppsFlyer’s 2021 State of Finance App Marketing report tracked 2.7 billion app installs in Asia-Pacific (APAC) between Q1 2019 and Q1 2021, of 4.7 billion app installs globally. The report also examined 600 million non-organic installs and 1,230 apps across SEA markets including Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Finance Apps in the report have also been separated into different categories, such as Digital Banks, Traditional Banks, Financial Services, Loans, and Investments.

Though higher marketing spend typically drives NOIs — this was not the case during lockdowns in Thailand. According to the report, Thailand saw NOIs growth by 32% (from 13.9% to 18.3%) between Q2 2020 to Q3 2020, despite marketing spend falling during the same period. Marketers were also more cautious in Thailand, and only chose to increase their re-marketing and user acquisition efforts post-lockdown. To keep up with the rise in demand for Fintech apps, Thai marketers increased their overall spend to a whopping 94%. 

Ronen Mense, Managing Director & President, APAC, AppsFlyer, says, “2020 was a game changer year, impacting how businesses and consumers interact and operate. The Fintech sector has radically adapted to the changing environment and accelerated digital transformation, especially in developing markets where many are unbanked or underbanked. Although Thailand has seen success throughout the global pandemic, marketers should continue to focus on meeting this increase in demand through remarketing and user acquisition campaigns to be successful amongst competitors.”

Overall, marketers in SEA spent a total of US$244 million investing in Fintech apps to acquire new users in 2020, which accounts for 8% of global spend.

The report also highlights another reason why Finance app demand might be so high across the country; Thai users are Fintech savvy at utilising a variety of finance apps on their mobile devices. Though Investment apps are most popular (31%), Loan apps and Financial Services apps — which includes mobile payment and credit card apps — follow close behind at 25% and 24% respectively.

When it comes to fraud, rates in SEA are typically high, although this has been improving over the past few years. Between Q1 2020 and Q1 2021, fraud declined by 20%, owing to significant improvements in anti-fraud solutions. Marketers in the region have also begun fighting back, with AppsFlyer’s report showing declining fraud rates across all popular Thai Fintech apps — Financial Services apps saw a 48% decline, Investment apps experienced a 36% drop, while Loan apps noted a 33% decrease.

To access the full version of the latest AppsFlyer 2021 State of App Finance Marketing Report, please visit: https://www.appsflyer.com/state-of-finance-2021/