Should banks enter the superapp race?

“There’s an app for that” was the slogan of Apple’s 2009 marketing campaign for the release of the third generation of its iPhone. This model featured the newly released App Store – and few could have predicted how profoundly apps would reshape daily life in the years ahead. 

Today, there really is an app for everything – whether for managing our finances, tracking our calorie intake, or gaming with friends. It is through these apps that we can realize the full potential of the supercomputer devices we carry in our pockets. But with so many apps fighting for our attention nowadays, users are growing fatigued – a 2024 report observed a 2.3% decline in global app installs for both iOS and Google Play.¹ Rather than installing an app for everything, there is growing appetite for a single app that does everything: the superapp. 

The superapp model isn’t new. In the last decade, WeChat in China has evolved from a simple messaging platform into an all-encompassing ecosystem, with over 1.3 billion users managing payments, food delivery, ride hailing, and so much more – all within a single app. Similar apps, such as Grab in parts of Southeast Asia and Gojek in Indonesia, have followed suit. 

The appeal of an “all-in-one” app is undeniable. By consolidating multiple services into a single platform, superapps create convenience, reduce friction, and increase user engagement. Consumers can find everything they need in one place, while businesses can create more touchpoints and access more data to strengthen customer loyalty and, ultimately, generate more revenue opportunities. 

Unsurprisingly, the superapp model is now gaining traction in the West. Klarna has expanded from buy-now-pay-later into fashion and lifestyle services. Revolut, like other neobanks, also offers insurance, eSIMs, and travel currency. Even Elon Musk has made no secret of his ambition to turn X (formerly Twitter) into an “everything app,” with X Money – a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment service – expected to go live in 2025. 

For established banks and payment service providers, superapps are a tempting opportunity. After all, if they don't expand their digital offerings, won’t they risk becoming obsolete? The answer is more nuanced than that. While digitalization is undeniably a necessary path to follow, the superapp model isn’t necessarily the right destination for financial institutions. In fact, pursuing it blindly could undermine the very foundation of their business: trust. 

Not all superapps are the same

At its core, a superapp is just a platform that integrates multiple services – payments, e-commerce, social media, transport, and entertainment – into a single interface. 

But not all superapps are built the same. One of the reasons the superapp model thrived so well in Asia is that, in many countries, banking infrastructure was less developed than in other markets, which created a vacuum for digital-first products to easily fill. The regulatory environment is less restrictive than in the West, enabling faster innovation and experimentation. Culturally, consumers are also more willing to centralize their digital lives at the expense of their digital privacy. 

In other parts of the world, the landscape is different. Banking infrastructure is more mature, which makes it harder to innovate at speed. Regulatory scrutiny is also more intense – particularly in the EU, where GDPR and PSD2 impose strict data protection requirements. Consumers are more conscious about their digital privacy.

All in all, Big Tech companies are simply better positioned to navigate these challenges. They understand user behavior at scale, enabling them to personalize experiences, iterate rapidly, and deploy resources that most banks cannot match. How these companies are perceived, compared with financial institutions, is also a differentiating factor. 

Big Tech companies are held to much lower standards than banks when it comes to data privacy. Despite repeated privacy scandals and data breaches by companies like Meta and X, consumers continue to engage with these platforms, suggesting convenience beats security – to a degree. These platforms are so deeply embedded in their daily lives that they can forgive such transgressions. At least until now, the reputational damage has not posed an existential threat. 

Banks face a much different reality. A single data breach or security lapse can permanently erode customer trust. When life savings are at stake, consumers rightly have less tolerance. This is both a warning for Big Tech companies pursuing the superapp model, and also a factor that should inform how banks approach digital expansion.

“The superapp model works for non-financial institutions because convenience is their most important currency,” says Bart Vullings, Senior Product Manager, G+D Netcetera. “For banks, it is trust – and once you lose it, it’s hard to get back. That’s why every expansion decision must be carefully weighed not just against revenue potential, but against any potential risks.”

There’s no question that banks must digitalize to stay relevant in the modern era. But they must do so without compromising the trust that distinguishes them from any other industry or institution. Competing with Big Tech on their terms is a losing strategy. Instead, banks should focus on what they do better than anyone else. 

Ultimately, Big Tech will have the upper hand when it comes to scaling and innovating at speed, but when it comes to trust and security, it cannot compete with financial institutions. The superapp model will no doubt continue to shape our daily behavior just as the first apps did nearly two decades ago. But that doesn’t mean banks need to be leading the change. 

The smarter path is to focus on building secure, user-centric digital experiences that reinforce their core value, while still delivering the convenient user experiences that superapps promise to deliver. With data breaches and digital fraud on the rise, there’s no better way to strengthen reputation and strengthen customer loyalty now and in the digital future. 

Published: 20/11/2025