Top Canadian Mobile Banking Apps' User Base Grew 40% in 2020

Although Canada's mobile banking landscape is relatively mature and stable, a number of key trends emerged in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform reveals that mobile banking apps will continue to see consistent growth among Canadian consumers through 2021 and 2022, while other categories such as fintech have seen supercharged adoption.

Canada's Mobile Banking User Base Climbed 40% in 2020

The top 10 mobile banking apps in Canada saw an acceleration in monthly active users in March and April 2020 at the onset of COVID-19. Although the pace of growth slowed in the latter part of the year, usage of these apps remains up 40 percent compared to January 2018.

TD Canada Leads the Way in Weekly Time Spent

TD Canada was the most downloaded mobile banking app from Canada's App Store and Google Play in 2020. In the first quarter of 2021, the app also led the category by weekly time spent. TD Canada's mobile app averaged more than eight minutes spent each week by its users, due to a high average session count.

Other top mobile banking apps, including RBC and Scotiabank, averaged between six and eight minutes of weekly time spent by their users.

Asset Management Is on the Rise

Sensor Tower recently reported that asset management apps had a record-breaking start to 2021 in the United States. This trend was also seen in Canada where the category saw a sharp uptick in adoption toward the end of 2020. Throughout the year, the top asset management apps led the finance category on Canada's marketplaces, whereas the top budgeting apps saw a dip in first-time downloads.

The surge of consumer interest in asset management might be due to users reallocating funds to stock portfolios rather than travel or leisure as they sheltered in place due to the ongoing pandemic.

Future Growth Opportunities

While the top mobile banking players on Canada's app stores have remained consistent over the last three years, fintech has seen acceleration of certain trends, such as the supercharged adoption experienced by asset management apps. It's possible that COVID-19 will have a knock-on effect in these particular categories, depending on whether consumer interest stays elevated or returns to normal as the economy continues to recover.