Combined Mexican banking downloads reached 57m in April 2023 – April 2024, a 23% increase YoY. Incumbent banks dominated and saw a combined 39.9m app installs in 2024, a 74% share of total downloads during the period. This was a 30% increase from the previous 12 months. Neobanks saw 17.8m downloads in April 2023 – April 2024, a 26% share of downloads and a 10% increase YoY.
The main reason for the exceptional growth from incumbents over the past 12 months is Banco del Bienestar’s mobile app. Mexican President López Obrador decided to expand upon his socialist vision for Mexico to create the “Bank of the Poor”. Those who are getting government financial support will benefit the most from Banco del Bienestar. This includes disabled individuals, the elderly, students with scholarships, and Mexicans who do government-funded charity work. Banco del Bienestar’s mobile app had 10.6m downloads from April 2023 – April 2024, a 280% increase YoY and accounted for more than a quarter of incumbent bank downloads.
BBVA, a retail bank, was the most downloaded Mexican banking app from 2017 – April 2024 with a total of 53.6m downloads. BBVA had 10.1m downloads from April 2023 – April 2024, a 13% increase YoY. The app reviews for BBVA are very good with an average rating of 4.6 on the play store. Users express frustration with certain aspects of the app, such as having to log out and log back in to pay personal credits. Other users praise its functionality when it works smoothly but noted occasional bugs causing loading issues or freezing screens, though they acknowledged improvements through updates.
Nubank, a Brazilian based neobank, was the most downloaded Mexican neobank app from 2017 – April 2024 with a total of 15.7m downloads. Nubank had 7.5m downloads from April 2023 – April 2024, a 46% increase YoY. Nubank saw an average download rating of 3.9 on the play store and has very mixed reviews. Users criticize the customer support, particularly regarding difficulties in obtaining refunds for cancelled purchases. Other users praise the app’s reliability, credit line growth, and responsive customer service, emphasizing the positive impact of its features and the caring attitude of the support team.
