Lots of things are done by app these days, and one that isn't as attractive but is very important is banking. Capital One, Chase, and other traditional banks have seen downloads grow consistently over the last couple of years.
But one rival has been growing faster...
Chime, a digital competitor that has no physical locations (but is backed by a bank that does), has been growing rapidly over the last few years and is now on equal footing with the top traditional banks in terms of downloads.
And I'm talking a lot of downloads!
According to our estimates, Chime added 8.6M new downloads in 2021, skipping ahead of Chase, which added 8.3M downloads, Bank of America, which added 7M downloads, and Wells Fargo, with 6.5M new downloads.
The only app Chime hasn't skipped over yet is Capital One, which still maintains a narrow lead. But that won't last too long.
We've seen a few digital banks come and go over the years, so this isn't necessarily a threat to traditional banks. But... with the need for physical human interaction disappearing fast, a fee-less bank account that isn't trying to push its million other services because it doesn't have any seems like a better choice.
So, maybe it's a threat after all.
December saw a curious split: downloads dropped 2% while revenue sat at $1.3B. ChatGPT and TikTok dominated both charts as the mobile industry enters a new maturity phase.
Wall Street bet $2 billion on Polymarket, and downloads surged 1,172% in December. The prediction market banned in 2022 is now where Wall Street looks for signals.