| By Jim Bruene on August 24, 2009 6:10 PM | Comments (4) |
A few weeks ago, we noted a milestone at Apple's iPhone App Store, 1000 apps available in the finance category (U.S. store). I was been curious how that compared to Google's Android Market so today I did a quick comparison.
The Android market now has a respectable 211 apps in the finance category. However, few financial institutions have staked a claim. Only, Bank of America and Alliant Credit Union, had branded apps (see note 1, 2).
In comparison, the iTunes App Store has 11 U.S. banking apps and 3 from U.S. credit unions. That's up from 6 banks and no credit unions when we published our most recent report on the subject (see note 3). See the the following table for details. Did I miss any? Let me know in comments or email jim@netbanker.com
| Google Android (Rank) | Apple App Store (Rank) | |
| Number of finance apps | 211 | 1,089 |
| Number of U.S. bank-branded apps (note 1) (number shown is rank in the finance category) | #2 Bank of America | #1 Bank of America #2 USAA #3 Chase #4 Wells Fargo #10 E*Trade #13 Citibank #28 & 32 PNC Bank #43 BBVA Compass #156 IBC #409 1st Mariner Bank ATM/Branch locator #962 Plaza Bank Mtg Calc |
| Number of CU-branded apps | #30 Alliant CU -- ATM Locator | #185 Tech CU #327 CUloc8 (TDECU) #411 iDeposit (WV United FCU) |
Source: Online Banking Report tally, 24 Aug 2009
1. In addition, Qualcomm's Firethorn unit has an app that works with several dozen banks and card issuers including Citi, Chase, Wachovia, SunTrust and USAA. It's ranked tenth in the Android Market and 15th in the iPhone App Store. Also, in the Android Market, Visa has a beta app that works with Chase cards ranked #77. However, according to commenters, that test is ending in September.
2. There are another 15-20 international banks listed in the iPhone App Store.
3. Our Online Banking Report on iPhone Mobile Banking was published March 11, 2009.
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I'm not sure that I understand why Alliant Credit Union have chosen to put their application on Android instead of iphone, why opt for the least popular instead of just having both? I wonder if google android will ever actually compete with the iphone?
Good point Ed! I'm not sure Google's Android will compete with the iPhone either. But I do think the open source platform will grow in popularity as more devices embrace the technology.
The interesting metric to look at is BlackBerry users vs. iPhone users. The last report I saw stated something like 56% vs. 17% (I couldn't find the link) with the larger percentage belonging to BlackBerry.
As I've stated in this blog before, financial institutions should be looking at their target demographic when developing mobile apps. Ryan
Great review and update.
We have worked with Tech CU, Alliant CU, and the Allpoint network on iPhone and Android mobile app development.
The Google Android applications have been very competitive vs the iPhone downloads and will become greater when the new Motorola phones are launched later in the year.
Blackberry while having a lot of potential users has a variety of handsets to develop for and only one larger touch screen version on the Verizon network.
The next version of the BB Storm and Verizon's new app store will allow more standard apps as well for many devices. This might allow an app to be available on many more handsets.
Another Android phone coming out from Sprint -- http://www.cnet.com/8300-19736_1-251.html?tag=rb_content;overviewHead