UK neobank app users are on track to surpass legacy banks for the first time by Q1 2025, according to research conducted on the Google Play Store by SplitMetrics.
Following a strong first half to 2024, UK neobanks are now only six million users behind legacy banks with an estimated 62 million lifetime Google Play Store app downloads, compared to the 68 million for UK legacy banks.
UK neobanks added an estimated 9.5 million new Android users in the first half of 2024, 81% more than UK legacy banks which gained only an estimated four million new users. If this trend is repeated in the second half of the year, neobanks will reach 71.5 million app users versus 72 million for legacy banks.
Revolut leads the pack with the most users added in H1 2024 with 7.9 million, accounting for 41% of new banking app downloads, followed by Santander Spain (1.2m), Monzo (935k), Credit Agricole (836k) and Lloyds (655k).
In terms of lifetime downloads, the top five Android apps are Revolut (46m), Credit Agricole (16m), Santander Spain (13m), Barclays (13m) and Intesa Sanpaolo (11m).
Thomas Kriebernegg, general manager, SplitMetrics Agency, comments: “Neobanks had a strong start to 2024 and are moving ever closer to closing the gap with legacy banks, especially in the UK.
“UK banking fintechs are growing at a much faster pace than legacy banks quarter-to-quarter, and account for an impressive 50% of all new banking app users in the first half of 2024."
Looking at the European and UK banking sector as a whole, the survey predicts that 2024 is likely to be a record-breaking year in terms of new Android users.
SplitMetrics found that banking apps on Android devices gained an estimated 19 million new downloads in H1 2024 - a 23% increase from 16 million in the same period in 2023.