In Asia-Pacific (APAC), finance applications are seeing a slow down in installs, indicating a market correction after years of rapid growth and increased maturity, according to a new report by AppsFlyer and Google.

At the same time, companies are pivoting from aggressive customer acquisition to user retention, as providers become more careful with budgets and prioritize re-engagement.

In 2025, fintech app installs in Asia-Pacific (APAC) declined 17% year-over-year (YoY), marking the first broad correction the region has seen in recent years. India experienced the sharpest decline, dropping 22% YoY. However, the country remained the region’s largest volume contributor, accounting for 40% of the total market share. Thailand followed, declining 40%, while Vietnam dropped 20%, reflecting maturing adoption of finance apps in markets where penetration is already widespread.

At the same time, APAC finance app providers are increasingly showing tighter spending decision. In particular, user acquisition investment contracted sharply across the region in 2025, with total spend declining approximately 27% YoY. The Indian subcontinent, comprising India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, recorded the steepest contraction at 38%, driven by a 42% drop in India alone. Southeast Asia declined by 27%, led by Thailand and Vietnam, with 55% and 48% drops, respectively.

In contrast, Japan and South Korea recorded modest overall growth of 3%, reflecting more stable acquisition environments, while Australia increased 16% YoY.

Growth markets see increased in paid campaigns

The research also shows that while overall finance installs declined, the share of installs driven by paid campaigns expanded in growth ecosystems. Indonesia recorded one of the clearest increases in paid install rates for finance apps, reaching roughly 21% by Q4 2025, nearly double the levels seen in early 2024. At the category level, Indonesia’s investment segment saw a surge in paid install share, jumping from 22% in Q4 2024 to 45% in Q4 2025. This highlights continued expansion in markets with strong monetization potential.

After Indonesia, Vietnam followed a similar trajectory, with paid install rates climbing from 12% to about 21% over the same period.

Conversely, mature ecosystems moved in the opposite direction, pulling back amid budget tightening. In Australia, the paid install rate declined sharply, falling from 49% in early 2024 to roughly 15% by late 2025. These findings suggest that companies are prioritizing high-potential, lower-saturation regions for expansion and paid acquisition, while treating established, mature markets as cost centers to be optimized for efficiency and lifecycle engagement.

Remarketing spend surges

While user acquisition budgets contracted across APAC’s financial apps, remarketing investment accelerated in selected markets. Remarketing spend refers to the portion of an advertising budget used to target people who have already interacted with a brand in order to bring them back and convert them.

Across APAC, Southeast Asia recorded the strongest expansion, with remarketing spend increasing 193% YoY. This was led by Thailand, where remarketing spend surged 339%, followed by the Philippines with 241%, Vietnam with 161%, and Indonesia with 144%. This reflects a meaningful shift in spending from user growth toward engagement depth.

Japan and South Korea followed a steadier trajectory, with remarketing spend rising 74% overall, further reflecting sustained lifecycle investment in mature ecosystems.

Install fraud declines

The study also found that install fraud across APAC finance declined in 2025. The regional average fraud rate fell from 41% in 2024 to 22% in 2025, reflecting strengthened detection frameworks and a broader shift toward higher-quality traffic sources.

Improvements were most visible in historically high-risk verticals. Investment fraud rates declined from 26% to 8%, becoming the category with the lowest exposure in 2025. Personal loans as well improved, rising from 31% to 14%. Mobile banking, meanwhile, remained the highest-risk vertical at 29%, despite a significant decline from prior-year levels.

At the market level, Thailand and South Korea were among the lowest-risk ecosystems in the region, recording fraud rates of 3% each. They were followed by the Philippines reached at 9%, and India at 11%, reflecting sustained quality improvement. However, elevated exposure persisted in specific markets, with Vietnam recording a 46% install fraud rate and Bangladesh, 35%.

Mobile apps dominate banking interactions

Mobile apps have become the primary banking touchpoint around the world. According to Accenture’s Global Banking Consumer Study 2025, customers are averaging 150 app interactions in the category per year, representing the highest frequency among service channels.

Penetration is particularly high in Southeast Asia where 81% of consumers have used an app, and 32% have used a website to access financial services, according to the 2024 Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study.

This shift has accelerated the adoption of digital banks. These companies operate as digital-first entities whose services are only accessible online via an app or a website. In Southeast Asia, most consumers engage with virtual banks at least weekly, with Vietnam and Thailand showing the highest adoption rates at 87%, the Visa study shows.

Part of the appeal of digital banks is their ability to provide users with access to bank accounts (69%), a leading product among Southeast Asian consumers, closely followed by debit (43%) and credit (38%) cards, it found.

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