The potential and proliferation of superapps has heralded a significant transformation in how end users can engage with financial services. Superapp use is not a futuristic reality, in fact, in some parts of the world, it’s the norm.
Superapps allow users to access various services, from messaging and social media to ecommerce and financial services within a single platform. No longer would an end user have to check their balance in a banking app to shop on a separate ecommerce app – with superapps, it can all function seamlessly in one place.
Superapps consolidates and replaces multiple apps for customer use and supports a composable business ecosystem as a single interface that accesses a range of component tools (miniapps) that the user can use and remove as needed.1
1 Gartner, What Is a Superapp? September 2022
Superapps powered by blockchain technology are superb-apps
Used together, superapps and blockchain technology can enhance decentralization. While superapps offer users a wide range of services within a single platform, creating a centralized experience, blockchain technology enables decentralization by allowing multiple parties to participate in a network without a central authority. Therefore, blockchain technology creates decentralized superapps where users have more control over their data and interactions with the platform.
Superapps and blockchain technology seem destined to team up to enhance the access, speed, security and efficiency of the end user experience. Tokenized real-world assets (RWA), currency or loyalty points can be integrated into a superapp on the blockchain, inspiring developers to create new and innovative ways for users to interact with the platform and its services, increasing the composability of the application.
Blockchain technology can also create more secure and transparent superapps as developers can create a tamper-proof ledger of all transactions and interactions on the platform, increasing transparency and accountability.
Blockchain allows for the decentralization of data storage and processing, meaning that there is no single point of failure or control. This can help supperapps create a more reliable and resilient platform that is less vulnerable to attacks or significant downtime.
Why are enterprises focusing on superapps?
These apps are growing because their popularity among the younger generations – current and future end users of financial services – will help shape the industry for years to come. In 2022, the global superapps market was valued at $61B and is expected to expand to $426B by 2030.
While much of the focus has been on the impact of superapps on retail users, there are also benefits of superapps for enterprise fintechs, including:
- Importance of integration. Developers must be able to integrate various services into a single platform seamlessly to make a superapp successful. This requires high technical expertise and a deep understanding of user needs. Future enterprises building platforms must prioritize integration to compete in this space.
- Shifting the focus from individual services to the user experience. Users are drawn to superapps because they offer a convenient, seamless experience across various services. As a result, future enterprises building platforms will need to prioritize user experience design and invest in creating intuitive, user-friendly interfaces.
- Driving innovation in the service options. By combining multiple services in a single platform, superapps can create new and innovative services that may not have been possible. Future enterprises building platforms will need to be creative and agile to stay ahead of the curve and continue offering new and innovative services to their users.
Superapps are popular in many parts of the world, with examples such as WeChat serving over 1.2 billion global users. If predictions are accurate, many of the world’s largest enterprises and institutions will want to take full advantage of putting this much power into end users’ hands. In return they can see numerous benefits such as:
Enhanced customer experience
Superapps offer many benefits for enterprise fintech, the most significant being the potential to elevate the customer experience. Integrating numerous financial services into a single platform eliminates the need for customers to navigate multiple applications or websites, reducing transactional friction and improving convenience.
This results in a simplified and streamlined customer journey, which leads to increased satisfaction and loyalty. Moreover, superapps can help leverage customer data to personalize and tailor services to individual needs, resulting in a highly personalized customer experience that can increase engagement.
Diversified revenue streams
Superapps present a significant opportunity for enterprise fintech to diversify their revenue streams by providing a comprehensive range of financial services under one platform. Integrating multiple services into a single platform allows for cross-selling and upselling, opening up new markets and demographics for enterprises. This enhances revenue growth prospects and mitigates the risks associated with overreliance on a single service or product.
The ability to generate diversified revenue streams through superapps is particularly pertinent in today’s fast-paced and evolving fintech landscape. With increased competition and changing customer demands, enterprises must continually innovate and adapt to remain relevant. By adopting superapps, enterprises can stay ahead of the curve and offer a comprehensive range of services that meet the ever-changing needs and expectations of their customers.
Data insights and analytics
Superapps offer enterprise fintech companies an unprecedented opportunity to gain valuable insights into customer behavior through improved data analytics. By integrating multiple services on a single platform, superapps generate rich, detailed customer data across various services, including digital payments, investments, insurance and more.
The compiled data is analyzed to extract insights that can inform enterprise fintech’s business strategies and operations. For instance, by analyzing purchase patterns, enterprises can identify emerging trends, understand customer preferences, and tailor their services to meet their customers’ needs.
Streamlined operations and cost savings
Deploying superapps can lead to streamlined operations and cost savings for enterprise fintechs. Consolidating multiple services under a single platform eliminates the need for interoperability between different systems and teams, which leads to a reduction in operational costs. Subsequently, this allows enterprise fintech to allocate resources to other areas, such as product development and marketing, which can contribute to better business outcomes.
The future looks bright for superapps
Superapps are disrupting the financial industry and the benefits for enterprise fintech are numerous. They can help enterprise fintech deliver an enhanced customer experience, generate diversified revenue streams, offer valuable data insights, streamline operations and reduce costs, and provide a distinct competitive edge. As the fintech industry evolves, superapps should be at the forefront of enterprise fintech’s strategic planning to remain relevant and successful.
The rise of superapps represents a significant shift in how users interact with digital platforms. Future enterprises building platforms must take note of this trend and prioritize integration, user experience and innovation to remain competitive.
Blockchain allows for the creation of digital tokens that can be used to represent assets, currencies or other forms of value that supperapps can use to create engagement, or facilitate in-app transactions.
Overall, blockchain technology can help supperapps to create a more secure, reliable, transparent and efficient platform that can better serve the needs of their users – while also helping these multifaceted apps live up to their name.
Want to learn more about what blockchain infrastructure technology can do for your enterprise?