Super App

Instead of downloading separate apps for each service, users of a super app can do many everyday tasks in one place. Financial services, especially payments, are usually at the heart of super apps, linking the different services together.

The best-known examples come from Asia. China’s WeChat, run by Tencent, began as a messaging app and expanded into payments, shopping, bill payment, government services and mini-programs from other businesses. Alipay, run by Ant Group, combines payments with savings, investments, insurance and lending. In Southeast Asia, Grab offers ride-hailing, food delivery, payments and financial services. India’s Paytm developed in a similar direction.

For example, a user of a super app might chat with friends, order dinner, book a taxi, pay utility bills and invest savings without leaving the app.

Super apps benefit from network effects and large amounts of customer data, which they can use to offer personalised services and credit. However, they raise concerns about competition, data privacy and concentration of financial risk. Several Western technology companies have expressed ambitions to build super apps, but none has matched the scale of the Asian examples.