Google is making things confusing with its proliferating wallets.
Google, now part of an umbrella company called Alphabet, recently repositioned Google Wallet as a pure person-to-person payment app, reserving in-store payments for its yet-to-be-released Android Pay app. The old Google Wallet app will be renamed “Android Pay,” while the P2P option moved to a new app called “Google Wallet (New)”. But Google Wallet (Old) is still kicking around, causing some needless confusion. In any event, both showed up in the Google Play rankings this week.
Another potential source of confusion for Android customers is Capital One’s beta version of its fifth-generation app, which is also in the Top 20 this week. The apps fall close together in the rankings, at No. 6 for the legacy app and No. 8 for the beta. This must mean significant overlap in the customer base.
On the iOS side, a second app from JPMorgan Chase made an appearance on the list — its Chase Freedom credit card management app debuted at #14 this week. This highlights a mobile app strategy that splits the big banks: one app or many? Citigroup is a notable example of banks that use one consumer app to manage multiple accounts.
Another point of interest. Android Pay is — or will be — an app. Apple Pay isn’t. This, along with the continuing improvement of the mobile browser experience, could be taken as a sign of the decreasing importance of apps in financial services.
Here are this week’s lists from the iOS App Store and Google Play store for free financial apps.
iOS | Google Play |
1. Chase Mobile | 1. Google Wallet (New) |
2. Bank of America | 2.Credit Karma |
3. PayPal | 3. Chase Mobile |
4. Wells Fargo Mobile | 4. Bank of America |
5. Capital One Mobile | 5. Wells Fargo Mobile |
6. Venmo | 6. Capital One Mobile |
7. Credit Karma | 7. PayPal |
8. Square Cash | 8. Capital One Mobile Beta |
9. Mint | 9. Venmo |
10. GEICO Mobile | 10. Google Wallet |
11. Discover Mobile | 11. Square Cash |
12. Citi Mobile | 12. GEICO Mobile |
13. Amex Mobile | 13. Money Network |
14. Chase Freedom Mobile | 14. Progressive |
15. USAA Mobile | 15. Discover |
16. Progressive | 16. Western Union Money Transfer |
17. Western Union Money Transfer | 17. USAA Mobile |
18. Navy Federal Credit Union | 18. Mint |
19. US Bank | 19. Yahoo Finance |
20. TD Bank (US) | 20. First Citizens |
Data was retrieved from App Annie around 10:00 AM EST.
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