PayPal became the most downloaded mobile payment app in Europe and the UK in 2020, bypassing even “star” neobanks like Monzo, TransferWise and Revolut.

AppAnnie analytical firm has studied the data on the number of downloads of payment apps in Estonia, France, Germany, Sweden and the UK to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their popularity, Bloomchain.ru reports. In all these countries, except Sweden, where the local Swish service is leading, PayPal has proven to be the most popular.

PayPal is usually written off in the discussions about the European fintech scene, but during the lockdown, the payment system recorded a massive influx of new users. Curiously, in the spring of 2020, people over the age of 50 made the fastest growing user segment of PayPal.

One of the reasons for PayPal’s popularity could be the ecosystem approach to business development, which CEO Dan Schulman has been promoting lately. While European fintech startups offer customers a very specific and rather narrow pool of services, PayPal aims to create a super app like WeChat or Alipay.

AppAnnie experts also note there has been a surge in digitalization of traditional banking services. The firm has analyzed the data on the total time users in France, Germany and the UK spent on mobile apps, and the results indicate the strong leadership of large banks at the national level.

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