Fintech Bloat: Why Every App Has a Wallet Now

How We Quietly Turned Marketplaces Into Banks — And What It Means for Users, UX, and Regulation

🔄 The Great Shift: From Apps to Ecosystems

The fintechization of everything is no longer a trend — it’s the default.
In 2025, everyone wants to be a finance company — even if they sell socks, stream songs, or deliver pizza.

Ordering a ride? Watching short videos? Buying a jacket? You’re probably interacting with a wallet, a stored balance, or a custom payment layer — even if you don’t notice.

This isn’t just a UX flourish. It’s a fundamental reimagining of digital platforms as financial ecosystems.

🧩 Why It’s Happening

Let’s break down five key reasons behind this trend:

1. Owning the Payment = Owning the Relationship
When you control payments, you control everything: user flow, data, incentives, and feedback. Platforms want to remove dependencies on external banks and PSPs — and own the rails end-to-end.

2. Monetization Becomes Native
Wallets unlock revenue in multiple layers: interchange, FX fees, idle balances, commissions on lending or insurance — and that’s before we get to premium financial features like BNPL or investments.

3. Infrastructure Is Easier Than Ever
Thanks to open banking APIs, white-label fintech providers, and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platforms, launching a wallet is no longer a two-year, multi-license effort. It’s weeks, not years — and accessible even to mid-size apps.

4. Stickier UX, Higher Retention
Once users hold a balance or link their bank cards, they’re less likely to churn. In-app payments also feel faster, safer, and more familiar than jumping to third-party checkouts.

5. Competitive FOMO
The final — and perhaps most honest — driver: no one wants to be left behind.
If TikTok, Uber, and Amazon are doing it, how can you not?

📱 Who’s Doing It — and Why

Plenty of major platforms are going all-in:

TikTok lets creators receive tips and gifts, stored as in-app balance and withdrawable via partnered payment rails.

Uber offers embedded debit cards, instant payouts, and driver wallets — turning their infrastructure into a financial layer.

Temu and Shein use internal credits for refunds and FX smoothing — creating a frictionless refund experience and cutting costs.

Amazon is exploring peer-to-peer payments to enable tipping and transfers within its ecosystem.

Even Starbucks and McDonald’s have loyalty-based wallet systems that allow for top-ups, rewards, and frictionless checkout — all with a banking-like feel.

The bottom line?
Apps are becoming banks — not in charter, but in function.

🚨 But There’s a Dark Side

Fintech isn’t free. And embedded wallets come at a cost.

Regulatory Complexity:
Even a basic wallet may require money service business licensing, consumer fund protection, and compliance with AML/KYC laws — especially in regions like the EU, UK, or US.

UX Fatigue:
Users didn’t ask for another wallet. And they certainly don’t want five of them — with balances scattered across apps they barely use.

Technical Risk:
Many apps rely on third-party fintech platforms. If those partners go down, freeze funds, or are targeted by regulators — the app takes the PR hit.

Brand Trust:
When payments fail or funds are locked, users don’t blame "the partner." They blame you.

🔮 Where It’s Going Next

Despite the risks, wallets are evolving:

• Multicurrency wallets are gaining popularity in travel and cross-border commerce.
• AI-powered smart wallets are being used to manage subscriptions, suggest savings strategies, or optimize FX conversions.
• Wallets-as-a-platform: Some apps are turning their internal infrastructure into products for others (think: Stripe, Adyen).
• Decentralized wallets are merging fiat and crypto rails, enabling users to pay and receive across systems.
• Minimalist wallets — a rising countertrend — strip fintech back to the essentials for clarity and trust.

In short: the wallet isn’t just a feature anymore. It’s becoming an identity layer
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Just because everyone else has a wallet… doesn’t mean you need one.

Wallets bring power. But they also bring friction, regulation, risk, and responsibility.

Ask not: “Can we build a wallet?”
Ask: “Should we?”

When done right, wallets can be powerful trust anchors and growth engines.
But when bolted on without purpose, they become dead weight — and dangerous.

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