E-commerce apps win the sale. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), lending, and other fintech apps win new customers.
Singles’ Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, 12.12, and the year-end holidays bring millions of high-intent shoppers online, which makes Q4 one of the most competitive periods of the year for commerce apps. Every one of those purchases also raises a second question: how will the shopper pay?
That question is the fintech peak shopping season opportunity. As shopping activity rises, so does demand for financial products that give consumers more payment flexibility, including Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), digital credit, and short-term lending apps. Peak season belongs to e-commerce and fintech apps alike, and for fintech marketers, it’s a user acquisition (UA) opportunity in its own right.
How Big Is the Payment Side of Peak Season?
Big, and mostly mobile. During the 2025 U.S. holiday season, consumers spent $20 billion online using BNPL, up 9.8% year over year, according to Adobe. Smartphones drove 82.2% of that BNPL spend, and Cyber Monday alone generated more than $1 billion in BNPL purchases.
Those figures cover the U.S., but the pattern repeats in many other markets. When shopping intent rises, demand for flexible ways to finance purchases can rise with it. In mobile-first markets such as Southeast Asia and India, that overlap matters even more.
So peak season is relevant beyond marketplaces, fashion retailers, and quick-commerce (Q-commerce) apps. It also matters to the fintech companies sitting alongside the transaction.
What Should Fintech Apps Measure During Peak Season?
Measure the financial outcome. Generating more installs during peak season isn’t enough. What matters is whether those users progress through the funnel: registration, know-your-customer (KYC) checks, credit application, approval, and ultimately a transaction or loan disbursement.
Fintech UA should be measured beyond cost per install (CPI). Three AVOW fintech campaigns show why.
Billease: Downstream Growth Outpacing Installs
Billease, the Philippines’ leading BNPL platform, serves unbanked and underbanked consumers. It wanted to reach high-intent users without traditional credit cards. It also needed registrations that could pass strict KYC and credit approvals, then convert into a first transaction or loan withdrawal.
AVOW scaled Billease across mobile original equipment manufacturer (OEM) inventory from Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, Huawei, and Transsion brands. The campaigns used Dynamic Preloads and native formats to guide users through KYC approval. By May 2026, monthly installs had grown 602%. Account creations grew faster, up 681%, and auto-approved loans rose 957%, with a 58.6% install-to-account-creation rate.
“Within just a few months of partnering with them, we saw a 10% increase in our user base.”
– Jose Fernandez, CMO, Billease
Kredivo: 46% Install-to-Loan-Application Rate
Kredivo offers real-time credit evaluations for e-commerce purchases and personal loans in Indonesia. Its BNPL feature lets users shop at top merchants and pay in installments, which puts it right at the point of purchase. With AVOW managing Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo inventory as a one-stop solution, Kredivo achieved a 46% install-to-loan-application rate, alongside 2.2x year-over-year volume growth and 4.7x growth in user spending.
mPokket: 60% More Loan Disbursements in One Month
mPokket, an instant loan app in India, offers small-ticket, short-term loans. AVOW combined OEM and direct sources to scale user acquisition while keeping traffic quality high. In December 2024, AVOW’s share of mPokket’s loan disbursals rose 60% against the previous monthly average. Over six months, the campaigns delivered close to 490,000 installs, with a 30% average install-to-registration rate and a 15% average registration-to-loan rate.
| App | Market | OEM partners | Key result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billease | Philippines | Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Huawei, Transsion | +957% auto-approved loans |
| Kredivo | Indonesia | Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo | 46% install-to-loan-application rate |
| mPokket | India | OEM and direct sources | +60% loan disbursements in one month |
The principle is simple. Optimize toward the financial outcome, not the app install. See more results like these in AVOW’s success stories.
When Should Your Fintech Peak Shopping Season Campaign Start?
Start before competition peaks. AVOW’s E-commerce Playbook explains why shopping apps should diversify their acquisition mix before competition reaches its November high. The same logic applies to fintech.
Waiting until Black Friday to acquire a new BNPL or lending customer means competing for attention exactly when advertising demand is highest. Use the weeks ahead of major shopping events instead: build awareness, acquire qualified users, and move them through onboarding before purchase intent peaks.
Where Does Mobile OEM Advertising Fit?
Mobile OEM advertising gives fintech brands access to placements across the device ecosystem, including app stores, recommendations, native formats, and Dynamic Preloads. That’s another route to high-intent Android audiences, outside increasingly crowded traditional channels.
Traffic quality matters as much as reach. All three case studies point to fraud-free or virtually fraud-free traffic through OEM inventory. Fake installs never reach approval, so clean traffic protects the whole funnel.
Peak Season Is a Financial Journey, Too
Around every purchase sits a wider mobile ecosystem: the marketplace where consumers discover a product, the wallet they use to pay, and, for some, the BNPL or credit service that gives them more flexibility to complete the transaction. The brands that win are present before that financial need occurs.
Measure success accordingly: registrations, approved customers, transactions, loan applications, and, ultimately, sustainable customer value. This peak season, follow the financial journey happening alongside the shopping journey.
Can mobile OEM advertising drive loan approvals, not just installs?
Yes. Billease grew auto-approved loans by 957%, Kredivo achieved a 46% install-to-loan-application rate, and mPokket saw a 15% average registration-to-loan rate.
See how mobile OEM advertising can help your fintech app acquire and convert users before peak season → Book a demo
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does peak shopping season matter for fintech apps?
When shopping intent rises, demand for flexible payment options rises with it. During the 2025 U.S. holiday season, consumers spent $20 billion online using BNPL, up 9.8% year over year, and smartphones drove 82.2% of that spend.
Which fintech apps benefit from peak shopping season?
Apps that give shoppers more payment flexibility benefit most, including Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), digital credit, and short-term lending apps.
What should fintech apps measure beyond installs?
Measure progress through the funnel: registration, KYC, credit application, approval, and ultimately a transaction or loan disbursement.
When should fintech apps start peak season campaigns?
Start in the weeks ahead of major shopping events, before advertising demand peaks around Black Friday. That leaves time to acquire users and move them through onboarding before purchase intent peaks.
What is mobile OEM advertising?
Mobile OEM advertising gives advertisers access to placements across the device ecosystem, including app stores, recommendations, native formats, and Dynamic Preloads. It reaches high-intent Android audiences outside crowded traditional channels.
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