The metaphors to explain the superapp concept are many – according to the New York Times, a superapp is a digital Swiss Army knife – but, to put it in simple terms, we can say that it is an application that, alone, encompasses features of hundreds or thousands of other applications (miniapps), and in it all-day tasks, such as calling a taxi, paying taxes, scheduling an appointment, and booking a restaurant, are solved by mobile phone and with a single password. It seems unfeasible or requires a very expensive subscription, but it is not. As there are many services offered within the same platform, one ends up providing inputs to the other, which not only generates profit for the platform, but allows some services to have increasingly reduced rates.
But it is not only about being a multi-feature platform or with millions of users, superapps are open source and anyone can allocate their miniapp, just like we create profiles on Facebook, whether it’s an individual selling tea, a corporation offering streaming services, or a government entity collecting taxes. Everyone uses the payment features of the superapp, as if it were a single currency.
According to the Pew Research Center, each Brazilian smartphone user has, on average, 70 to 80 apps, and almost half are not even used. But beyond a context of exchanging the excess of useless applications for optimization of storage space in smartphones, the ease of payment and the possibility of carrying out other financial transactions in a secure and uncomplicated way seems to be the great attraction of superapps.
And there is an extremely important social aspect in the development of a simplified technology, since Brazilians, for instance, prefer to access services by mobile phones, but most have simple devices with limited memory, not to mention the large number of people with little technological education who face difficulties in using more complex technologies and in combining the use of several applications to carry out a single transaction. A platform that requires less smartphone performance and allows an easy use of its features will allow a greater number of users to enjoy the same technological advantages. It is yet another achievement within the fourth generation of human rights – universal access to technological advancement – as it is estimated that by 2027 half of the global population will use superapps.
The Chinese experience is a lesson in how quickly and deeply a superapp can transform a society. The first superapp, WeChat, appeared in 2011 and the early idea was to exchange messages instead of social media in a country where citizens are monitored and cannot choose what to access. After texting, the Chinese started using the marketplace and payment tool of WeChat, and the app became a giant, with more than 1 million miniapps, including public services (such as licenses and divorce), with daily access of more than 1.25 billion people and with such a social and economic impact that paper money and credit cards disappeared: China became the first cashless society on the planet, and this is due to WeChat.
And this is already the most used software in history, it has only one competitor in China, much smaller, but still gigantic, AliPay, from the Alibaba group, and Asia still has Gojek in Indonesia (which started as a ride-hailing app) and Paytm in India (which started with prepaid mobile charges), but with the success of WeChat, the Western market has turned its eyes to this new big business, and giants such as Microsoft and billionaire Elon Musk, even with little participation so far in the mobile market, have declared that they will develop technology for superapps in 2023.
Brazil has not yet developed any superapp, although retail and delivery leaders already call themselves such. Not even the US has its superapp, as big techs, such as Google and Apple, invest billions to prevent its emergence and maintain market hegemony, with the support of an Executive Branch and a Congress with a current protective configuration that imposes a powerful barrier to its creation.
It is not inconsistent that in the face of the concentration of information and data, the first reason for the success and tolerance and subsequent support of the wary Chinese government to WeChat, liberal societies question themselves about possible inconveniences and risks to citizens’ privacy. However, the reality of Western society will allow us to import the design of WeChat, but we will not have superapps like the Asians. In markets such as Brazil, the trend is the rapid decentralization of entrepreneurs and the rise of applications adapted to our demands and our social model.
In addition, Brazil not only has an advanced regulatory tradition, but also vigilant representatives of the Government and legislation to prevent and repress the formation of monopolies, to protect user data, and strong consumer, citizen, and taxpayer protection legislation, which will guarantee the accountability of suppliers and the Government within a superapp. An example of our protective and regulatory tradition in the face of technology is that in June Brazil will present a draft Resolution at the UN Human Rights Council for the regulation of artificial intelligence, supported by Denmark, South Korea, and other democracies.
Here, the banking system platforms take the forefront, since they already have extensive experience in transaction security and millions of registered users, just offering more and more features and ease of navigation – because the better the experience, the more loyal the customer becomes.
In this scenario, the only lack is of information (given that almost nothing was produced in Portuguese, by the media or scholars, on such a relevant topic) and education for consumption and technology so that Brazilians are prepared to consciously opine on the risks and advantages of its implementation. The regulatory activity of the Government isolated from enlightened popular participation will maintain technological marginalization, excluding from the right to its full enjoyment.
What is more, we are facing a turning point in history: for the first time, the East launches – or rather imposes – the technological trend of the coming decades on the West. The global trend was changed with the inconceivable growth of the Chinese internet, where the social and political mold led to a digital and financial revolution. Superapps seem inevitable, and in Brazil a revolution that makes the use of technology more fair, conscious and sustainable will be welcomed.
SOURCES
- “Aplicativos de bancos evoluem e ganham novas funções”. Available at: https://febrabantech.febraban.org.br/temas/banco-digital/aplicativos-de-bancos-evoluem-e-ganham-novas-funces.
- “Engatinhando no Brasil, superapps se empenham em conquistar brasileiros”. Available at https://febrabantech.febraban.org.br/temas/meios-de-pagamento/engatinhando-no-brasil-superapps-se-empenham-em-conquistar-brasileiros.
- Financial Times. “The real reason most super apps are not super great”. Available at https://www.ft.com/content/9ab775cc-d596-4e0b-aa3e-34e9111ec431.
- Forbes Magazine. “The Shift To Super Apps: Will The Latest Trend Of Tech Giants Make Consumers Stay Online For Longer?”. Available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/columbiabusinessschool/2022/03/08/the-shift-to-super-apps-will-the-latest-trend-of-tech-giants-make-consumers-stay-online-for-longer/.
- “Super apps: o que são e como funciona a nova tecnologia”. Available at https://www.gartner.com.br/pt-br/artigos/o-que-e-um-superapp.
- Harvard Business Review. “Are Super-Apps Coming to the U.S. Market?”. Available at https://hbr.org/2023/04/are-super-apps-coming-to-the-u-s-market.
- New York Magazine. “Super-Apps Are Inevitable – Get ready for the first $10 trillion tech company”. Available at: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/11/facebook-metaverse-super-apps.html.
- New York Times. “China Internet is Flowering – And It Might Be Our Future”. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/11/13/magazine/internet-china-wechat.htm.
- “Brazil is the 5th Country in Smartphone Usage”. Available at: https://www.pagbrasil.com/insights/smartphone-usage-in-brazil/.
Available at: https://www.estadao.com.br/politica/blog-do-fausto-macedo/superapps-a-tecnologia-oriental-e-os-direitos-humanos/
Autor: Carolina Vieira Bitante • email: carolina.bitante@ernestoborges.com.br
