What Fintechs Need to Do to Win SMEs Over, According to Mastercard
By Ali Paterson · 5 October 2026
Quick Summary
Pratik Khowala, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Transfer Solutions at Mastercard, says fintechs are already winning on user experience and cost-effective, near-instant transactions. The next step is embedding themselves into an SME's workflow through reconciliation and ERP integration, which he believes is how fintechs can turn today's fragmented 92% multi-provider usage into deeper loyalty.
What do fintechs need to do to compete with banks for SME business?
Asked what fintechs can really compete on, Khowala says they are "already winning" on the basics: better user experience and more cost-effective, more instant transactions than banks typically offer. The next step is adding the services SMEs are now asking for: reconciliation and ERP integration.
What happens if fintechs deliver on that?
Khowala says that if fintechs can deliver reconciliation and ERP integration alongside a strong user experience, they become embedded in an SME's operations, which is where real loyalty and trust get built. He raises the possibility that the 92% of SMEs currently using multiple providers could narrow to one or two trusted partners, if a fintech manages to own the SME's payments ecosystem end-to-end.
FF NEWS TAKE:
"Already winning" is a bold claim on user experience alone, but Khowala's real thesis is about embedding: the fintech that gets inside an SME's reconciliation and ERP workflow stops being a vendor and starts being infrastructure. That is a much harder position for a bank, or a rival fintech, to dislodge later.