Change is happening so fast in the SME Finance space it's hard to even keep up with the terminology. First it was digital disruption which perhaps was too broad of term so we now have "the fintech". If you really want to go back I believe the term Cybernation was coined as far back as the mid-1960s; call it what you may, digital banking is here to stay.

2015 has been a great year in the SME space with numerous non-bank players entering the market with a various flavors of online self-serve short term working capital products, as well as peer to peer lenders offering finance on everything from equipment finance to construction finance. Many of the established non-bank lenders are also rushing to re-invent their business model. The great money race to capture market share from the traditional deposit holding institutions has shifted gears!

Exponential innovations are rapidly crossing boundaries we could never imagine in the past, and as a result, new entrants are able to develop a far more dynamic credit rating systems, facilitating far more efficient ways to match lenders and borrowers. The exponential cost-performance of the three basic building blocks of our digital world's computing power, storage, and bandwidth is resulting in a new level of convenience and efficiency providing a seamless customer experience to the small business owner.

The benefits to Business owners are threefold. Firstly the increase in the supply of capital and the speed at which it can be delivered will enable small business to take advantage of opportunities which otherwise may have been missed due stagnate cumbersome lending practices of the past. Secondly with better easier access and more transparency business owners are able to make better decisions on what products from whom will give them the best total cost of finance for their organization. Lastly it allows for integration into accounting and related financial systems within the business.

No doubt 2016 in will see significant evolution of fintech finance models within each of the current product offerings available to SMEs. Having said that I believe the real ârevolution will come in the form of a full service general finance lender providing all the products the business needs in a seamless mobile application environment.

For 2016 watch this space !