The PAYTECH Book

Payments as Open Business Banking Enabler for the Gig Economy

By Conny Dorrestijn

Founding Partner, BankiFi Ltd

and Mark Hartley

Founding Partner, BankiFi Ltd

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need and deserve better banking services than they have experienced for decades. In Europe alone they contribute to more than half of the value-added income, employ more people than all the large corporates put together and by their very nature nestle in the heart of society. In truth, they are not “SMEs” but people with real lives and a beating heart for their enterprise. They are business customers that behave like retail customers and everything they do in their business life is entwined. Business has an impact on private wealth; the payroll and paying creditors, although residing in the business, impact their private liquidity too. And this goes even further for the so-called “gigs” or freelancers, the self-employed, a very fast rising – literally – untapped market. Do we really think they want to meander through a jungle of apps to mix and match the financial support they need? Or should we as banks embrace this open banking era to serve those customers first and best?

SME and Freelancer Banking Today

Meet Chris. He left his job 2 years ago as creative director with a large tech firm and set up a social media agency for brand activation. He is on the go 24×7 and capable of serving small local companies as well as the large international technology firms he still counts in his ...