Authors: Anna Gincherman, István Szepesy, Ann Moline, David Taylor
Partners: Financial Alliance for Women
Year: 2025
Small and medium enterprises play a central role in economic growth, yet many financial institutions continue to face challenges in serving them in a consistent and commercially sustainable way. These challenges often stem from limited market insight, weak segmentation, and business models that are not well aligned with the diversity of SME needs.
The INVEST SME Banking Toolkit was developed to respond to these challenges by offering a clear and structured lens on SME banking. Developed by ConsumerCentriX in partnership with Dalberg, with funding from the Argidius Foundation and the SME Finance Forum as implementation partner, INVEST is designed to help financial institutions better understand their SME markets and think more clearly about how they structure and grow their SME businesses.
The toolkit is organized around six drivers of SME banking success. Together, these drivers provide a practical way for institutions to assess the SME opportunity, refine customer targeting, and examine how well their value propositions align with different SME segments. Rather than prescribing solutions, INVEST serves as a reference point that institutions can use to test assumptions, identify gaps, and strengthen internal discussions around SME strategy.
A central feature of the toolkit is its emphasis on data-informed decision-making. INVEST supports financial institutions in examining how SME data is collected, analyzed, and used across the organization. By strengthening this foundation, institutions are better positioned to understand portfolio performance, differentiate between SME segments, and align strategy, products, and processes more coherently.
The toolkit has also been used as part of broader learning initiatives aimed at senior banking leaders. In 2025, ConsumerCentriX contributed to the SME Finance Forum’s SME Banking Masterclass, where leaders from more than 200 financial institutions explored how clearer business models and more effective segmentation can support SME portfolio performance. Within this context, the INVEST Toolkit was used to illustrate how SME data analytics can inform portfolio understanding and value proposition design.
INVEST was first introduced in December 2025, with an initial focus on financial institutions in Latin America and Europe. A subsequent launch planned for late January 2026 will extend its reach to Africa and Asia, reflecting the toolkit’s relevance across a wide range of SME banking contexts.
Overall, the INVEST SME Banking Toolkit provides a structured way for financial institutions to reflect on their SME strategies. It offers a common language and framework that can support more deliberate, data-informed conversations about how to move from broad, generic SME offerings toward approaches that are commercially viable and better aligned with the realities of SME clients.
