For decades, SME banking was built around a relatively simple proposition: provide a business account, process payments, offer lending and occasionally support trade finance. Today, that model is rapidly evolving. Across Europe, banks, neobanks and fintechs are competing to become much more than financial providers. They are increasingly trying to become the digital operating systems of small and medium-sized businesses.
Services such as e-invoicing, online accounting, expense management, cash flow forecasting and tax administration are moving from the periphery of banking to the center of SME value propositions. The reason is simple: the institution that owns the business workflow increasingly owns the customer relationship.
From Banking Products to Business Platforms
A growing number of SME-focused fintechs have recognized that business owners do not spend most of their day applying for loans or making payments. Instead, they spend their time creating invoices, managing suppliers, tracking cash flow, handling expenses and working with accountants.
This insight has driven the success of companies such as Qonto, which combines banking services with invoicing, accounts payable and receivable management, accounting integrations, cash flow tools and extensive ecosystem connectivity. Rather than positioning itself as a bank, Qonto increasingly positions itself as a financial operating platform for entrepreneurs and SMEs [1].
Traditional banks have started responding. In Poland, almost all banks offer e-invoicing and accounting tool to their SME customers.
Why E-Invoicing Is Becoming Strategic
The rise of e-invoicing is one of the most important drivers behind this transformation.
Historically, invoice processing was largely an administrative activity. Today, invoice data is becoming a strategic asset. An electronic invoice contains information about sales, customers, payment behavior, receivables and future cash flows. When combined with banking data, it creates a real-time picture of a company’s financial health.
This explains why industry analysts increasingly view e-invoicing as a strategic battlefield. Providers controlling e-invoicing platforms can integrate payments, financing and accounting services directly into business workflows. As a result, banks risk losing customer engagement and becoming invisible infrastructure providers operating behind software platforms.
For SMEs, the benefits are compelling. E-invoicing automates administrative processes, reduces manual data entry, improves compliance and creates opportunities for faster payments and easier financing. The European Union is actively promoting e-invoicing through the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package, adopted by the Council on 11 March 2025 and published in the Official Journal on 25 March 2025 as Council Directive (EU) 2025/516, Council Regulation (EU) 2025/517 and Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/518 [2]. Since the package entered into force on 14 April 2025, member states can introduce mandatory domestic e-invoicing without prior EU authorisation. From 1 July 2030, e-invoicing and digital reporting will become mandatory for intra-EU B2B transactions, and existing national reporting systems must converge with the EU model by 1 January 2035. In parallel, many member states are already introducing their own mandatory electronic invoicing requirements.
Why SMEs Want More Than Banking
Research from BCG highlights that SMEs increasingly expect banks to help them manage broader business challenges, including accounting, taxation, compliance and financial management [3]. According to the September 2024 BCG white paper What SMEs Really Want, 23% of SMEs would like their bank’s support with taxation, 19% with accounting and reporting and 15% with financial management, while 64% would welcome an integrated offering delivered through a single platform. SMEs value institutions that save time, simplify administration and provide digital tools that support daily operations.
This shift reflects changing customer expectations. Entrepreneurs no longer compare banks only against other banks. They compare digital experiences against software companies, fintechs and business platforms.
As a result, the winner in SME banking may no longer be the institution with the cheapest loan or the largest branch network. Increasingly, it will be the institution that becomes embedded in everyday business processes.
Why This Matters Even More in Central and Eastern Europe
While the trend is visible across Europe, its implications may be even greater in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), particularly in Poland, Romania and Hungary.
Unlike some Western European markets, where accounting software ecosystems are already mature, many SMEs in CEE still rely on fragmented financial workflows. This creates an opportunity for banks to become the primary digital platform from which entrepreneurs manage their finances and operations.
Poland: The Most Developed SME Banking Market in CEE
Poland has one of the region’s most sophisticated SME banking sectors. Banks such as Erste Bank Polska, mBank, ING Bank Śląski and PKO BP have invested heavily in digital banking capabilities.
At the same time, the rollout of the national e-invoicing platform KSeF (Krajowy System e-Faktur) is accelerating digitization across the SME sector. KSeF became mandatory on 1 February 2026 for taxpayers whose 2024 sales exceeded PLN 200 million, and on 1 April 2026 for all other VAT taxpayers. Until 31 December 2026, businesses whose monthly invoiced sales do not exceed PLN 10,000 may still issue invoices outside KSeF, and financial penalties for non-compliance apply from 1 January 2027. Banks increasingly recognize that integrating invoicing, accounting and financing can strengthen customer relationships and generate new revenue opportunities.
However, competition is intensifying. Accounting and ERP providers are becoming key touchpoints in the daily operations of SMEs, creating a real risk that business software companies may become more relevant than banks in certain customer journeys.
Romania: E-Factura Is Creating a New Competitive Landscape
Romania’s mandatory RO e-Factura system is accelerating the digital transformation of business invoicing faster than almost anywhere else in Europe. The platform was established by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 120/2021. Law No. 296/2023 made the use of RO e-Factura mandatory for domestic B2B transactions from 1 January 2024, and Government Emergency Ordinance No. 138/2024 extended the obligation to B2C transactions from 1 January 2025 [4]. Invoices must be submitted to the system within five calendar days of issuance.
As companies are required to adopt electronic invoicing processes, access to invoice data becomes increasingly valuable. Banks that successfully integrate invoice management, payments, factoring and cash flow forecasting will have a significant advantage. Conversely, those that fail to do so may find themselves displaced by invoicing and accounting platforms that offer embedded financial services.
For Romanian banks, e-invoicing should be viewed not as a compliance topic, but as a strategic opportunity to expand their role within SME ecosystems.
Hungary: A Strong Foundation, But Untapped Potential
Hungary’s digital tax infrastructure provides another important opportunity. Under Act CXXVII of 2007 on VAT and NGM Decree 23/2014 (VI. 30.), real-time invoice data reporting through NAV Online Számla has been mandatory since 1 July 2018, initially for domestic B2B invoices with VAT of HUF 100,000 or more. The threshold was abolished on 1 July 2020, and from 4 January 2021 reporting was extended to B2C, intra-EU and export invoices [5]. The framework creates access to real-time invoice data that could support automated accounting, cash flow monitoring, lending decisions and early-warning risk systems.
Yet many SMEs still use separate solutions for invoicing, banking, tax compliance and accounting. This fragmentation leaves significant room for banks, fintechs and software providers to create integrated propositions that simplify business administration and improve financial visibility.
The Strategic Imperative for Banks
The real value of e-invoicing and accounting integration is not the software itself. The value lies in the data and customer engagement these services generate.
Invoice and accounting data can improve credit underwriting, support cash flow forecasting, enable real-time risk monitoring and facilitate embedded financing solutions such as factoring and supply chain finance. They also increase customer interaction frequency and create opportunities for cross-selling.
This is why leading industry observers increasingly argue that the future battleground in SME banking is no longer lending. It is ownership of the business workflow.
For banks in Poland, Romania and Hungary, the question is therefore not whether to offer e-invoicing, accounting integrations and cash flow tools. The question is whether they can afford not to.
The institution that controls invoice creation, receivables data and cash flow visibility will increasingly be best positioned to provide payments, lending, factoring and treasury services. In the next phase of SME banking, the most successful institutions will not be those that merely finance businesses. They will be those that help run them.
References
[1] Qonto, company website and product overview, https://qonto.com (accessed 23 September 2026).
[2] Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 of 11 March 2025 amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards VAT rules for the digital age; Council Regulation (EU) 2025/517 of 11 March 2025; Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/518 of 11 March 2025 (OJ L, 25 March 2025). European Commission, “VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA)”, https://taxation-customs.ec.europa.eu/taxation/vat/vat-digital-age-vida_en.
[3] Ramachandran, S., Himpens, P. and Janssens, L., What SMEs Really Want, Boston Consulting Group, September 2024, https://media-publications.bcg.com/What-SMEs-really-want.pdf.
[4] Ordonanța de urgență a Guvernului nr. 120/2021 (RO e-Factura); Legea nr. 296/2023; Ordonanța de urgență a Guvernului nr. 138/2024. European Commission, “2025 Romania eInvoicing Country Sheet”, https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/spaces/einvoicingCFS/pages/881983595/2025+Romania+2025+eInvoicing+Country+Sheet
[5] Act CXXVII of 2007 on Value Added Tax; Decree 23/2014 (VI. 30.) NGM. National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV), Online Számla, https://onlineszamla.nav.gov.hu. European Commission, “2024 Hungary eInvoicing Country Sheet”, https://ec.europa.eu/digital-building-blocks/sites/spaces/einvoicingCFS/pages/718735699/2024+Hungary+2024+eInvoicing+Country+Sheet
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