Payment Data, Platform Finance, and the Cross-Border Credit Gap for SMEs

Abstract

Digital payment infrastructures are increasingly central to how small and medium-sized enterprises seek liquidity, conduct trade, and establish financial credibility. Yet the benefits of digitalization remain uneven, especially in cross-border contexts where payment systems, data regimes, regulatory standards, and financing models remain fragmented. This article develops a four-layer conceptual framework linking payment infrastructure, data and access regimes, financing intermediation, and SME outcomes. Using Nigeria and Poland as illustrative comparative cases, the article examines how mobile-first, platform-centric ecosystems in emerging markets differ from bank-integrated, regulation-driven systems in developed European economies. The analysis shows that both models can support domestic SME financing through real-time payments, alternative data, and embedded credit. However, their capacity to enable cross-border SME finance depends on interoperability, data portability, legal recognition, and regulatory alignment. The article contributes to the literature by reframing digital payments as socio-technical information infrastructures rather than neutral settlement rails. It also offers a diagnostic framework for policymakers, central banks, FinTech firms, development institutions, and financial regulators seeking to design inclusive and interoperable SME finance ecosystems. The article concludes by proposing a research and policy agenda focused on open finance, cross-border data-recognition standards, SME usability, and infrastructure investment.