• Marek Liszewski, Head of Product - Cards & Spend Management at Allica Bank, Steve Round, Co-Founder and President at SaaScada


• 12.01.2026 11:30 am
#SMEs #FinTechs

In the UK, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of our economy, making up 99.8% of the private sector. Despite this, traditional banks continue to under-serve SMEs, offering legacy business accounts built for large corporates, or personal accounts that lack the tools and features needed by small businesses. After years of being forced to settle for products that do not serve their needs, SMEs are finally seeing challenger banks and fintechs hit the market with products tailored to suit them. New core banking technology is making it cheaper and easier for visionary banks to offer truly differentiated services to SMEs, with functionality designed specifically for their businesses.

A tech foundation to underpin innovation

Most banks operate multiple legacy systems and products, which pose a technological headache as they try to modernise. To deliver new products that provide the immediacy and digital accessibility required for SMEs, banks must turn to modern core technology. Migrating to new core tech allows banks to hit the ground running with product offerings tailored to the needs of SMEs, without the risk of big-bang migrations. Tech teams and customer service teams alike can familiarise themselves with new tech as they onboard new clients and later migrate legacy accounts in a controlled project, reducing risk for everyone involved.

But what do modern banking products look like in reality?

Modern banking technology provides the real time information, features and tools that SME customers need, but also enables the automation of manual background processes.. This delivers a superior customer experience and reduces the cost-to-serve, allowing banks to support large numbers of smaller customers and invest in further development. With a modern core offering real-time data and simplified product configuration, banks can also shorten development cycles to keep SME products relevant and responsive to evolving business needs. Better yet, by using open APIs, banks have the freedom to build with their preferred technology partners and the flexibility to update their tech stack when their needs change.

How can this relationship look in practice?

Named the UK’s fastest-growing company in 2024 by the Sunday Times, Allica Bank works with industry-leading technology partners to deliver its best-in-class current account and savings products for SMEs. Allica chose core banking provider, SaaScada, for the build of Allica’s market-leading Business Rewards account, utilising SaaScada’s wallet functionality to offer cash back and an integral savings wallet. Following extremely high adoption of the savings wallet, Allica built a range of savings accounts to ensure that SMEs are finally earning the interest they deserve. This summer, Allica also launched  expense cards to help SMEs enjoy the benefits of cash-back, while still having full oversight of spending in real-time, the ability to set access rules for employee spending, and issue expense cards to team members without the need for full identity checks – which saw more than a thousand cards created in the three months after launching. Together, Allica Bank and SaaScada are redefining business banking, delivering ongoing innovation to give SMEs the tools to manage their money efficiently and the confidence to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.