Financial Technology (FINTECH) and Growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMES) In Nigeria

Although, the popularity of Fintech has helped SMEs to process payments, access loans, grow their business, yet many SMEs are still faced with different challenges, some of which are the inability to access loans from traditional banks even with the emergence of Fintech. Hence, this paper is targeted at addressing these lacunae (missing link) by examining the effect of fintech on the growth of SMEs in Nigeria. To study adopted the survey, desk research design, and Ex post facto research design. While the primary data was obtained through the use Google form, there are 18 questions which include age, gender and question bordering on Fintech solution, the secondary data were sourced from Central Bank of Nigeria Statistical Bulletin, 2022. The study considered all the understudied financial technology variables offered by all the financial banks in Nigeria from 2009 to 2021. Specifically, values of SMEs' Growth Rate measured by SMES' Contribution to GDP, Automated Teller Machine (Volumes), Mobile Banking Services (Volumes), Internet Banking Services (Volumes), and Point of Sales (Volumes) were selected. The study concludes that, though fintech solutions provide SMEs with better tools for tracking and managing financial data, enabling them to make more informed financial decisions and improve their overall financial health (performance) and contribution to the Nigerian economy, the sector is still not without challenges. Hence, the study recommends that, the Nigerian need to create a policy to encourage SMEs to adopt Fintech and that, her agencies should train SMEs on how they can use this Fintech solution optimally