- Kenyan SMEs lag in adopting integrated digital business management platforms.
- Visa survey exposes gaps in financial record-keeping among small businesses.
- Lenders could benefit from better access to SME transaction data.
Just 19 per cent of Kenyan small and medium enterprises (SMEs) run a platform that links their payments to wider business management, a new Visa survey has found, even though digital transactions are now routine for most of them.
Visa interviewed owners and financial decision makers in person between March and April 2026. The sample covered 256 Kenyan SMEs and formed part of a study spanning 11 markets.
About 30 per cent of the firms struggle to track unpaid invoices, 27 per cent find it hard to organise payroll records, and 26 per cent have trouble preparing financial reports. Slow invoice follow-up delays collections and starves a business of working capital, while untidy payroll and accounting records make it difficult to watch expenses, gauge profitability or plan growth. For firms with few staff and thin margins, hours spent matching transactions across separate apps, spreadsheets and handwritten books are hours not spent on sales or customers.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 82.3 per cent of Kenyans used mobile money in 2024, up from 79.4 per cent in 2019. Financial Sector Deepening Kenya reported in its 2023 FinAccess Micro and Small Enterprise Tracker Survey that businesses accepting digital payments rose from 74 per cent in October 2022 to 86 per cent in June 2023.
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Even so, 99 per cent still handled at least some transactions in cash. Taking payment electronically does not make a business digital, since owners still have to reconcile accounts, follow up on debts, control spending and rely on dependable records when making decisions.
Some 81 per cent of respondents said a single payment and business management tool would appeal to them. Among the minority already using one, 85 per cent were satisfied and 81 per cent said it had made their operations more efficient.
One in five respondents did not know such tools existed, 14 per cent felt their businesses were too small to need them, and 12 per cent saw little benefit. The report suggests providers will have to prove clear returns, price products for smaller firms and keep systems simple, with training for owners who have little time to learn new software.
A business with orderly transaction histories, invoices and financial statements also gives a bank a sharper view of its revenues, running costs and ability to repay. The Kenya Bankers Association said in August 2026 that banks disbursed Ksh326.5 billion to micro, small and medium enterprises in 2025, with outstanding credit to the segment standing at Ksh596.8 billion at the end of December. It listed weak collateral, poor credit scores and repayment difficulties among the barriers to financing.
Integrated platforms may ease part of the information problem by letting lenders study cash flows more systematically. Cleaner books will not guarantee approval, however, since decisions still turn on affordability, risk and each lender’s requirements.
Anne Kinuthia-Otieno, who leads Visa in East Africa, believes the platforms would let banks and other lenders see small firms more clearly through their own transaction data, and so build loan products around what each business actually needs.
By our reporter
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