The Future of SME Banking: Why DH(2)E is the only Sustainable Model?

Maurice Lisi, Executive Director - Digital Business & Payments Department, BPER Banca

Maurice Lisi, Executive Director - Digital Business & Payments Department, BPER Banca

Maurice Lisi is a global leader in digital banking transformation, with over 20 years of experience driving large-scale initiatives across mature and emerging markets. His expertise spans Retail, SMEs, Corporate and Private Banking, enabling him to design holistic, customer-centric models that redefine the way banks engage with clients. He has led complex transformation programs at leading financial institutions, first within Intesa Sanpaolo’s international ecosystem and now at BPER Banca, where he is shaping the bank’s future distribution model by integrating digital innovation with human expertise.

For decades, banks have asked themselves how to “digitize” their products. But in the evolving world of SME banking, the real question isn’t how to digitize, it’s how to stay relevant.

Small and medium enterprises are no longer passive clients accepting off-the-shelf financial products. They are agile, digitally-savvy businesses with complex needs: real-time access to financing, personalized advice, integration into their daily operations and increasingly, value beyond the bank.

To meet these expectations, we need a new paradigm. At BPER Banca, we call it DH(2)E: Digital + Augmented Human + Ecosystem. It’s not just a catchy formula. It’s a design philosophy for a banking model that is embedded, intelligent, and deeply human.

Digital: Not Just a Channel, But a Native Fabric

Digital is the foundation. But it must evolve from being a channel into a fully integrated, native fabric of the SME experience.

Modern SMEs need:

• Real-time payments and collections, both individual and massive

• Advanced cash management, including pooling, forecasting and liquidity tools

• Integration with accounting, invoicing, welfare and ERP systems

And most critically, payments must become the central rail for banking services. For too long, traditional banks have relied on outdated cross-border payment systems, while fintech challengers have introduced sleek, transparent and near-instant international payment experiences.

SMEs today expect the same seamless cross-border payments experience they enjoy as consumers, with speed, transparency and control. Providing this isn’t just about keeping up—it’s about pulling all SME payment activity into the bank’s ecosystem.

Why? Because owning the full payments stream gives banks a complete picture of the SME’s financial pulse.

When banks centralize SME payment flows:

• They unlock cash flow visibility in real time

• They can apply AI-driven cash forecasting models

• They can proactively deliver contextual lending, liquidity and working capital solutions

The future of SME banking is not just about faster transactions; it’s about turning transactional data into financial intelligence.

“SMEs today expect the same seamless cross-border payments experience they enjoy as consumers, with speed, transparency and control. Providing this isn’t just about keeping up—it’s about pulling all SME payment activity into the bank’s ecosystem”

We are not talking about UI redesigns. We are talking about contextual banking, a model where the bank becomes invisible, surfacing only when and where it creates value.

Augumented Human: Elevating Advice Through Intelligence

In an era of AI, what defines the new frontier is not automation, it’s augmentation.

The first “human” is the advisor: Still central, still irreplaceable in building trust. But alone, even the best advisors can’t scale their insight across thousands of clients or respond in real time to subtle changes in financial behavior.

That’s why the second “human” is technological: An AI co-pilot, not just assisting with transactions, but rewiring the advisor experience with intelligence.

Drawing on behavioral data, contextual signals and client history, these systems:

• Prompt advisors with the right question at the right time

• Detect early signs of stress or opportunity in a business’s financial pattern

• Recommend solutions based on outcomes, not just offers

Re-wiring the enterprise with AI, embedding intelligence into decision flows and client engagement models. At BPER, this translates into frontline empowerment, where relationship managers are no longer overwhelmed by data, but guided by it.

This is Augumented Human: A collaboration between human judgment and machine learning that leads to better outcomes for both the bank and the client.

In many banks, the advisor relationship is fragile, disrupted by turnover, siloed systems or generic offers. AI copilots, when paired with human advisors, can maintain memory and continuity, ensuring that every interaction builds on the last. This not only improves service quality but also helps restore trust in a segment where dissatisfaction has historically run high.

Integrating AI into SME banking is not about adopting new software — it’s about evolving the operating model. This means:

• Rethinking processes to be data-driven by default

• Building teams that blend technology, business, and behavioral expertise

• Measuring success in terms of impact per interaction, not volume of activity

AI isn’t the endgame — it’s the enabler of personalized, scalable and anticipatory banking.

Ecosystem: Beyond products, toward platform orchestration

No bank alone can meet all SME needs. That’s why DH(2) E includes an ecosystem layer.

Banks must become platform orchestrators, integrating third-party services that SMEs already use or need:

• Billing and invoicing tools

• Cybersecurity and business protection

• Mobility and expense management

• Procurement portals and supply chain financing

This is not about selling more services. It’s about removing friction and creating a seamless experience.

Many SMEs don’t leave their bank because of pricing, they leave because they feel unheard. Banks that fail to deliver continuity, proactive support and real empathy end up offering little more than commoditized services. By embedding themselves in the daily fabric of the business, banks move from being just another vendor to a strategically. Trust is not built with better interfaces; it’s earned through relevance, context and consistency. The CFO’s Role: From guardian to growth architect.

For CFOs and financial leaders, DH(2)E is more than a technology blueprint. It’s a strategic framework to drive efficiency, engagement and exponential growth.

• Cost-to-serve drops through automation and self-service

• Revenue per client increases through contextual crossselling

• Customer loyalty improves through relevance and experience

But perhaps more importantly, it repositions the bank not as a vendor, but as a growth partner.

Redesigning relevance

The future of SME banking isn’t about digital transformation. It’s about strategic reinvention.

In DH(2)E, digital is the enabler, augmented human is the differentiator and ecosystem is the multiplier. When these elements converge, banks stop being service providers and become part of the SME’s success journey.

We don’t need more technology. We need more meaning. And that starts by designing for relevance, not just resilience.