Effect of Financial Technology Usage on Growth of Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Financial Technology (Fintech) has a long history. According to Tufano (2016), the term Fintech was first used in the 1950s. Innovation has been more significant in the money industry throughout time in ways that most people ignore. Organizations are now compelled to use financial technology in order to improve their efficacy and efficiency. SMEs continue to face the challenges of minimally affordable and available financial services to support their operations. Financial technology solutions have a tremendous influence on the financial well-being of many millions of people throughout the globe, particularly the poor. Despite SMEs playing an essential role in the economy, they are plagued by several issues. According to Pius (2020), for every five companies established, only three companies survive past five months and only one survives past five years. 80% of the surviving companies went bankrupt before the fifth year World Bank (2015). The study sought to determine the effect of financial technology usage on growth of Small and Medium Enterprises. The target population was 826 heads of the Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi County, Kenya. Structured questionnaire was the main tool of collecting data. Data analysis entailed both descriptive and inferential methods. Descriptive statistics comprised the means and standard deviations whereas inferential statistics entailed simple linear regressions. The respondents agreed that mobile money services, mobile loan services and internet banking are vital for SME growth in Nairobi, Kenya. The study found that mobile money services, mobile loan services and internet banking explain 40.8% growth of SMEs. In addition, ANOVA output suggests that financial technology usage is a satisfactory indicator of SME growth (F value= 44.351, 0.000<0.05). Regression coefficient of mobile money services (β=.303, p-value=0.000), mobile loan services (β=.249, p-value=0.001) and internet banking (β=.198, p-value=0.037) have positive and significant relationship with SME growth. The study concludes that mobile money services as an aspect of financial technology usage has a positive and significant relationship with SME growth. Access to credit is vital for business growth and hence barriers ought to be eliminated. Growth in financial technology has left SMEs with no option but to embrace innovative business models such as application of internet banking. The study recommends development of more products by mobile money service providers that are innovative and capture the aspirations of the users. The access to mobile credit loans services has been characterized by bureaucracies and through reduced restrictions, measures and structures, SMEs stand to benefit more. Internet banking is very important in saving time of queuing in bank halls in order to be served. However, internet infrastructure has been a challenge in most emerging economies especially now that this service is supported by telecommunication network which still remain incomplete in most areas. Therefore, it is recommended that banks and telecommunication providers should develop a product that can access internet even in those areas that have poor network connection. This will help in ensuring that everyone can utilize internet banking in all areas as long as one has access to any form of telecommunication network. Few studies have been done regarding the financial technology usage and this resulted to a limitation of the study.