Digitizing SMB Payments: A Fintech-Bank Collaboration

by Mung Ki Woo - Chief Operating Officer, Financial Services, Sopra Steria
| minute read

Managing bill payments is often the final—and most manual—step in a company’s financial workflow. But for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), digitizing this process offers immense potential for improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enhancing financial visibility.

Sopra Steria spoke with Pierre-Antoine Glandier, CEO of Libeo, a fintech innovator transforming invoice and payment workflows for SMBs across Europe.

What Does Libeo Do?

Libeo’s core offering is a platform that centralizes invoice processing—from data extraction to payment—without the need for paper-based systems or time-consuming manual data entry. Designed to integrate with most accounting tools and bank accounts, Libeo helps:

  • Digitize invoices using OCR and automation
  • Enable secure, direct payments via bank or card
  • Set up validation workflows tailored to business needs
  • Unify invoice and payment management across multiple entities

Its customer base spans hospitality, retail, real estate, and accounting firms—businesses that often struggle with fragmented, non-digital systems.

The Value of Digital Payments for SMBs

The benefits of solutions like Libeo are both tangible and strategic:

  • Significant productivity gains
  • Reduced paper and admin costs
  • Enhanced real-time financial visibility
  • Environmentally friendly, paperless operations
  • Greater data security and compliance

For SMBs operating with lean teams, tools like these can make the difference between survival and sustainable growth.

A Collaborative Role for Banks

Rather than disrupting the traditional financial system, Libeo complements it. By remaining bank-agnostic, the platform works seamlessly with customers’ existing bank accounts. It doesn’t replace banks—it integrates and elevates their services.

This collaborative model reinforces Sopra Steria’s belief in a connected, open banking ecosystem, where fintech innovation and traditional infrastructure work hand-in-hand. As a digital transformation partner to major financial institutions, Sopra Steria helps banks enable these types of integrations—offering open APIs, secure payment environments, and scalable cloud solutions that empower both startups and SMBs.

Sopra Steria's Role in Empowering SMB Digitization

As a trusted technology and consulting partner, Sopra Steria supports fintechs and financial institutions in building the digital infrastructure needed to serve SMBs. This includes:

  • Enabling API-ready platforms for partner integration
  • Building secure digital workflows for compliance and payments
  • Supporting invoice and billing digitization projects at scale
  • Advising banks on SMB-focused product design and fintech partnerships

Toward a Smarter Financial Future

The case of Libeo underscores the real-world impact of digitizing SMB financial operations. As businesses grow more digital, collaborative ecosystems between banks, fintechs, and integrators like Sopra Steria will define the future of financial workflows.

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