sme-banking
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Starling Built a Bank. Now It’s Selling the Engine.
The British challenger bank spent years building its own machinery. Engine by Starling is the wager that other banks will buy the working system - and some of the habits that made it work.
Avenue Bank
Avenue Bank is Australia's first and only bank built exclusively around bank guarantees. Founded by the team behind credit bureau CreditorWatch and licensed by APRA as an authorised deposit-taking institution, the Sydney-based digital bank turns a paper-heavy process that once took four to six weeks into an online application of a few minutes with issuance inside 24 hours. It serves businesses that need to secure commercial leases, construction contracts and performance obligations, backing every guarantee 100% with cash while paying interest on the deposit.
3S Money
3S Money is a London-founded, regulated cross-border payments platform that gives international businesses a single digital account to send, receive and exchange money across 190+ countries and 65+ currencies. It pairs local IBANs and SWIFT/SEPA connectivity with a dedicated human Relationship Manager for each client, positioning itself as a bank alternative for companies with complex or hard-to-serve international payment needs.
HALA
HALA is a Riyadh-based fintech building the 'bank of the future' for small and medium enterprises across Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region. Founded in 2018 by Esam AlNahdi and Maher Loubieh, it combines business IBAN accounts, card issuance, POS and soft-POS payment acceptance, expense management and SME financing into a single platform regulated by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA). HALA serves more than 140,000 businesses, processes over $8 billion in annual transactions, and in September 2025 raised a $157 million Series B - one of the largest fintech Series B rounds in the Middle East - at a reported valuation near $900 million.
Hubpay
Hubpay is a UAE-regulated fintech that gives small and medium businesses a global payments platform - multi-currency business accounts, competitive FX, cross-border payroll, and regulated payment links in one dashboard. Founded in 2019 by Kevin Kilty and licensed under the Abu Dhabi Global Market, it was the first independently regulated fintech in the UAE authorized to offer digital money services, and it now connects the UAE with markets across Asia, Africa, and Europe.
SUNRATE
SUNRATE is a Singapore-headquartered global payment and treasury management platform for businesses. Founded in 2016, it lets enterprises move money across more than 190 countries and regions in 130+ currencies, collect in 30+ currencies, issue multi-currency commercial cards, and manage FX and treasury through proprietary tools like TreasuryOS - all via a single platform and set of APIs. Backed by investors including Peak XV (formerly Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia) and Prosperity7 Ventures, and a principal member of both Mastercard and Visa, SUNRATE serves e-commerce, travel, logistics, maritime and other cross-border sectors.