Running a business in Brazil can be a costly and time-consuming, often due to several operational and regulatory obstacles entrepreneurs have to face. Despite the progress in recent years, much remains to be done to simplify the ease of doing business in the country.
Stepping up to make a contribution, BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in Latin America, has been taking efforts to understand the complex challenges that clients face, to deliver clear, innovative solutions to the market. A complete digital banking platform, BTG Pactual Empresas specialises in delivering comprehensive financial solutions tailored to the needs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in any sector.
As a first-of-its-kind API digital platform, BTG Pactual Empresas offers a wide range of solutions for SMEs in areas such as credit, guarantees, insurance, investments, foreign exchange and derivatives.
Recognising BTG Pactual Empresas’ commitment to entrepreneurship and delivery of tailor-made solutions for SMEs in Brazil, The Digital Banker recognised it as the ‘Best SME Bank – Brazil’ at the Global SME Banking Innovation Awards 2025, while also presenting it with the award for the ‘Best SME Business Current Account/Transaction Account’.
Scaling access to digital
BTG Pactual has cemented itself as a transformative force in SME banking, combining agility and customer focus with robust financial infrastructure. The platform’s rapid growth is evident with 90% of new accounts opened in under five minutes. Offering a seamless digital account setup free of fees for transactions like PIX, BTG Pactual ensures accessibility and convenience for clients. With 95% of loan disbursements completed in under 10 minutes—16 times faster than retail competitors—the bank boasts the fastest time to benefit in the market, supporting SMEs with tailored, low-cost credit lines. This is evidenced in the bank’s credit book, which grew 25% year-over-year, to reach approximately $4.65 billion in Q3 2024.
Other notable features include seamless and affordable cross-border transactions, virtual and physical corporate debit cards with customisable spend limits with an expense management platform, financial dashboards with real-time insights into transactions, liquidity and cashflow forecasts, easy-to-use budgeting tools for businesses and a B2B marketplace providing sector-specific solutions and partner discounts.
Filling the gap
Brazil’s more than 20 million active SMEs face a huge gap when it comes to access to credit. BTG Pactual positively impacts SMEs in various Brazilian and South American regions with self-service digital products, low-cost, flexible credit products and services.
“Our growth is evident in our transactions, growing from a thousand at launch to millions today. Our platform is designed for scalability. We develop each layer independently by separating the underlying technical architecture from the business architecture. This separation helps to minimise time to market when technology advances or policies change, while we keep reliability at a larger scale,” says Gabriel Motomura, Partner and Co-Head of BTG Pactual Empresas.
Amid Brazil’s bureaucratic regulatory environment and challenges in accessing affordable credit, BTG Pactual continues to provide innovative solutions. By leveraging AI, Open Finance, and automated financial services, the bank’s solutions allow SMEs to focus on growth rather than operational difficulties. These strategies align with BTG’s commitment to sustainability, demonstrated by the inclusion of R$7.4 billion in SME lending under its Sustainable Financing Framework, with 73% of loans meeting international ESG standards.
Customer experience remains a priority for the bank, leveraging technology, multichannel strategies, and hyper-personalisation, the bank addresses the high expectations of Brazilian consumers, where 72% will switch brands after a poor experience. Tailored solutions in lending, FX, and self-service further enhance SME efficiency, empowering them to remain competitive in global markets.
With a lending portfolio of R$26 billion and deep social impact, BTG Pactual exemplifies innovation, sustainability, and customer-centric excellence in SME banking.
𝑩𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅’𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝑺𝑴𝑬 𝒃𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔. 𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒃𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝑴𝑬 𝑩𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑨𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 2026 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒂𝒚.
