Digitaliseringens påverkan på kreditgivning till små och medelstora företag : En fallstudie av banksektorn i Sverige

Sammanfattning

Background: Digitalization has fundamentally transformed the conditions for banking and credit lending. Banks are increasingly implementing digital systems to streamline internal processes and manage growing regulatory demands. Credit lending to small and medium-sized enterprises represents a particularly complex area of this development, as these firms are characterized by limited historical financial information, informal organizational structures and a high degree of information asymmetry. This creates a fundamental tension between a transaction-based and a relationship-based approach, where digital decision support meets the need for soft information and personal relationships in credit assessment. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze how digitalization has affected the credit process and credit assessment of small and medium-sized enterprises within Swedish banks, with a focus on how digital tools and data-driven decision support systems transform ways of working, decision-making, efficiency, risk and the balance between transaction-based and relationship-based lending. Method: The study applies a qualitative research method with an abductive approach. Empirical data was collected through ten semi-structured interviews with bank employees responsible for credit assessment of SMEs. Conclusion: The study shows that digitalization has primarily affected the outer parts of the credit process, where digital channels and case management systems have streamlined the intake of applications, while the central assessment phase remains dependent on manual analysis and individual judgment. A fundamental tension is identified between a transaction-based and relationship-based logic, where information asymmetry and moral hazard persist as central challenges. The study further shows that the impact of digitalization differs based on bank size, where smaller banks tend to work more relationship-based, while larger banks tend to adopt a more transactionbased way of working.