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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain one of the key drivers of economic growth in Azerbaijan. However, access to financing continues to be one of the most significant challenges facing entrepreneurs. Despite the rapid development of the banking sector, digital payments, and financial services, many businesses still struggle to secure the capital required to expand operations, increase working capital, and invest in growth.
Against this backdrop, Epoint is developing a new alternative financing model designed to improve access to capital for SMEs. By leveraging real payment activity and transaction data, the company aims to create a bridge between entrepreneurs and licensed financial institutions, enabling faster, more data-driven financing decisions.
In this interview, Epoint Founder and Director Zeynal Karimzada discusses the future of SME financing, the role of data in financial decision-making, and the company’s long-term vision for the Azerbaijani market.
Over the past decade, the fintech industry has undergone tremendous transformation. Digital payments have become an essential part of everyday business operations. However, we believe that the next major challenge facing the market is improving access to financing for businesses.
Small and medium-sized enterprises form the backbone of every economy. They create jobs, drive innovation, and contribute significantly to economic growth. Yet many entrepreneurs continue to face difficulties accessing the capital they need to expand and scale their businesses.
At Epoint, we work with thousands of merchants every day and see this challenge firsthand. That is why we believe the next logical step in the evolution of our ecosystem is to create alternative financing opportunities for businesses.
Traditional financial systems are built around risk management, and understandably so. However, this approach often makes it difficult for businesses with strong growth potential to access funding quickly.
In many cases, a company may have stable revenue, loyal customers, and a healthy business model, yet still struggle to demonstrate its full potential through conventional underwriting methods.
Today, digital technologies allow us to evaluate businesses from a much broader and more accurate perspective.
Because the necessary foundations have already been established.
Over the past several years, Azerbaijan has made significant progress in digital transformation. Cashless payments are growing rapidly, businesses are increasingly adopting modern payment technologies, and commercial activity is becoming more transparent and digitized.
If the first phase of fintech was helping businesses accept digital payments, the next phase is using the resulting data to create new financial products and services.
Every day, entrepreneurs generate a digital footprint through their payment activity. This information provides valuable insights into the actual health and performance of a business and creates new opportunities for financial institutions to make more informed decisions.
We believe the market is now entering a transition from digital payments to digital financing, and this transition will become one of the defining trends of the financial sector in the years ahead.
The greatest advantage fintech companies possess is data.
As businesses process payments through digital infrastructure, an objective and transparent record of their activity is created. We can observe transaction volumes, business trends, seasonality, average ticket sizes, and many other indicators that help paint a more accurate picture of business performance.
We believe that in the future, financing decisions will be based not only on financial statements and documentation but also on real operational data reflecting the actual activity of a business.
For decades, financing decisions have been based primarily on financial statements, historical performance, and documentation.
The digital economy, however, creates entirely new opportunities for business assessment.
One of Epoint’s key advantages is that we have access to real transactional data generated by businesses on a daily basis. This allows us to evaluate not only a company’s current position but also its growth trajectory, operational consistency, and long-term sustainability.
We can analyze sales stability, transaction frequency, average purchase size, revenue growth patterns, and other performance indicators.
Our goal is not to replace traditional credit assessment methods but to complement them with more accurate and dynamic data.
In the future, we see significant potential in developing a proprietary business scoring model based on payment activity. Such a model would enable financing partners to evaluate applications faster and more effectively while improving access to capital for entrepreneurs.
In our view, data is becoming the new currency of trust in financial services.
We are building a partnership-driven ecosystem.
Epoint does not intend to replace banks or microfinance institutions. Instead, we aim to become the technology layer connecting financial institutions with entrepreneurs.
Our objective is to provide financing partners with additional insights into business performance while giving entrepreneurs faster and more convenient access to funding opportunities.
In essence, we are building a new trust infrastructure powered by digital business data.
One of the most significant benefits will be the ability to build a financial reputation within the ecosystem.
Businesses that consistently process payments through Epoint will develop a transparent and verifiable history of commercial activity. This history can become an additional factor in financing decisions.
We want to create a fair system where transparent and actively growing businesses gain greater opportunities for development.
Absolutely.
Today’s entrepreneurs are no longer looking for a single product—they are looking for ecosystems.
If a platform enables businesses to accept payments, manage sales, access analytics, and obtain financing, its value increases dramatically.
Our goal is to become a long-term partner throughout every stage of a business’s growth journey.
We see it as much more than a product.
This initiative represents the next stage of Epoint’s strategic evolution.
For years, we have helped businesses transition into the digital economy through payment technologies. Today, we are leveraging that foundation to create new opportunities that help entrepreneurs grow faster.
Our vision is to evolve from a payments company into a comprehensive business growth platform.
In the future, entrepreneurs will be able to accept payments, access analytics, benefit from loyalty programs, automate business processes, and obtain financing—all through a single platform.
We see strong support from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan for the development of digital financial services and greater financial accessibility for businesses.
As part of this initiative, we have officially submitted our product concept, business model, and technology architecture to the Central Bank.
Overall, we have observed a positive attitude toward the development of alternative financing solutions for SMEs.
It is important to emphasize that Epoint is not a lender and will not engage in lending activities. Our role is to provide the technological infrastructure that enables financial institutions to serve entrepreneurs more effectively.
From a technical perspective, the product is already ready for launch. In addition, several microfinance institutions have expressed their readiness to finance Epoint merchants through the platform.
We are currently awaiting the completion of the necessary procedures and look forward to launching the solution in the near future.
Access to financing is one of the most important drivers of economic development.
When entrepreneurs gain faster access to capital, they can open new locations, expand product offerings, invest in technology, and create new jobs.
As a result, the benefits extend beyond individual businesses and contribute to the broader economy.
At the same time, solutions like these encourage greater transparency, digitalization, and adoption of modern financial technologies.
If we succeed in helping thousands of entrepreneurs gain access to additional growth capital, it will represent an important contribution not only to Epoint but also to the entire Azerbaijani business ecosystem.
I believe the winners of the future will be the companies that successfully integrate payments, data, analytics, and financing into a single ecosystem.
That is exactly how we see Epoint.
Our mission is not only to help businesses accept payments. We want to help entrepreneurs grow, scale, and access capital precisely when they need it.
I am convinced that within the next five years, businesses will increasingly obtain financing not because of collateral, but because of the real performance of their operations.
Epoint aims to play a leading role in building that future financial infrastructure.
