Payment service providers competing to serve small and medium-sized businesses have a new opportunity to win them over with cutting-edge payment, cash flow, capital, and marketing tools.

This second installment of the “Payments Ecosystem” collection unpacks how point-of-sale (POS) hardware, software, and payment gateway services are becoming increasingly intertwined as merchants adapt to economic turmoil and consumer payment changes.

Increasing digitization among the 32 million US small businesses is changing the competitive landscape and forcing banks, acquirers, and fintechs to invest in next-generation features. These features range from payments and value-added services to outreach.