PYMNTS reports that Mastercard's inaugural Dreamonomics study surveyed more than 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in 18 countries. It says 68% favored stability and predictability over rapid growth, 54% avoided unnecessary financial risk and 61% preferred deeper customer relationships over maximum reach. Respondents used five digital business tools on average; 89% wanted more tools and 78% called integration critical. Mastercard SME head Mark Barnett told PYMNTS that only about one-third of Mastercard issuers globally offer a dedicated SME product. The article also reports exclusive business-card use by 51% of North American SMEs versus 46% globally, and AI or machine-learning automation use by 43% of SMEs in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
PUBLISHED September 15, 2026SOURCE PYMNTSLANE Payment infrastructure
KEY FIGURES
more than 6,000 across 18 countries
SMEs surveyed
68%
Prioritize stability over rapid growth
89%
Want more digital business tools
78%
Say tool integration is critical
51%
North American SMEs using business cards exclusively
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Watch whether Mastercard disclose named launch markets, supported currencies, live customers, and transaction volume.
Readable PYMNTS interview reporting a Mastercard-sponsored survey. The sample and selected percentages are disclosed, but the full methodology and country-level distribution are not; findings are self-reported rather than observed payment behavior or measured product performance.
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# Mastercard Dreamonomics Report Finds Smaller Businesses Prioritizing Stability
> Evidence tier: B1
> Evidence type: PYMNTS interview reporting a Mastercard-sponsored multi-country SME survey
> Source: [PYMNTS](https://www.pymnts.com/mastercard/2026/mastercard-dreamonomics-report-finds-smaller-businesses-prioritizing-stability)
> Published: 2026-09-15
> Captured: 2026-09-15T13:26:49.714Z
## Source summary
PYMNTS reports that Mastercard's inaugural Dreamonomics study surveyed more than 6,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in 18 countries. It says 68% favored stability and predictability over rapid growth, 54% avoided unnecessary financial risk and 61% preferred deeper customer relationships over maximum reach. Respondents used five digital business tools on average; 89% wanted more tools and 78% called integration critical. Mastercard SME head Mark Barnett told PYMNTS that only about one-third of Mastercard issuers globally offer a dedicated SME product. The article also reports exclusive business-card use by 51% of North American SMEs versus 46% globally, and AI or machine-learning automation use by 43% of SMEs in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
## Why it matters
The findings give banks, networks and embedded-finance providers a demand signal for combining payments, accounting, payroll and expense functions inside the tools small firms already use, while showing that product needs vary by market. This is a Mastercard-sponsored survey discussed by a Mastercard executive, not independent behavioral or transaction data. PYMNTS does not provide the full questionnaire, country sample sizes, field dates, weighting, confidence intervals or response distribution, and the article reports no payment volume, conversion, revenue, pricing, customer adoption or measured integration outcome.
## Key numbers
- **SMEs surveyed:** more than 6,000 across 18 countries
- **Prioritize stability over rapid growth:** 68%
- **Want more digital business tools:** 89%
- **Say tool integration is critical:** 78%
- **North American SMEs using business cards exclusively:** 51%
## Topics and entities
- Industry lane: Payment infrastructure
- Entities: Mastercard
- Payment infrastructure
- Cross-border payments
- Company intelligence
## Evidence and credibility note
Readable PYMNTS interview reporting a Mastercard-sponsored survey. The sample and selected percentages are disclosed, but the full methodology and country-level distribution are not; findings are self-reported rather than observed payment behavior or measured product performance.
Date evidence: PYMNTS article metadata records 2026-09-15T13:30:23+00:00 and the visible page is dated September 15, 2026
## First-party corroboration
No directly corresponding A1 company announcement is currently linked.
## Original-source traceback
[Open the original PYMNTS report](https://www.pymnts.com/mastercard/2026/mastercard-dreamonomics-report-finds-smaller-businesses-prioritizing-stability)
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