We have just released the Wallester Corporate Spending Outlook 2026, based on an analysis of 4.6 million anonymised transactions across the UK and EEA. While 80% of SMEs are entering the year with a growth-oriented mindset, our findings reveal a significant “Expectation Gap”: leaders now expect B2B financial tools to offer the same real-time speed as consumer apps, yet many remain tethered to manual back-office systems.
As digital-first experiences become the standard, outdated financial infrastructure has emerged as the primary bottleneck for European firms. This report highlights how the shift toward virtual cards and automated workflows is no longer a luxury but a fundamental requirement for scaling in 2026.
Report Highlights
- The Infrastructure Gap: 55% of SMEs identify manual reconciliation as their #1 operational challenge, even when using modern bookkeeping software.
- Consumerization at Scale: 55% of SMEs have moved to virtual cards, signaling that “instant issuance” is now a baseline requirement.
- The Growth Paradox: Advertising remains the largest cost category (7.04% of total spend), highlighting the pressure to scale despite fragmented controls.
- AI as a Line Item: Spending on AI and Cloud infrastructure (OpenAI and AWS) now accounts for 1.1% of total corporate spend.