THE ROLE OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGIES IN ENSURING THE FINANCIAL STABILITY OF SMALL BUSINESSES

In the current economic environment, ensuring the financial sustainability of small businesses is becoming one of the key tasks, the solution of which determines their survival and development. Small businesses face a number of challenges, such as limited access to bank lending, high administrative burden, insufficient transparency of financial processes and lack of resources for effective cash flow management. In this regard, financial technologies (FinTech), which provide entrepreneurs with tools to optimize financial transactions, increase transparency and reduce costs, are becoming increasingly important. This article examines the possibilities of using financial technologies in small businesses in terms of their impact on the financial sustainability of organizations. The role of digital solutions such as online banking, P2P lending platforms, cloud accounting systems, big data and artificial intelligence in the financial management of small businesses is analyzed. Particular attention is paid to issues of access to financing, automation of financial analysis, risk management and increasing business liquidity through the implementation of FinTech tools. Based on a review of existing research and an analysis of the practice of using financial technologies, it is shown that their implementation helps to increase the speed of financial transactions, improve the quality of management decisions and reduce the level of dependence of small businesses on traditional banking structures. Examples of successful application of FinTech solutions in various countries, including Russia, the EU and the USA, are given, as well as an assessment of their impact on the key financial indicators of small businesses. However, significant barriers to the widespread use of financial technologies among small businesses have been identified: a low level of digital literacy among entrepreneurs, an insufficiently developed regulatory framework for the FinTech market, as well as problems of information security and trust in digital services. Recommendations are offered to overcome these problems and increase the involvement of small businesses in the digital financial environment.