Abstract
Benchmarking SME banking practices is an IFC initiative which aims to identify key success factors and highlight links between performance and business models, processes and tools adopted by participating banks. It is a first step towards a global benchmarking of SME banking practices. The objective of this work is to provide participating banks with an opportunity firstly to benchmark their practices against other top institutions in the industry. The methodology used for this exercise was qualitative and quantitative benchmarking studies in five banks in OECD countries and six emerging market banks. The key lessons emerging from this work are highlighted in the article.