Industry Insights: Keeping Small Businesses Close
Digital banking tools may be key to earning their loyalty
Small business—still the backbone of the U.S. economy—needs advanced banking services as much as their bigger cousins, or for that matter, as much as individual consumers. But they often don’t often get them.
Consider the fact that—aside from balance lookups and transfers--few advanced digital or omni-channel options are offered for small businesses, even though over half of them prefer to use mobile devices for business (Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index, 2016). In addition, small businesses are a great source of low-cost deposits and loans, are willing to pay for the services they need and often generate ancillary personal investment and estate accounts (Monetizing Digital Banking Products for Small Business Customers, 2017).
Is it time for banks and credit unions take a closer look at this market segment when making their strategic and technology plans?
We’ve collected a few recent articles to help you better understand the opportunities you may be missing:
- Winning The Small Business Banking Market, Financial Brand. 2/3 of small businesses use the top six megabanks as their primary providers. This article discusses the services and technologies they want, and how regionals and community institutions can capture market share.
- The state of small business: What banks need to know, American Banker. Business owners are optimistic about their growth and credit prospects, but slow to borrow or engage in new startups. This slideshow is a quick overview based on new Small Business Administration data.
- Anticipated Growth May Spur Small Business Lending, CUES. 79% of small businesses plan to grow and are investing for the future. This article reviews Raddon Research Insight’s latest survey “Winning Small Business Customers,” and reveals which technology components are the most important to small businesses.
- New Study Reveals Significant Opportunities for Banks to Improve Customer Experience Across Channels, ath Power Consulting. Digital channels are a primary way small businesses interact with financial institutions. This detailed press release and the underlying report, the ath Power Small Business Digital Banking Study, discuss the implications for institutions looking to capture the loyalty of this growing market segment.
About the Industry Insights Series
Alogent’s Industry Insights—this blog and the companion newsletter series—track insights into transformative financial technologies as they happen. Our diverse team of experts pulls the threads together and weave in thoughtful—often actionable—analysis to help banks and credit unions keep their competitive edge and meet new generations of consumers where they’re going next.