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Feb
26
Emphasize Online Banking for Small Businesses
February 26, 2006 | Anita Campbell
I like to regularly scroll through small business columns that give tips on choosing technology or tips on choosing a particular service. You get insights into what small business owners expect.
This article on the topic of choosing banking services for a small business is a case in point. It emphasizes online banking.
Online banking is of great interest to small business owners. Here is another discussion thread on small business banking, that’s had nearly 3,000 7,000 page views.
While some commentators suggest that small community banks are good for small businesses because of the personal touch, perhaps there is more to the question in the mind of the small business owner.
It’s true that many small business owners love having a personal connection – bankers they know and feel they can communicate with. Smaller banks tend to excel at the personal connection. For instance, at many small community banks the business owner often is dealing directly with decision-makers, i.e., the bank personnel who approve loans. That can be a big plus for a small business owner, especially one trying to work through challenging working capital issues or needing money to expand.
However, putting on my hat as a small business owner, there is something large banks generally are much better at: online banking. Large banks tend to offer far better online banking capabilities. Large banks are able to invest more in their technology and simply offer more robust functionality, that works seamlessly with programs like QuickBooks and other financial software.
My former bank, a two-branch community bank, to this day still offers only the most rudimentary online banking. It has a clunky, 1990s-era interface. They charge what I consider an outrageous monthly fee for the privilege of using it. You can’t sign up online. They insist you come in for a one-hour personal training session first.
Well, that bank just doesn’t “get” that online banking is about convenience. I haven’t had a training class on using an Internet application since 1999. The last thing I want is to be forced to drive to the bank during my prime working hours for something I can pick up in 10 minutes on my own on the weekend.
That bank is my “former” bank because I am not in the market for loan products at the moment, and frankly I am not that much in need of a personal touch (I’ll get a dog instead). What I am mostly interested in is convenience and time-savings when it comes to conducting banking transactions. I also want help managing my financial and tax records electronically.
As much as I like to think of myself as unique, I suspect I am not alone in this.
All the large banks with their commercials and ads trying to show they’re just friendly hometown folks, might be better served to put more emphasis on the one area where they wipe up the floor with the smaller community banks: their ability to offer convenience, time-savings and better record-keeping through their online banking.
