There is no other issue that ignites our passion like the lack of attention paid to small- and micro-businesses by many mainstream banks. With more than 20-million small businesses, 1 in 5 U.S. households owns a small business. And that doesn’t even count all the independent sales reps and part-time contractors that need help managing their more complicated finances.

There are many reasons why the smallest businesses continue to fly under the radar: smaller balances, more complex needs, widely varying expertise, challenging underwriting issues and so on. Traditionally, this segment has been difficult to serve cost-effectively.

But with technology readily available to monitor daily financial performance, respond to service requests via email, outsource credit via crowdfunding and alt-lending (see note 1), and customize online banking services, the “it’s too expensive” excuse is less and less believable.

That said, it’s not easy determining how best to serve the varying needs of the elusive microbusiness segment. In this report, our sixth deep-dive (see note 2) into serving small biz online (and now mobile too), we outline what to look for and how best to get started.

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About the report
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Digital Small- and Micro-Business Banking (link)
How to use mobile and online services to capture more share in this huge market

Author: Ray Graber, Graber Associates

Editor: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder

Published: 12 Dec 2013

Length: 32 pages, 7,500 words, 6 tables

Cost: No extra charge to OBR subscribers, US$395 for others (here)

Companies mentioned: Alabama Credit Union, American Airlines CU, American Express, Aptys, Bank of America, Bank of Montreal, Bank of New Zealand, Barclays (UK), BBVA Compass, BCSG, California Bank, CAN Capital, Columbia Bank, Deluxe, FirstData, Frost Bank, iBank, Illinois National Bank, Luminous, MB Financial, Mitek, Mineral Tree, P2B Investor, PNC Bank, SaaS Markets, Square, Swift Capital, The Receivables Exchange, Vancity, Vantiv, VerifyValid, Webster Bank, Yodlee

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Notes:
1. Crowdfunding/P2P lending may well be an area that finally begins to impact traditional banking revenues. But that’s still a ways away. See our May 2013 report for more info (subscription).
2. Buyers of this report will also receive a free copy of our previous Small Business Report (OBR 172/173) published in 2009. It contains additional material still valid for today’s strategists and small-biz product managers.