Vendors
日本語
search
  2. //
  3. Reports & insights
  4. //
  5. Four Golden Keys to Successful Small Business Banking

Four Golden Keys to Successful Small Business Banking

Create a vendor selection project
Click to express your interest in this report
Indication of coverage against your requirements
A subscription is required to activate this feature. Contact us for more info.
Celent have reviewed this profile and believe it to be accurate.
We are waiting for the vendor to publish their solution profile. Contact us or request the RFX.
Projects allow you to export Registered Vendor details and survey responses for analysis outside of Marsh CND. Please refer to the Marsh CND User Guide for detailed instructions.
Download Registered Vendor Survey responses as PDF
Contact vendor directly with specific questions (ie. pricing, capacity, etc)
15 August 2006

Abstract

Bankers can unlock small business banking with four keys -- a treasure trove, according to Celent, because small business banks earn margins that are up to 10 percentage points above average.

Unlocking the treasures of small business banking is no easy feat. Otherwise, more banks would excel at it. The keys require an alchemy of high touch and high tech. In the report, Celent examines the keys to "high touch" by speaking with leading bank "alchemists" who have forged four golden keys. First, get the basics right: simple and smart.

"A ripe area for smarts is payments. Few banks offer payment services tailored for small businesses. Instead they offer retail services. Consequently, there is opportunity in a variety of payment initiatives, such as reward-based cards and remote deposit capture," says Alenka Grealish, author of the report and manager of the Banking group at Celent.

Second, make small business banking a line of business. Across the banks successful in small business banking, there is consensus that small business must be run as a separate line of business with its own dedicated sales and service teams as well as credit processing department.

Third, build mutually rewarding bridges between the branch and the small business bankers. Ensuring a win-win relationship requires measuring (including double counting) and rewarding collaborative behavior and attendant results.

And fourth, capture both business and personal banking business. About 10% of small business owners are affluent. The challenge is capturing the roughly 50% who would consider consolidating their financial needs in one bank.

"Opportunities in small business banking will continue to present themselves, and the alchemists will have to adapt their ingredients accordingly. Currently, the prime area to transform is payments. Three 'base metals' will be transformed into gold: remote deposit capture, reward-based cards, and e-payments. The transformation will have a secondary effect that bankers will need to be prepared for. As small businesses rely less and less on the check, banks' interactions will migrate from being branch-based to being remote. Leaders today recognize that a shift in channels will occur and are preparing by upgrading their online banking platform and improving the capabilities of their call center staff," Grealish adds.

The report is 25 pages long and contains nine figures and two tables.

A table of contents is available online.

Client Access