Results include
Apr 23, 2024
For small business customers, waiting for payments can take a while — often at least 30 days. Checks and invoices get lost or go to spam folders and vendors charge fees to transfer funds. Doing more to remove these pain points can help strengthen existing relationships and allow your small business clients to have better cash management. We discuss ways to help small business customers get paid quickly and easily.
Mar 26, 2024
Small business customers have no shortage of financial service options, from traditional banks to fintech offerings. Fostering loyalty among this group not only requires providing them with added value, but with the sense that your CFI understands their individual businesses and their unique needs.
Mar 21, 2024
Providing added value for business customers can be as simple as sharing existing resources within your organization such as conference room space or wi-fi. We discuss some options of nontraditional benefits you can provide to help your small business customers.
Aug 3, 2023
The CFPB has finalized a data collection rule for lenders that extend credit to small businesses. The regulations aim to find patterns in small business lending that enhance CRA initiatives and make lending practices more equitable. However, trade groups like the ICBA and the CUNA have concerns that the additional burdens of compliance could impede CFIs’ ability to make as many loans as they do. We explain what CFIs should be aware of as this issue unfolds.
Jul 11, 2023
Small businesses form the backbone of not only the US economy but the client lists of many CFIs. But almost a third don’t think their banking institutions understand their needs. We look at some ways financial institutions can better support small businesses throughout their growth lifecycle.
Mar 24, 2023
Helping business clients of every size is at the core of CFIs and their missions. CFIs have a little-known tool that can help their SMB clients: the employee retention credit (ERC). We break down what this refundable tax credit is, who may qualify, and how it can help your customers.
Dec 8, 2022
Baby boomers are retiring at a rate of 10K per day, and along with those retirements will be a wave of small businesses passing on to younger generations. CFIs should identify small business customers likely to be impacted by baby boomer retirements and preemptively take steps to ensure those businesses will remain with their organizations long after their current owners have left the workforce.
Nov 23, 2022
The pandemic caused many smaller companies to adopt digital technologies that expanded their ability to reach customers across the US and in other nations. Many of the companies say that cross-border commerce is a way to grow businesses and keep up with the competition. As a result, CFIs with international payment solutions may have opportunities to strengthen relationships, add new customers, and grow fee income.
Nov 2, 2022
Money management and forecasting are top concerns for small businesses. CFIs can help small business customers deal with those issues by offering regular feedback and suggestions for improvement, thus helping avert more serious problems later.
Aug 9, 2022
Small business owners are more pessimistic about the economy than they have been in nearly half a century, according to a new survey. But they remain somewhat optimistic about their own future. In this muddied outlook, CFIs need to move cautiously in how they work with small business borrowers.
Jun 23, 2022
There are 32.5MM small businesses in the US, generating 44% of economic activity — an attractive opportunity for financial service providers of all sizes. CFIs have a strong connection with small business customers and could leverage their understanding of the customers’ unique needs in order to create compelling propositions for them. We give you four strategies to help get you off to a good start.
Jun 13, 2022
CFI’s are exceptional at attracting new business. But according to a recent J.D. Power study, there is still room to improve in maintaining those customer relationships after they’ve been onboarded. We provide 3 tips for your institution to consider to help foster those relationships from the beginning.
Mar 5, 2024
Higher interest rates and the cost burden they impose are driving a cycle of deleveraging and cash conservation at many companies. Small business owners are balancing the need to offset higher interest expenses and lessened credit availability while also addressing competing demands for strategic growth. We provide tips for how CFIs can help their business customers align their capital with their strategic plans.
Feb 14, 2024
Although the Fed has kept interest rates steady since mid-2023 and may cut them sometime this year, they’re still the highest they’ve been in many years, and they continue to impact small businesses across all industries. We discuss three ways in which CFIs can support their small business customers as they navigate the high interest rate environment.
Feb 1, 2024
According to a new NFIB survey, pessimism prevails among small business owners. We discuss the challenges that small businesses noted in the survey and the potential impact on CFIs.
Jan 24, 2024
Economists are predicting a downturn in consumer spending this year along with a slowing economy. We discuss strategies CFIs can use to prepare themselves and their small business customers for the impact.
Aug 15, 2023
With many small businesses looking to improve their ESG credentials, CFIs have an opportunity to position themselves as a trusted sustainability partner by offering financing, tools and expertise. At the same time, they can boost their ability to attract and retain small business customers. We detail five ways CFIs can accomplish both goals.
Aug 9, 2023
More and more CFIs are using alternative cash flow data to determine the creditworthiness of prospective small business borrowers. They are partnering with fintechs and other nonbank providers to access and analyze prospects’ electronic cash flow information. A nonprofit research organization analyzed these practices and we provide a summary of the results.
Jun 20, 2023
The volatility of the foreign exchange rate market can be challenging on your small business customers that do business internationally. We explore FX forward contracts as an option you can offer to provide more certainty in this area, thereby increasing customer loyalty.
Mar 15, 2023
Using sophisticated digital solutions, alternative lenders are gaining small business customers, sometimes at the expense of CFIs. Here are some tips to help CFIs look for signs of defection and respond.