As a community bank, your products and services are a cornerstone of your community. This is especially true for your community’s small businesses, who need a strong banking relationship to thrive. However, it’s no secret that since the pandemic, small businesses have struggled to stay afloat. Many need serious help with cash flow; according to latest statistics, the median small business owner only had 27 days of cash in reserve. There is also a tight correlation between daily inflows and outflows of cash.  This means that any disruption in consistently bringing in cash can have a catastrophic impact on the health of a small business.

Let’s get into the mind of your small business customer for a moment.

When it comes to managing their cash flow, many small business owners often stuck between two banking offerings: Consumer products that are too basic, and commercial/treasury services that are too complex and costly. Realizing this disconnect, small business owners and independent workers are quickly turning to digital-first challengers for the help they desperately need.

Small businesses, for their part, have become receptive to the many solutions now easily available to them. And clearly, they are willing to pay to find relief, whether to streamline existing processes or find better ways to manage finances. As challengers introduce more services available with a few clicks of a button, financial institutions become less relevant to the day-to-day needs of small businesses. As a result, small businesses are slowly but surely leaving their banks behind.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

It’s time to upgrade small business banking.

At ICBB, we understand the challenges your community bank faces to effectively retain and attract small businesses in today’s digital marketplace. That’s why we partnered with Autobooks, to offer community banks like yours the solutions and go-to-market tools they need to help small businesses manage their finances, and their business, directly with their local community bank. With Autobooks, you can access market-ready tools built for your digital banking platform and deliver financial workflow solutions to your small business customers.

Increase Deposits, Reduce Displacement. When a small business owner gets paid through Autobooks, the payment is deposited at your financial institution rather than a virtual wallet or outside account.

Generate Non-Interest Fee Income. Every time a business owner accepts payments through Autobooks, your institution receives a share of the interchange revenue.

Increase Small Business Primacy, Engagement, and Loyalty. Provide business owners with the tools they need to better manage their cash flow. Accepting payments directly into their account establishes a sticky, “direct deposit” type relationship.

Stay Ahead of the Competition. Digital-first challengers are aggressively marketing to small businesses, using online and in-app payment acceptance as their foot in the door. Stand out from competitors by making embedded payment acceptance standard features of your digital banking experience.

Small business banking customers may have more options than ever, but you know that no one will have their back like their community bank. Let us have your back while you have theirs. To learn more, visit icbb.bank/small-business-banking-solutions-3 or contact us at solutions@icbb.bank.