The power of SMEs: why banks must focus on small business banking

Driving economic growth: prioritizing SME banking

Despite the significant influence that small—and medium-sized business clients wield over financial institutions' revenue, their requirements are frequently disregarded.

Forrester highlights the significance of SME clients, pointing out that small and medium-sized business clients contribute over half of the revenue in comparison to retail customers. However, financial institutions allocate a mere 10% of their digital budget towards digital services for our business clientele.

The neglect of SME banking needs has opened the door for new players and innovators to enter the market and cater to this segment. By ignoring the unique needs of businesses, banks risk hindering long-term growth and stability for both their clients and themselves.

Gain a competitive advantage: innovate & implement fast

Financial institutions were caught off guard by the unexpected trend of SMEs shifting away from traditional banks in large numbers, opting to solely rely on them for basic deposit accounts rather than utilizing their services for onboarding or loans.

To combat this wave of client attrition, banks must invest in digital tools that appeal to business clients and position them to compete effectively with fintech companies. 

Banks that offer tailored business banking solutions can significantly benefit from increased revenue, enhanced customer relationships, and a stronger competitive position.

By catering to the specific requirements of businesses, financial institutions can cultivate sustainable growth and stability for both their clientele and themselves. By providing top-notch business banking services, banks can establish themselves as industry frontrunners.

An innovative digital banking partner like ebankIT can deliver a customized solution that not only provides agility and quick market entry but also caters to the specific banking needs of every business client. Built on a modular and scalable architecture, ebankIT consistently releases new updates to meet the evolving needs of the business banking sector.

Online business banking advantages: 5 key features

1. Fast onboarding

SMEs face the length and complexity of signup and underwriting processes. ebankIT digital business banking solution offers a streamlined digital onboarding experience tailored specifically for businesses.

Integrating Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solutions, ebankIT allows for faster documentation processing with automated verification processes. This ensures compliance with regulatory requirements while reducing manual effort and processing time.

Furthermore, ebankIT seamlessly integrates with core banking systems, enabling instant account setup and activation upon completion of the onboarding process. This reduces delays and allows businesses to start using banking services promptly.

2. Multi-account management

Multi-account management is a pivotal feature in business banking, enhancing operational efficiency, financial control, and security. With ebankIT, financial institutions empower businesses to make informed decisions, optimize cash flow, and streamline operations via a unified platform.

Businesses can effectively oversee and handle multiple accounts, facilitating smooth fund transfers, payment processing, and deposits without the hassle of navigating through various platforms.

ebankIT omnichannel platform also provides real-time monitoring of account balances and cash flow, enhancing decision-making regarding expenses, investments, and budgeting. Centralized monitoring also speeds up fraud detection, strengthening overall security measures.

3. Entitlement management 

Entitlement management is essential for maintaining security, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency within the banking sector. Financial institutions powered by ebankIT can grant businesses the ability to assign permissions and access levels to various employees or departments, guaranteeing that only authorized individuals can view or manage specific accounts.

Businesses can categorize users into roles (e.g., admin, manager, auditor) and assign permissions accordingly. This simplifies administration by managing permissions at a role level rather than for individual users.

Additionally, monitoring multiple accounts from a centralized system enables businesses to swiftly identify any unusual activity or potential fraud, thus bolstering security measures.

4. Bundled Services

5. Regional compliance

ebankIT offers best-in-class compliance by integrating region-specific regulatory layers into its platform. This innovative approach means that regulations are pre-built into the system, allowing banks to implement the solution seamlessly with their core banking infrastructure. With all necessary regulations and compliance measures already embedded.

ebankIT ensures a swift and efficient deployment, minimizing the complexity and time required to achieve full regulatory compliance. This makes ebankIT an ideal choice for banks seeking to streamline their operations while adhering to all relevant legal and regulatory requirements.

How ebankIT can help 

ebankIT new solution empowers financial institutions to streamline operations, enhance customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth in the digital age with a business banking suite. 

ebankIT provides a market-ready solution aimed at alleviating the frustration experienced by corporate clients. This solution eliminates laborious manual processes and offers a seamless digital onboarding experience, comprehensive multi-account and entitlement management, secure payment transactions, and automated billing processes, among other features.