Boston, April 16, 2020 –The forced closures and lower-than-normal monthly revenue caused by social distancing measures during the global COVID-19 pandemic are intensifying the financial challenges for small businesses that were already surviving on razor-thin margins. Although government stimulus packages offer short-term assistance to keep them in business, a better long-term strategy is to more effectively collect on receivables already owed. Unfortunately, many small businesses around the world have been let down by their banks that do not yet offer the proper tools to achieve collection on those receivables.

This report analyzes the need for financial institutions to enable their small-business customers to more efficiently and effectively collect money owed. It highlights the types of tools and the experience small businesses value most as well as the importance of getting paid faster, especially in the current environment. It is based primarily on the results of a July 2019 Aite Group online survey of 1,008 U.S.-based small businesses.

This 14-page Impact Report contains four figures and one table. Clients of Aite Group’s Wholesale Banking & Payments service can download this report, the corresponding charts, and the Executive Impact Deck.

This report mentions Autobooks, Bill.com, Biller Genie, Billtrust, Deluxe, Dade Systems, Finastra, Fiserv, FINSYNC, FreshBooks, Intuit, PayPal, Sage, Viewpost, and Zoho.