Small-Business Performance From the Eyes of Large Banks
Report Summary
Small-Business Performance From the Eyes of Large Banks
Large banks must continue to surge forward with new initiatives to better understand, serve and cross-sell to small businesses.
Boston, MA, October 14, 2008 – A new report from Aite Group, LLC reveals that large banks have still not mastered the art of serving small businesses. The report examines the results of an Aite Group survey of 16 of the 50 largest U.S. banks (ranked according to total assets) conducted from July to September 2008, and reveals these institutions' views on their performance in several areas, including their abilities to understand small-business needs, determine when to migrate customers to a business platform, deliver optimal customer service, and serve small businesses at the right target cost point.
According to the report, banks admit to weaknesses in areas such as cross-selling, achieving high online adoption rates, serving small-business customers through an integrated sales/service model and customer service, and acknowledge a need for improvement. They feel their performance is far stronger when it comes to offering the right online capabilities and building customer trust. Most large banks recognize the need to further enhance their online capabilities with functionalities like the ability to create or view spending and income trends, develop forecasts, and categorize card transaction data. However, they must also improve their customer service, better integrate their technologies and share best practices across the bank.
"Despite claiming to understand the space, large U.S. banks are still not doing all they can to best serve small-business customers," says Christine Barry, research director with Aite Group and author of this report. "Although 63% of survey participants have seen 'strong' to 'very strong' improvement in their bank's understanding of small-business needs, feedback from the businesses themselves has been less favorable."
This 17-page Impact Note contains 15 figures. Clients of Aite Group's Wholesale Banking service can download the report.