Banks don’t always know who owns the small businesses they serve—which poses problems of legality, security and profitability.
Automated decisioning can make small business lending more profitable for banks – as long as the process includes the human factor as well.
To fully capitalize on the opportunities available with small business customers, banks need to offer products and services that are relevant to their actual needs.
While bankers often criticize alternative lenders for unfair pricing, bottom fishing and irrelevance to the overall loan market, the smart ones should take a closer look.
While banks often struggle to lend to microbusinesses profitably, leveraging their branch sales force effectively can improve the odds.
Success in small business banking requires taking it seriously, paying for performance, focusing on deposits, building partnerships and learning to cross sell.
As commercial banking becomes more important to institutional profitability, bankers need to develop comparative benchmarks in this area similar to those used in retail banking.
In order to originate small business loans profitably, banks need to increase cross sales, improve internal systems and/or partner with alternative lenders.