Dear Members:

For most communities, small businesses are the engines that fuel the local economy. With the recent pandemic, new opportunities have arisen for credit unions to serve their small business members, such as through digital experiences and the cross-selling of cash-management business services to help members streamline their business processes. All these opportunities allow credit unions to increase the depth of your relationships with your small business members and, in turn, the depth and breadth of services they offer to our local communities.

According to an Aite Group survey of U.S. banks conducted earlier this year, small business digital transaction volumes have skyrocketed. This includes transaction volumes for online banking performed by small businesses since the onslaught of the pandemic, as well as mobile banking and payments. In addition, the Aite Group/Deluxe Survey of 100 Small Businesses earlier this year revealed that more than 50% of survey respondents saw a decrease in the number of paper checks in 2020 vs. 2018. The survey also noted the wide variety of digital payment types businesses are using, and small businesses seem to be aware of the many use cases for digital, including real-time payment options.

This is good news for credit unions that have traditionally had stronger loan solutions for business members vs. payment services. It’s also good news for many of you who want to grow your revenue by growing your business services. Now is the time for your credit union to analyze if you are offering the kinds of payment solutions (such as mobile business capture, business wires, business ACH, faster/real-time payments) that meet your business members’ expectations by enabling greater efficiency through convenience and self-service. If your credit union is not already doing so, I encourage you to begin supporting a full breadth of business payment options and create a better pathway to digital solutions while also helping to make your existing methods more efficient.