By Taylor Adkins, VP of Product Management, Q2 lending solutions
Finding responsive lenders has always been critical for small business, and the pandemic has compounded this need as small businesses look for funding quickly during difficult times. Digitally savvy small-ticket lenders can significantly aid businesses struggling to get the funds they need to keep their businesses afloat in this time of stress.
Unfortunately, traditional financial institutions (FIs) are often challenged to meet SMB/SME needs. Smaller businesses all-too-often have a poor experience due to antiquated technology infrastructure – that is, a thin veneer of front-end technology applied to tacked-together legacy systems.
It is time to change. Small businesses need better lending experiences.
Around 53% of small businesses complain that they struggle to access the funding needed for growth.* This is huge!
Ask most small or medium-sized business owners and they will tell you that they want to manage their business banking – including loans – online in a way that is both intuitive and elegant. To deliver this, it’s paramount that FIs consider a wholesale operational and cultural change that incorporates a seamless end-to-end automated process – from application through to underwriting and in-life servicing.
SMBs mean business. So should you.
Savvy fintechs and tech giants represent serious competition for FIs; SMBs will flock to their solutions if FIs fail to innovate and compete.
If your FI wants to adapt to meet the needs and demands of SMBs, start by learning more about Straight-Through Processing (STP), a solution that can reduce the cost of small-ticket lending, enhance customer service, reduce risk, and create opportunities for cross-selling and upselling banking products and services. STP can be implemented quickly and help FIs deliver funding to SMBs in hours, not weeks or months.
What is more, STP can:
- Open up more deals, close more loans, and start a path to deeper customer relationships
- Flip a traditionally slim profit line business into a trailblazing revenue center, recognized for innovation and high margins
- Bring comfort to borrowers seeking more personalized experiences in this time of uncertainty
STP is built around infrastructure that collects, stores, and uses an abundance of customer information, resulting in:
- Deeper relationships
- Increased revenue
- Reduced costs
Read about STP in a new Q2 e-book The High Cost of Lending Uncovered. The e-book explores STP in more detail, providing pointers on how FIs can transition to this innovative technology approach, and unlock significant profitability.
*https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/recent-releases/the-big-business-of-small-business
