BOSTON, Jan. 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Eighty-six percent of banks indicate that small and medium businesses (SMBs) are a key area of focus for growth over the next one to three years, according to a new survey by leading treasury consulting firm, Treasury Strategies, Inc. and MineralTree, maker of the cloud-based payments solution built specifically for banks and their business customers. However, more than 60 percent of survey respondents report significant challenges in serving and growing the SMB segment.
The survey findings highlight what Treasury Strategies calls the "small business gap" - an absence of SMB specific banking solutions in the middle ground between retail and commercial offerings. The majority of banks surveyed (72 percent) see the SMB segment as representing a "very significant" or "good" opportunity to improve services and grow revenues. However, most respondents either lacked organizational responsibility for this segment or had divided responsibilities across multiple groups within the bank.
Representing the perspectives of more than 60 financial institutions including money center, super regional, regional, and community banks, the study explores these and other key challenges that prevent many banks from capitalizing on the opportunity to generate revenue from small business payments. The study findings are reported in a white paper that includes recommendations for overcoming these challenges, which include:
· Internal organizational ambiguity. Most survey respondents cite lack of clear ownership of the small business segment as an important barrier to effectively serving customer needs. SMBs are neither retail nor corporate, and their unique needs frequently fall between these more established, and frequently better served, customer segments.
· Mismatched small business products. 68 percent of survey respondents rate their own ability to meet small business payment needs as mediocre, poor, or very poor. Many respondents cited the tendency of banks to repurpose products designed for the retail or commercial segments as a contributing factor in SMB dissatisfaction.
· Failure of traditional service delivery models. 90 percent of respondents seek to differentiate with exceptional service - an increasingly complex undertaking because of increased competition from non-bank service providers and ever-increasing customer service costs. Applying established practices to the SMB segment can lead to an inefficient and unprofitable service model.
"Banks of all sizes recognize the untapped opportunity in the small business segment, though many are struggling with the right way to go after it," said Chrystal Pozin, Managing Director at Treasury Strategies. "This unique survey puts a finer point on the challenges banks face in this area and identifies effective strategies to overcome them."
More details are available by downloading the full whitepaper
at: http://www.mineraltree.com/survey-whitepaper.
About Treasury Strategies, Inc.
Treasury Strategies, Inc. is the leading Treasury consulting firm
working with corporations and financial services providers. Our
experience and thought leadership in treasury management, working
capital management, liquidity and payments, combined with our
comprehensive view of the market, rewards you with a unique
perspective, unparalleled insights and actionable solutions. For
more information, please visit www.TreasuryStrategies.com.
About MineralTree, Inc.
MineralTree (www.mineraltree.com) delivers
secure, online payments solutions to banks that are specifically
designed to meet the needs of their business customers. The
solution provides a simple, streamlined approach that brings new
efficiency, security, and convenience to payments and cash
management processes - at a cost that is easy to justify - while
helping to enhance the bank's customer relationships.
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