Today’s consumer and small business banking services are far more sophisticated than ever before. Consumers are increasingly using mobile devices and online banking; they shop online for products and services, compare quotes and rates, communicate with their bankers, pay bills and transactions, and in many cases manage their personal banking as well. Small businesses use online banking and mobile apps for payroll, employee payroll, accounts payable and receivable, employee benefits, business finance, managing accounts, cash management, invoicing, marketing and customer service. In order to help these companies streamline their business processes and provide greater convenience to their customers and employees, some banking companies have introduced business solutions. These business solutions often include the following:
Omnichannel: An omnichannel solution delivers consistent, reliable access to financial resources. Consumer and small businesses that need to be in sync with their money and all of its aspects should consider investing in an omnichannel banking system. Omnichannel services include: Visa debit cards, MasterCard and Discovery prepaid credit cards, Payoneer debit cards, Neteller (Pallette Card System) prepaid cash cards, Google checkout (Google Current Account), PayPal withdrawal, direct deposit, mobile device provisioning and integration with banking equipment, merchant account processing. In addition to offering complete connectivity, omnichannel solutions also allow a business to integrate various other business applications, including: social media marketing, appointment reminders, partner programs and sales and service discovery.
Business lending solutions also include commercial loan products and merchant financing for small businesses. Commercial lending solutions include: business loans for start-up needs through commercial mortgage loans and commercial mortgage refinancing, business equipment financing, commercial real estate financing, vendor and supplier credit lines, and commercial real estate loans. Additionally, there are third party commercial loan providers who can provide commercial mortgage services as well as individual merchant financing. The following are some of the more common commercial lending solutions that a business can consider.
Mass Market Lending: In essence, this type of lending offers a wide range of financial centers to a mass market consumer. A business can choose from lenders who specialize in the business they are in, lending to either small or large businesses. Lenders may also offer services to consumers on a larger scale, such as commercial truck financing and mortgage loans for industrial parks, strip malls and office complexes.
Small Business Lending: A small business lending solution may work in conjunction with a mass-market lender or directly with a small business. Either way, consumers can still access the consumer and small business lending centers. Common uses of this type of lending include: business start-ups, acquisition and growth funding, debt consolidation, acquisitions and mergers, asset management, growth and expansion, and capital finance. To better serve the needs of a small business, many small business lending institutions provide direct financing that directly contacts businesses seeking to borrow.
Major Service B branches: Major service branches of the major banks provide the consumer with a wide variety of bank services that they would typically find in their local branch locations. These may include credit cards and personal loans, as well as business checks and debit cards. Some banks also offer high yield savings accounts and self-certification mortgages. Because these branches serve a large mass market, they typically have a wide variety of financial products that can fit any consumer’s unique needs. Consumer and small business banking branches can also help consumers with their tax return preparation and general banking needs.
Bancorp Branches: Many of the country’s largest banks are franchises, which means they are franchised. In turn, many of these franchises have parent branches that allow consumers to access the company’s banking services. Many of the country’s largest banks offer bancorp services, which allow the consumer to open a new checking or savings account, change their PIN, or transfer funds between accounts. A bank can either be part of a national network or operate on a regional basis. Typically, a franchise can branch off from a parent company or retailer, but not both.
Top Quotient: For a bank to be considered a “top quartile” financial institution, it has to service the entire population of the United States. Therefore, if you do a search for “bancorp” on Google, you will get over three million results. These results should give you some indication of what types of businesses you can expect to find at your local branch. If you do a search for “bancorporation” you will find several other pages of results, including statehouses and city halls. If you are trying to find the phone numbers of individual banks, try typing in your zip code. You may be able to find a list of the branch locations of the majority of major banks in your area.