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Recent Analyst's Journal Articles:
Apr
17
2019
Analyst's Journal
There Are Three Ways to Enhance Small Business Stickiness
By Joel Mueller
Many banks have focused on providing sticky solutions for their small business customers ($100K-<$10MM in annual sales revenue). To operationalize this term, “sticky” refers to the product/service strategy a bank uses to make sure clients don’t (want to) leave the bank or seek alternative solutions from another institution. This often includes the enrollment in bill pay, direct deposits, etc. However, there is more to long-lasting stickiness than enrolling clients in account features...
Apr
10
2019
Analyst's Journal
Through Proactive Discussions, Account Officers Can Influence Small Businesses’ Ratings on Their Primary Bank Keeping Up with Innovations to Products
By Emily Cade
The rate of innovation and change continues to accelerate in financial services given the consistent and growing demand for digital solutions among small businesses ($100K-<$10MM in annual sales). Not only is it vital to keep up with this change but communicating the benefits of innovation is key to adoption of new solutions among your clients. Barlow Research conducts an annual analysis to determine which brand attributes and channels explain the variation in overall primary...
Apr
3
2019
Analyst's Journal
Mobile Banking Channel Set to Become Second Most Frequently Contacted Channel Among Small Business Digital Users
By Youa Yang
Since mobile banking came to market, the industry has wondered when it would overtake online banking usage or that of the other major channels at the bank for businesses. Currently, financial institutions are investing heavily in digital technologies and banking on the mobile device as the device of choice. Some financial institutions are working towards being device agnostic in order to allow their business banking customers the ability to interact with their bank on their...
Mar
27
2019
Analyst's Journal
Being Proud of a Primary Bank Relationship Leads to Greater Degrees of Loyalty
By Emily Anderson
There are many factors that drive a middle market company (companies with $10MM-<$500MM in sales) to be satisfied with their primary financial institution. Annually at Barlow Research, we track what those items are. We consistently find that being easy to do business with is a top driver of satisfaction with the bank as well as other attributes such as appreciating their business and getting things right the first time. But in just the last...
Mar
20
2019
Analyst's Journal
Bank of America Launches Business Advantage 360 to Help Small Businesses Manage Their Cash Flow
By Allison Haley
Staying on top of cash flow is essential for any company, regardless of the size of business. However, efficiently managing cash flow is a challenge unto itself. Managing cash flow can often tie up the business owner and prevent them from getting back to the heart of the matter, that is, running their company. There are many methods that business owners use to manage their cash flow, from using manual processes with paper and pencil...
Mar
13
2019
Analyst's Journal
BB&T Earns Highest Rating on Account Officer Performance Attribute: Makes Effective Use of My Time
By Donna Arce
Middle Market companies ($10MM-<$500MM in annual sales) are lucrative and often have complex banking relationships. Because they offer high net potential revenue to the bank, middle market clients have the luxury of having a dedicated Account Officer assigned to manage each relationship. The Account Officer’s role is to navigate the bank on behalf of the customer and keep friction out of the customer journey. With this intent, making effective use of the customer’s time...
Mar
6
2019
Analyst's Journal
Failing to Keep Up with Innovations to Business Products/Services Is a Key Indicator of Potential Attrition
By Sandy Hanson
There is no doubt the banking industry is evolving. The digital transformation curve is steep and traditional financial institutions have not only each other as competitors, but many fintechs as well. Keeping up with all the new customer expectations is a difficult task as things are ever changing. In Barlow Research’s most recent data (1Q2018-4Q2018), we found that only 40% of small businesses ($100K-<$10MM in sales) agreed strongly that their primary bank keeps up...
Feb
27
2019
Analyst's Journal
Organic Growth in Small Business Customers Lowest in Nearly a Decade
By Joel Mueller
According to Barlow Research’s latest Pulse data, only 1% of small businesses ($100K-<$10MM) changed primary banks in the last 12 months. This is the lowest attrition rate seen for several years. This type of low attrition metric can be viewed either positively by reassuring financial institutions that there is a foundation of loyalty in the small business market, or negatively, as low attrition can be a major hurdle for new customer acquisition. Small businesses...
Feb
20
2019
Analyst's Journal
An Assigned Account Officer May Help to Lower Primary Bank Defection Rates of Small Businesses in Ownership Transition
By Emily Cade
In 2018, Barlow Research asked a new question to learn what percent of small businesses ($100K-<$10MM in annual sales) had already transitioned ownership of their company, either fully or partially in the past five years. In the latest rolling four quarter data, 12% of small businesses indicated they experienced total or partial company ownership transition in the last five years. This increased with sales size from 11% among companies with $100K-<$500K to...
Feb
13
2019
Analyst's Journal
BB&T and SunTrust Merger Set to Disrupt Primary Bank Market Share Leader Rankings
By Youa Yang
The recent news that BB&T and SunTrust are merging caught many by surprise. The merger is described by the banks as a “transformational merger of equals” according to a website sharing details with current bank clients; two super regional financial institutions with what appears to be similar books of business and customer servicing strategies are set to merge at the end of 2019. With this merger brings questions about how the banks will blend...