In 2023, it’s predicted that small businesses will have an increased need for credit. In fact, a recent survey of 1,200 small business owners showed that 62 percent reported that they plan to borrow an average of $2 million over the next 2 years.
The question remains. Who will be their lender of choice?
For a lot of business owners, community institutions have been a top choice for small businesses for many years. According to a recent article from Fortune, between 86 and 94 percent of small businesses use credit for their expenses, and 52 percent of credit funding comes from community institutions.
It should come as no surprise that community organizations continue to support the needs of small businesses in 2023. Their dedication to serving the communities they reside in was proven over and over throughout the pandemic as community institutions stepped in to help support business borrowers in a time of great need through the Paycheck Protection Program. According to ICBA, 60 percent of PPP loans were originated by community institutions.
As business borrowers continue to seek funding this year, it’s important that community lenders maintain and further develop their reputation as the best choice for business borrowers. A natural next step in supporting businesses post-PPP is further developing their digital presence to adapt to new customer expectations and better meet their customers where they are.
While, today, community banks are preferred by many business customers, this has the potential to shift in the coming years if lenders fail to innovate. Oliver Wyman recently surveyed over 10,000 SMEs and found that 75 percent of them responded that they have no loyalty to their current institution. Additionally, 90 percent of respondents reported that they were comfortable with self-service.
Today, community institutions have a unique opportunity to leverage technology to continue strengthening relationships with existing customers and attract new businesses with an easy-to-use digital experience.
Make It Easy for Small Business Borrowers to Choose Your Institution
In order to attract and retain business customers, lenders should be prepared to provide an experience that takes the pain out of the traditional lending process. Historically, to borrow from an institution operating on legacy processes, a business owner would be required to visit the institution at least once and move through a disjointed, paper-based experience.
In order to truly transform the loan application process for business owners, lenders should be focused on creating an experience that eliminates all bottlenecks. With Numerated’s Universal Business Application (UBA), financial institutions can offer a self-service or banker-led application for any loan type that takes only minutes to complete.
Why Lenders Are Choosing Numerated’s Universal Business Application
- Self-Service Applications that Meet Regulatory Requirements New regulations from the CFPB will require institutions to collect and report on more than 20 additional data points. Collecting and organizing this information without the right technology will be both time and cost intensive for community institutions. The CFPB has estimated that complying with section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act will cost lenders approximately $99 per application.
With Numerated, meeting regulatory requirements is simple. Lenders leveraging the platform can enjoy automatic data collection and organization that complies with 1071 at a fraction of the cost using the Universal Business Application.
- Faster Decision Times Less paperwork and data entry means faster time to funding for business owners and more time spent on relationship building for lenders. Numerated's Universal Business Application enables FIs to save hours on back-and-forth communication and document collection by automating the process.
- Omni-Channel Support A key reason small business owners continue to choose community institutions over larger banks and fintechs is due to the level of support and attention to detail that these lenders offer. Many borrowers view their institutions as not only a bank, but a trusted advisor to help them navigate the throws of owning a small business.
Oftentimes, when seeking this level of guidance from their institutions, borrowers opt for in-person branch visits. With UBA lenders can leverage the value of omni-channel by providing excellent digital experiences both in and outside of the bank. Borrowers can opt for either a self-service experience that can be accessed anywhere, any time, on any device. Alternatively, if they have questions, or would prefer to visit the branch, the same experience can be provided by any employee at any location.
Implement Numerated’s Universal Business Applications in Less than 3 Months
With Numerated, implementing a digital application experience is easy. Lenders can fully implement and begin seeing value from their investment in the Universal Business Application in as little as three months.
To learn more about how you can transform your business lending experience with Numerated, contact us today to schedule a demo.
