Banks With Fintech Partners Seize New Opportunities For SMB Accounts

In a world that increasingly sees every convenience imaginable rendered available at the mere tap of a touchscreen, eyes are increasingly falling on the banking industry’s response to consumer appetites for digital solutions. In particular, SMBs (small and medium-sized businesses) are rolling out the virtual red carpet for their audiences in an ever-more innovative array of ways, and seeking out the financial solutions that will allow their forward motion to continue.

For banks and credit unions to be able to keep up, the time has come to squash any sense of competition with the world of fintech and instead embrace collaboration. Ultimately, when united, these two industries are going to define the limitations faced by tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, and those with a finger on the pulse are set on looking skyward.

Meeting the Needs of Ambitious SMBs
According to the latest statistics, smaller enterprises account for 99.9% of all businesses and generate a staggering 44% of the U.S. economy—a figure that is worth indulging with a little sink-in time. Thanks to trailblazers in fintech, the entrepreneurs driving these brands have been able to lean into the digital trends market, rolling out creative solutions at pace and reaping the rewards of growing customer bases.

However, these SMB owners are customers too, and a lag in active modernization from banks and credit unions has left many gazing across an inconvenient chasm. Financial institutions failing to evolve have overlooked their customers’ undeniable hunger for dynamic and integrated interfaces, customizable products, and an uptick in lending momentum.

The Fintech industry has stepped up to the plate with the goal of filling this gap. However, there lies a raft of other unnecessary limitations such as historic data scope and international reach. Crucially, as a growing number of visionaries on both sides of the schism are coming to realize, entering into partnerships is the optimal strategy for bringing the bridge-building required to the fore and allowing respective strengths to shine at their brightest..

An Industry Shift Already Gaining Ground
Of course, not all banks are doggedly dragging their heels to meet full-spectrum demands for digital services. In fact, roughly two-thirds of banks and credit unions have entered into at least one fintech partnership in recent years, while around half that number have also invested in the industry. These figures are expected to rise, making now the moment to leap into this amiable new era of partnership in order to retain or claim a meaningful competitive edge.

In a moment of metamorphosis such as this, the smaller financial institutions collaborating intrepidly may well take a step ahead of their banking-giant counterparts. There is certainly ground to be gained, with nearly half of small businesses still feeling that their financial institutions don’t understand their need for things like comprehensive and seamless single-platform-based banking solutions. Perhaps even more poignantly, the majority of these enterprises have already partnered with a fintech able to plug a necessary hole, while the true potential for what could be at their fingertips remains unrealized.

New Demand Requires New Thinking
The digital ecosystems of tomorrow are set to be all about integration. For SMBs, this means not only UX, vendor management, invoicing, payments, and data analysis, but also the financial services that extend outwards to their customers and upward toward the financial institutions that give them agency. In this world, banking can no longer be a series of stand-alone transactional frameworks. Instead, it must become part of a holistic digital landscape that requires functional collaboration to succeed.

Here at GenEqty, we couldn’t be more excited to see our view across the terrain of SMB banking and lending evolve so quickly. We are thrilled to support the banks and credit unions who are ready to leave antiquated processes and client data silos behind. As they move to claim the agility of fintech and combine it with their own industry longevity and know-how, our white-label and customizable modular solutions, powerful B2B data analytics engine, and suite of APIs await readily to make that which was previously un-envisioned not only imaginable but actionable.

So are you ready to discover a platform built to help community banks, credit unions, and lenders step into this collaborative new era with confidence? Lend faster, scale faster, and meet the digital needs of your small business customers as never before with GenEQTY as your partner..