Strategies for Strengthening Your Business Card Program

The last several years have brought unique challenges for financial institutions and their customers. One segment of consumers particularly impacted by evolving technology and economic uncertainty is small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). According to the Small Business Administration, the U.S. has 33.2 million small businesses, accounting for over 46% of the private workforce. With SMBs taking up such a sizable portion of the market, it’s important for banks to build a strategy that caters to their valued SMB owners.

Whether the businesses you work with are in growth mode, well-established or somewhere in between, every SMB requires a reliable business card to manage their expenses and cash flow.

With many business owners on edge from the state of the economy and the recent banking failures, they are now looking to their local banks more than ever before, making this a great opportunity to lean into your business card program. Here are four key elements to consider when looking to revitalize your business program:

Define Your Target

For banks to successfully cater to the unique needs of their business owners, they should take time to understand who they are and what they need. Consider products that allow for the option to create “swim lane” segmentation based on a variety of factors – like a business’s creditworthiness and business tenure, or whether they’re rewards-focused. This will drive deeper relationships with those cardholders and benefit the overall growth of the bank.

Swim Lanes for Businesses with Excellent to Fair Credit

Size is also a significant factor in what types of products your business customers will need, as indicated in the chart above. Small businesses with annual revenue between $100K and $3 million have unique borrowing needs and are sometimes overlooked by financial institutions. Because of their smaller size, business cards are an excellent product to offer these businesses. On the other hand, middle-market corporations with revenue over $10 million often need more complex financial services. That makes commercial cards a good fit for these larger organizations.

Additional considerations include the size, location and customers of the businesses you work with when deciding what types of card products will best serve your customer base. If your financial institution is located in a region that caters to a specific industry type – like farmers, the tech industry, government agencies or major manufacturing – take that into consideration as well, as some specific industries may have more complex needs than other communities.

Consider Your Product Solution Set

When deciding on what products to have in your business program, it’s important to consider a holistic segment of solutions and services that meets the needs of existing and new SMB clients. Banks should prioritize card products that satisfy the core needs of the business, as well as features for easy account management, like employee cards with credit line and category controls. Additionally, business owners and back-office teams need powerful tools to manage their business, like desktop and mobile account management for users and tools for the Business Administrator to monitor and track expenses for all users.

Get the Whole Team Excited

When revitalizing your business card program, it’s crucial to have a plan to educate your staff and promote the card program throughout your organization. Provide ongoing training to your customer-facing teams to ensure they understand the value propositions and benefits, as well as the difference between servicing a business account vs. a personal account.

Take care to ensure your SMB team recognizes and appreciates the unique needs and requirements of small and medium businesses. When your team understands the mindset, technical interfaces and industry jargon of your SMBs, they can service these customers more effectively.

If your business card program lacks momentum, consider reenergizing your marketing efforts. Make sure your marketing plan focuses on acquiring new customers as well as targeting existing ones. Invite your SMB owners to apply for a business card rather than using a personal card for business expenses.

Don’t Forget to Track and Optimize

Once a new business program is launched, it’s common for banks to “set it and forget it,” but it’s essential to monitor the program continuously. Keep an eye on your approval rate to ensure you are acquiring clients within the risk rules set by your organization and within your cost-per-acquisition (CPA) tolerance. Additionally, monitoring Profit and Loss metrics closely will ensure you stay on track to hit your goals.

The needs of small and medium-sized businesses can change quickly, so adjusting and optimizing your business program as needed is important. Reach out to your customer-facing teams to collect feedback – they work closely with your cardholders and can help gauge what is working and what needs to be adjusted.

By following these steps, you can ensure your SMB program is set up for long-term growth, benefitting both your bank and your customers.

Cody Banks leads Primax’s payments, Fraud, Loyalty and Contact Center product teams. In his role, he focuses on developing and delivering safe, easy and convenient payments experiences for the company’s financial institutions. Prior to working with Primax, Banks spent nearly 10 years in the financial services industry navigating complex initiatives with a focus on journey mapping of the customer experience.