Big opportunities for small business in online banking
Today’s business customers are looking for products that will streamline their business processes as well as saving them time and money. And while many of today’s entrepreneurs did not grow up attending schools with a computer on every desk, an increasing number of our commercial customers are now making good use of online product services.
With the cafeteria of online banking services Country Bank for Savings offers, customers can choose — and pay for — only those which they will use. Our online services are web-based, so customers don’t have to buy software that needs continual upgrading. Additionally, use of the system isn’t restricted to the home or office PC. Customers can review their accounts anywhere — in real time – wherever there’s an Internet connection.Our Cash Management product provides up to the minute activity on your account. Are you on your way to a client’s office and want to check to see if their account is current? Or, are you on your way to a supplier’s site and want to double-check that you are current with them? The Cash Management account gives you this information in whatever format you wish, whether it’s sorting payables by date received or by check number.
The Cash Management program can also be set up to "think." Customers can set parameters that enable the system to send out e-mail alerts when certain things occur, such as bank balances dropping below or exceeding amounts the customer designates. If a balance goes below $1,000, it may be time to make a deposit — or if a balance exceeds an upper limit, maybe it’s time to invest some of that money in another financial vehicle.
These products are user-friendly. After initial training and some initial hand-holding, the protocols often become second nature to the people who use them. Technical support is available from our bank personnel during banking hours; a help system is available for the rest of the day.
Another Cash Management service is already well-known to many employers - direct deposit. But did you know that there’s also a direct deposit vehicle for making payments to vendors? This online product offers our customers the chance to not only improve relationships with vendors by making electronic payments on a predictable schedule - it also offers the opportunity to secure vendor discounts for this more efficient form of payment. To a vendor, time is money.
For online customers who elect not to do vendor payments this way, we offer bill payment services. The way this works is that the vendor makes the debit from the customer’s account or produces a check to pay the bill. The payee receives payment electronically or by check dependent on whether the payee is set up to take electronic payment.
Yes, but what about Internet security? Several layers of security protocols are in place to protect against identity theft. We constantly monitor our efforts and hire outside companies which specialize in trying to "hack" a client’s system to ensure against any possibility of a security breach.
We constantly update our risk assessments on such products and the users with access to products. We advise our customers to segregate certain activities among different employees, who would handle only a specific part of the Cash Management System.
The newest development we’re considering offering to our customers is called remote capture, in which business customers can convert their receivables in check form, into electronic transactions right from their own offices. The growth opportunities for this product increased after the passage of the federal Check 21 law in October 2004. Essentially, a scanner captures magnetic ink character data and the front and back check images, which are then electronically delivered to a clearing house which creates an image for clearing. The commercial client retains the original check for a certain period of time. The benefit of this product is the savings in courier fees and drive time to a bank branch. However, it requires extra levels of security because so much of the control is now in the customer’s hands, not the bank’s.
We fully expect to grow our online banking customer base as business customers see the opportunity for enhanced services and cost savings.
Cheryl Barker and Anne Pietri are both vice presidents of commercial services at Ware-based Country Bank for Savings, at web site www.countrybank.com.
WBJ Web Partners
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