Clearly, Carmeisha had no issues peddling her pudding, but she still wasn’t sure if she was turning a profit: “I was making the money, but I felt like I wasn’t really seeing the money.” This is when she decided that she needed to “get organized.” There was another important anxiety at work here too: her pricing. Was Carmeisha charging her customers enough to maintain a healthy bottom line?

Fast forward to 2017, on the Fourth of July. Carmeisha receives a mailer from Chase promoting a new incentive: $300 credit for opening a business account. “I could use that extra money,” she thought. Chase had already been on her mind. Her close friend had banked there, and had recommended them on several occasions. She had explained to Carmeisha that it wouldn’t hurt to try them. And if she wasn’t happy, she could always try something else. These two forces — her friend plus the cash incentive — helped pull Carmeisha to opening a new account.

There was one other anxiety at play: Carmeisha was not happy with the mobile banking app offered by her credit union. “It felt like they were using older technology,” she told us. “But when I went with Chase to open up the account, I thought there was a huge difference from what I [had been using].”

Carmeisha also discovered another feature available in the Chase app: the ability to take card payments from customers. This feature, she told us, “was the main thing” that drew her in. Interestingly, she had also paid for a similar service with her previous account at the credit union, but it had never worked to her expectations. “It was just frustrating! So, like I was trying to take a payment from a person, and then it's not working. It's offline, or it wasn't connecting.” As a result, Carmeisha had resorted to using third-party apps, like Zelle and Cash app.

Initially, Janice did not have an easy time opening a new business account. Because she was new to the US, this made it “incredibly difficult” to open an account. Strangely, she pointed out, it was far easier to open a business account than a personal account. “I was hoping that my business bank account would show them that I’m a real human being,” she expressed, in frustration.

Although Janice could have continued with her current arrangement, she felt an urgency to close her HSBC account. We soon find out exactly why. If she had chosen to continue operating out of a UK account, she would have been forced to pay taxes to both the UK and now the US!

The good news is that Janice found an online bank willing to help her: nbkc. And she was able to open both a personal and a business account. However, Janice’s preference had always been to go with a “bigger company” that is “more well known,” like Chase.

Another wrinkle to Janice’s story soon came to light. Because Janice is a prolific world traveler, she worried about fraud. She felt that her bank should provide robust protection related to her account, such as through real-time alerts. “Skimming is still a thing in a lot of countries,” she pointed out. She felt especially vulnerable because she would be traveling with only a debit card (a credit card was still out of reach, as she was still in the process of establishing her residency). 

The other force that attracted her to Chase, beyond the account security, has to do with her phone being registered in Mexico. Janice discovered after some research in the Google Play store, that out of her three front-runners (Chase, Capital One, and another bank), only the Chase app would be available to her (despite her phone not being registered in the US).  

So why not just switch her phone over to the US? Our interviewer asked. This was a no-go for Janice. Her phone is connected to an existing personal account based in Mexico, she explained. And she uses it to pay for her Mexican property as well as a number of utilities and subscriptions (including a Formula One account). She was not about to tamper with this arrangement! 

Initially, Darius and his wife decided that Chase would become their bank. They already banked there, and they wanted to ensure that they could handle all of their banking in one place, at the same time. This simplicity attracted them, despite the fact that they were only beginners, and didn’t fully understand what they would need as a business. “They already had our information, so let’s just go from there,” Darius said. 

Our interviewers dug deeper. It was clear that Darius and his wife had decided on Chase mostly out of convenience. But they wanted to get a fuller picture of the various accounts available to the couple as they explored the bank’s offerings. How did the initial meeting with the banker go? What were their specific needs as a business? And why did they decide on one account over another? 

Soon after setting up their business account at Chase, Darius and his wife were ready to take their business to the next level. They had already committed full time to their photo booth rental service, taking it from a side hustle to a full-time enterprise in just a few years, including setting up an LLC. And now they had the critical business banking relationship to go along with it. They were ready to go after more lucrative events, such as those put on by bigger companies. 

Things were going well. Even as their business grew, Darius continued to receive offers from competing financial institutions. The promotions were enticing – in particular the percentage-based card rewards offered by another bank. Although the seed was planted, these offers were not compelling enough on their own for Darius to justify making the jump. After all, the “grass is not always greener on the other side,” he explained.

One day, Darius realized that there had been some international charges posted to his account — clearly a case of fraud. Chase responded by putting a “freeze” on his account and promised to investigate further, Darius told the interviewers. In his view, this was just not acceptable. Prior to this incident, Darius had recounted another bad customer support experience with his personal account that had also involved fraud. It was clear he had had enough: “I did not feel they were worthy of my business,” he told the interviewers. As far as Chase was concerned, “I was out.” 

Darius was ready to find a new banking partner, and his search would be as straightforward as the first time. “I had already been doing research,” he said. Although he had a list of questions for his candidates, including how they would handle fraud, Darius posed an even more critical concern: “To be honest with you, how many of them make you feel wanted?” he asked our interviewer. It was clear that it would not be enough to find the right mix of products and benefits — they had to convince him that they wanted his business, too. 

Darius settled on Capital One for several reasons. He appreciated the free business checks and the credit card rewards, all of which translated into cost savings, he explained. Concerning fraud support, they offered account alerts triggered by exceeding specific thresholds. And if fraud did occur, they were happy to overnight a new card for free. But ultimately, his decision was about more than fees or rewards. “Was it about feeling cared for?” Our interviewer asked. Darius concluded with a simple but resounding answer: “Yes.” 

Through the course of his investigation, Arne realized that they were overpaying for “archaic” services they didn’t need, especially for his company’s size. And the monthly fees were just too high. Arne did not understand why they needed to pay $800 a month to their bank — an amount that seemed “astronomically high” for a small company, and what they were getting in return.  

On top of that, Arne had not been successful in getting the bank to switch ownership of the account over to his company (it was still held by the original parent company). However, this was not his only frustration. As he went deeper into his story, he recounted a litany of ongoing pain points.

Because their parent company had now left the same bank, Arne felt that communication had broken down with the bank. They were not the original account owners, after all. And he added, “They were not interested in solving our problems.” However, Arene was not ready to give up on the relationship quite yet. Instead, he decided to focus on the cost cutting. What could they get from their bank in return for a reduced fee (even if they were not able to meet his expectations)? 

The best course of action, Arne decided, would be to meet with their banker to review their current setup and to reduce their monthly fees. He was also hoping that he could get some sort of refund in the process, as their fee structure had not been in line with their usage for several years. During the meeting, the bank promised to reduce the fee. Arne came away with some satisfaction. However, this feeling would not last.  

The monthly fee did not change, Arne told the interviewers. It actually went up the following month! Arne continued to reach out in the ensuing months — a frustrating process that did not seem to resolve any lingering issues. And then Arne received an email from his banker that would become the last straw. His banker, it turns out, had not taken any notes during the meeting, and was now asking to review his requests once again. 

Arne was ready to move on. He presented his case to the CEO, and was given the greenlight to take the next steps and begin the selection process. He demoed the candidates on his shortlist, with his highest criterion being price. A close second would be good customer support. They needed to partner with a bank that was reliable — that would follow through on their promises. Third on his list was the user interface and overall experience. He set this barrier low, however, as Arne understood no bank would be “perfect” in this regard. At the very least, he wanted a single login for online banking, versus the three he had been forced to use previously. 

After considering several big banks, Arne went with a company that he knew well and was already very happy with: American Express. He pointed out that not only were they their current business card vendor, but throughout their relationship, had consistently provided “flawless” customer support. And to Arne’s surprise, their new account would add up to “zero dollars” a month (their credit card would continue to cost the same), and would generate rewards points as a result of carrying a monthly balance. Arne was absolutely jubilant, and did not hide his feeling from our interviewers. 

There was only one wrinkle — the deposit account was a new offering from American Express. And up to the point of the recording, Arne had yet to test the mobile deposit capture feature. Nevertheless, Arne expressed that his “trust was high,” and remained optimistic. 

Question: What do you consider to be universally true about small business banking?

Question: What is TD Bank’s holistic approach to business account opening — from online to in-person?

Question: How do you learn from small business customers, and how do you apply those insights?

Question: What are some good indicators, specifically during account opening, of long-term customer retention?

Question: Tell us about something that most financial institutions overlook during business account opening? Let's start there. What's the most overlooked thing that you’ve found when it comes to business account opening?

Question: Regarding measurement for account opening, how do you bet approach that? What are some of the tactics and tools you're using? And when you're measuring the funnel, when you receive that information, how are you sharing that back to financial institutions?

Question: A lot of financial institutions have business owners walk into the branch, and many banks are just really good at in-store sales. So how does digital account opening complement the in-branch experience?

Question: How do you blend in and approach cross sales — product add-ons, if you will, during account opening? And how do you tell prospects about those product lines and feature capabilities (product selection)?