U.S. Bank Debuts Business-Focused Checking and Spend Management Tools

U.S. Bank has introduced an all-in-one checking account combined with payments acceptance capabilities for small businesses.

U.S. Bank Business Essentials, announced Monday (April 14), lets businesses accept card payments with free same-day access to their funds and a free mobile card reader.

The bank said it introduced Business Essentials in response to the needs and demands of small business clients, who are seeking service providers who can bundle their digital banking, payments, and operations tools.

“With Business Essentials, we are making it easier for small business owners to manage their business,” Shruti Patel, chief product officer for the business banking segment at U.S. Bank, said in a news release provided to PYMNTS.

“We are bringing multiple capabilities together — a best-in-class checking account with payments and differentiated easy-to-use software — in a single integrated interface.”

Also Monday, the bank debuted a spend management platform to help businesses track and control card-based spending. This platform is being rolled out across U.S. Bank’s business banking credit card portfolios, giving business owners an alternative to using multiple tools.

“It’s an additive capability on our credit cards that provides our cardholders with the convenience of monitoring, controlling and tracking business spending — while continuing to enjoy the great rewards and benefits already associated with their business credit cards,” said Courtney Kelso, head of the bank’s consumer/small business segment. “With Spend Management, those same cards are an even more enriching tool for operating a business.”

These new product launches are happening at a time when small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are facing increasing financial pressures. One out of every two of these businesses in the U.S. now “rely on their day-to-day sales just to keep the lights on,” PYMNTS wrote last week. “Nearly 1 in 5 are pessimistic about their odds of survival over the next two years. Almost 7% think they might not make it.”

Only 28% of SMBs have business cards, and of that group, 64% of businesses with access to any form of financing turn to their corporate cards to withdraw cash for operations.

Although credit cards potentially carry high interest rates, they “offer a quick and relatively easy way to access funds,” PYMNTS wrote. “At the same time, 4 in 10 businesses with access to financing also rely on their owners’ personal credit cards,” blurring the lines between personal and business finances and potentially putting both at risk.

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