Winning small business primacy starts with onboarding
Small business owners increasingly want to complete onboarding journeys online, yet most banks still push them into the branch at the last mile with identity checks, document upload, and signing. That friction is costly: 68% of SMB depositors said they prefer to open accounts entirely online, ).
Robert Soetens, VP of Product for Digital Sales and Process Orchestration, cuts to the heart of the issue on the Banking Reinvented podcast:
If your digital flow hands customers off to manual review queues, that "week" can feel like forever (FDIC).
What leaders do differently in SMB digital banking
Benchmarks of top U.S. banks' SMB experiences point to a consistent playbook:
Bottom line: leaders aren't just "digitizing the form." They are de-risking and de-toiling the first 30 days so businesses feel the value immediately.
FAQ: SMB Digital Banking
Platform strategy for business banks: the digital backbone for SMB growth
Winning SMB primacy doesn't require a core replacement. Rather, it requires a purpose-built SMB digital banking platform that becomes the backbone for onboarding, origination, and day-one engagement.
Think of this as the experience layer sitting above your core. Its job: orchestrate seamless SMB journeys.
Core functions:
What to look for in a vendor platform
Celent's 2025 research is clear: the choice of digital banking platform (DBP) is "far more impactful" to business bank success today than it was even two years ago. Your short-list should prioritize vendors with strength in:
Critical capabilities to shortlist
The takeaway
Small business banking isn't "retail‑plus." It's its own discipline: digital‑led with a human in the loop. The research is unusually aligned: SMBs will choose and stay with the bank that lets them complete onboarding online, gives them delegated control out of the box, and shows value on day one through alerts and ecosystem integrations. The banks that modernize now — on a platform designed for business banking — will convert more prospects, fund faster, and grow primacy with less human toil.
When evaluating platforms, like Backbase, it's key to anchor your case on outcomes and KPIs and time‑box delivery to 90 days. The gap you'll close is real, visible, and defensible.
How Backbase delivers end-to-end SMB journeys
Backbase's AI-native Banking OS connects orchestration, embedded intelligence, and ecosystem integrations through one unified Control Plane. Banks get fully digital onboarding, faster origination, and day-one personalization - without replacing their core.
Results: Less customer friction, lower cost-to-serve, lasting SMB primacy.
Book a strategy call to see how 150+ banks modernize with Backbase.
