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How Financial Institutions Can Use Value Stories to Correct Blind Spots in Small Business Strategy

Small business banking strategies fail most often at the problem definition stage. Institutions assume they understand what owners need and where competitors are winning. In practice, the internal view rarely matches the external reality. The result is a fragmented product set, low engagement, and rising exposure to third-party platforms.

Autobooks meets with financial institutions to eliminate this mismatch. The process is simple:

  1. Clarify the institution’s business priorities.
  2. Examine the daily financial struggles of the small business owner.
  3. Map the gaps between the two.
  4. Research both traditional FI competitors and SMB platforms like QuickBooks or Square to identify how each is already addressing those gaps.

The output is a Value Story. The document gives the institution a direct line of sight to current state, root causes, and the most credible path forward. It works because it sets aside internal assumptions and replaces them with an evidence-based view of market demand and competitive pressure.

The following generic Value Story sample uses structure and language drawn from previous real FI examples and the Autobooks’ Smart Checking business case materials. It is designed to be shared internally at financial institutions that are evaluating how to execute their small business strategy.

 

SAMPLE VALUE STORY

Reclaiming Control of Small Business Relationships Before Competitors Do

Where our Financial Institution Is Today

Our Financial Institution is attempting to grow small business relationships while contending with two opposing forces.

First, small business owners are relying heavily on third-party platforms for invoicing, payments, and basic back-office needs. This behavior is widespread. Only about 5 percent of small businesses use QuickBooks Online1, leaving the overwhelming majority relying on spreadsheets or fragmented tools.

Second, fintech platforms are extending deeper into financial workflows, embedding payment acceptance, bill pay, accounting, and deposit products inside their ecosystems. QuickBooks, Square, and PayPal now monetize both the payment flow and the business operating data, pulling primacy away from banks.

Leadership recognizes a growing imbalance. Lending without deposits leaves margin on the table. Deposits without engagement leaves the institution vulnerable to attrition. Both problems share the same root cause. The current business checking experience is outdated and not designed for the dominant segments of the market. More than 90 percent of US small businesses earn less than one million dollars a year2. Most have no formal accounting system creating an inability to predict cash-flows3. Most want simple digital tools tightly connected to their bank account, not additional stand-alone apps4.

The mandate is clear. The institution must win the full small business relationship, not just the loan.

 
What Small Business Customers Need

Industry research shows a consistent pattern. Sixty-five percent of small businesses adopt fintech tools because their bank does not offer the capabilities they need5. Fifty four percent say managing cash flow is their top challenge6. Data from the Kansas City Fed shows that small business loan demand continues to rise7, while Federal Reserve survey data indicates that roughly 40 percent of applicants request less than 50,000 dollars8.

When seeking financing, FDIC data suggests small business lending remains relationship driven and local. Banks that deliver integrated tools strengthen both underwriting and primacy. Banks that do not become susceptible to competitive displacement by nonbank providers who package payments, accounting, and capital into one workflow.

The struggle is consistent.

Owners need a simple way to get paid, pay others, track cash flow, and view financial performance without leaving digital banking. They want fewer systems, not more. When these capabilities sit outside the checking account, the institution loses visibility and influence over the daily financial life of the business.

 
What the Institution Wants

Discussions with leadership commonly surface three priorities.

  1. Increase the profitability of business checking.
  2. Improve deposit primacy and retention.
  3. Expand the top of the funnel for business lending.

These priorities align directly with market demand. The missing link is a productized path that connects the bank’s strategy with the business owner’s workflow.

 
Root Issue

The institution offers traditional business accounts but no unified operating layer for small businesses. Payments, receivables, bill pay, and accounting exist as disconnected features. The experience does not replace QuickBooks, Venmo, PayPal, or Square. It also does not position the bank as the center of the business financial system. The gap forces owners to assemble their own tool stack. Competitors monetize the friction.

 
The Path Forward

A bundled business checking experience that embeds receivables, payables, cash flow visibility, and basic accounting solves the core problem. This model is validated across the industry. Banks that integrate invoicing, payment acceptance, and financial reporting inside digital banking see higher balances and higher engagement. Business accounts using Autobooks carry checking balances that are one hundred eleven percent higher than average .

This approach positions the institution as the primary system of record for the business, not a secondary storage location for deposits. It also creates a controlled lane for future additions including capital, advanced payments, and industry specific workflows.

If the Institution Stays on Track, It Will

  • Unlock bundled onboarding, payment acceptance, and financial reporting tools within the checking account.
  • Enable branch and RM teams to sell complete business relationships, not isolated loan products.
  • Generate greater customer primacy in deposits and a more reliable source of credit leads for the internal lending team.
  • Avoid rising attrition to third-party financial platforms, avoid loss of payment volume, and avoid the growing cost of disjointed business owner digital experiences.

 

 

1 Based on Intuit’s Q4 2023 Earnings Call compared to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) the U.S. Census Bureau’s Nonemployer Statistics (NES)

2 Data from the U.S. Census Bureau. (2021). Receipt Size of Firms: Employer and Nonemployer Firms (ABSCS2021.AB2100CSA03 and ABSNESD2021.AB2100NESD02). Data retrieved December 4, 2025, from https://data.census.gov/table/ABSCS2021.AB2100CSA03 and https://data.census.gov/table/ABSNESD2021.AB2100NESD02.

3 Based on reported user counts from Intuit (Quickbooks) and Xero compared to data from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) the U.S. Census Bureau’s Nonemployer Statistics (NES)

4 Christine Barry, Five Strategies for Small Business Success (Boston, MA: Datos Insights, October 2023), prepared for Q2

5 Christine Barry, Five Strategies for Small Business Success (Boston, MA: Datos Insights, October 2023), prepared for Q2

6 “2023 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2022 Small Business Credit Survey.” 2023. Small Business Credit Survey. Federal Reserve Banks.

7 Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. “Small Business Lending Survey — Second Quarter 2025.” 2025. https://www.kansascityfed.org/documents/11715/Small-Business-Lending-Survey-Kansas-City-Fed-Second-Quarter-2025.pdf

8 Federal Reserve. “Where Small Businesses Bank: Why Insights from the Small Business Credit Survey Matter.” FedCommunities, 2025. https://fedcommunities.org/where-small-businesses-bank-why-insights-small-business-credit-survey/

 

 

 

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