This post is about why we acquired MinuteLender, what it means for the financial institutions we work with, and where I believe this takes us.
TL;DR: Small businesses are an important segment of the economy, historically underserved by financial institutions — often too big for consumer/retail and too small for treasury/cash-management solutions. They need payments, accounting and credit to work together — embedded into daily workflows. However, SMBs often piece together solutions from multiple providers, which fragments and weakens the primary bank relationship. Autobooks’ acquisition of MinuteLender isn’t another point solution. It allows us to become a connected small business ecosystem built for modern banking. By combining payments, accounting and lending into a seamless experience — we can respond dynamically to cash-flow needs, while preserving the trusted banking relationship.
It’s generally accepted that small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. They create jobs, fuel innovation and strengthen communities. The 2025 Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy cites 36.2M businesses exist in the US alone, with 91% generating < $1M in annual revenue.
Over 500,000 new business applications are filed in the United States each month, with approximately 532,319 submitted in January, 2026, marking a period of record-high entrepreneurship. Since 2020, the monthly average has remained over 430k, nearly a 60% increase over pre-pandemic levels – adding 5M+ businesses per year.
MBO Partners State of Independence report indicates an additional 72M+ US independent workers! MBO defines workers broadly as people who earn an income outside of traditional W-2 employment, including freelancers, consultants, gig workers, and independent contractors whereas the SBA focuses on registered, employer-based businesses. Combined, there is an estimated ~100M eligible customers, loosely defined as “small businesses”.
This presents a tremendous opportunity for financial institutions to recognize SMB as a distinct segment. To be successful, we must design products around cash-flow volatility that integrate into existing business workflows (sending invoices & paying bills) with digital-first experiences that compliment, not compete with your FI.
Institutions that adapt their products to this workforce, connecting payments, accounting and lending can capture one of the fastest-growing segments of the modern economy.
Banks care deeply about their small business customers, but the infrastructure of traditional banking was never designed to support the realities of small business finance.
That insight is one of the reasons we founded Autobooks. And it is a key reason why we recently acquired MinuteLender.
Karen Mills’ Book, Fintech, Small Business & the American Dream describes a persistent gap in access to credit and financial services. The problem isn’t demand for credit. Small businesses need working capital constantly, to manage payroll, purchase inventory, invest in growth and navigate seasonal cycles.
The real problem is the cost-to-serve and lack of data.
Traditional small business lending relies heavily on:
These processes are expensive and slow, especially for smaller loans. Many banks simply cannot profitably serve loans under a few hundred thousand dollars using traditional methods.
At the same time, banks historically lacked real-time visibility into the actual operating performance of their small business customers. They could see balances in a checking account, but not necessarily the full picture of how the business was performing day-to-day.
MinuteLender provides technology and intelligent use of data that transforms small business lending by lowering the cost of underwriting and improving risk precision.
The key is access to real-time financial data.
Over the past several years, Autobooks has been helping financial institutions capture exactly that.
By embedding invoicing, payment acceptance and accounting directly inside digital banking, Autobooks provides small businesses with the tools they need to run their operations while giving financial institutions deeper insight into the health of those businesses.
When a small business invoices a customer, receives payment or tracks receivables through Autobooks, that activity creates valuable operating data.
It becomes possible to understand:
Last years’ acquisition of Allied Payment Network introduced additional spend management capabilities, far beyond basic bill pay. We now intimately understand the context, vendors and use of funds to support business operations - further illuminating challenges (and opportunities) to better serve small businesses payables and expense management needs.
In other words, Autobooks combination of AR, AP, and GL have served as a foundation to help banks gain a clear, more dynamic view of the businesses they serve.
But data alone is not enough.
To fully realize the vision Mills describes, financial institutions must be able to translate operational insight into timely access to capital.
That’s where MinuteLender comes in.
MinuteLender brings powerful digital lending capabilities that allow financial institutions to offer embedded working capital and term lending within the digital banking experience.
What makes them different is the combination of speed and control. Financial institutions configure their own credit criteria. MinuteLender automates the decision, generates the documentation, and handles funding, often same or next day. Loans are booked to the institution’s balance sheet. The bank stays in the credit relationship. The technology just makes it fast enough and affordable enough to actually work at scale.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
Lee Reed from FFB Bank in Fresno, CA when talking about the benefits of MinuteLender “This is the straight-through process we've been looking for. The simplicity of the workflow was easy to explain to the board and our auditors. Our MinuteLender platform takes care of 80% of our loan volume, freeing our lenders to handle the larger deals.”
Together, Autobooks and MinuteLender create a powerful closed-loop system:
Payments → Cash Flow Visibility → Intelligent Credit → Business Growth
Instead of sending customers to alternative lenders, financial institutions can now offer credit precisely when it is needed, informed by real operating data.
This approach reduces friction for the borrower while improving risk visibility for the lender.
Another key theme in Mills’ work is the evolving role of the bank–customer relationship.
Technology should not replace banks. It should strengthen them.
Banks provide trust, stability and long-term partnership — qualities that are essential for small business success.
Fintech can help modernize the infrastructure behind that relationship.
By combining Autobooks’ embedded financial tools with MinuteLender’s lending platform, financial institutions can now offer a more complete ecosystem for small business customers, including:
All within their existing digital banking platform.
This integrated approach delivers meaningful benefits for banks and credit unions.
It allows them to:
In short, it transforms digital banking from a service channel into a growth engine for small business relationships – ensuring primacy.
Karen Mills describes a future where financial services integrate seamlessly into the day-to-day operations of running a business.
In that world, lenders have access to better data, credit decisions are faster and more accurate, and small businesses gain access to the capital they need to grow.
Autobooks believes that future is already beginning to take shape.
With the addition of MinuteLender, we are taking another important step toward building the infrastructure that makes it possible.
Our goal remains the same as it has always been: to help financial institutions better serve the small businesses who power our communities.
Because when small businesses succeed, financial institutions and the communities they serve thrive.
And that’s a future worth building.
Steve Robert
Chief Executive Officer, Autobooks
We believe the future of small business banking is connected, intelligent, and embedded. This acquisition moves that vision forward. |