Small businesses rely on a surprisingly broad mix of financial products and payment tools to manage daily operations. According to research from Mercator Advisory Group, more than half of U.S. small businesses use at least 14 different banking services, ranging from business checking accounts to vehicle, equipment, and real estate loans. The findings highlight how deeply integrated banking relationships have become for small businesses, especially as companies balance traditional payment methods like checks with growing use of business credit cards and digital payment solutions.
Don’t miss another episode of Truth In Data! Click on the red bell in the lower-left corner of your screen to receive notifications as soon as the episode publishes.
Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report — Payment Cards and B2B Payments: Riding a Wave of Positivity.
How Many Banking Services Do Small Businesses Use?
- Over 56% of sbs use over 14 different banking services including vehicle, real estate, and equipment loans – through to business checking
- The single most predominent payment method for small businesses is business credit card – 52% use this
- Business checks are still very common, the second most common payment type (42%)
- Personal credit (22%), debit (18%), and checks (16%) demonstrates sbs comingled finances
- Of the credit cards used, Visa leads market share with 69%
- Mastercard (59%), American Express (34%), and Discover (13%) make up the remainder of credit cards used by sbs
About the report
Mercator Advisory Group’s new Insight Summary Report, Payment Cards and B2B Payments: Riding a Wave of Positivity, reveals that U.S. small businesses are largely positive about the prospects for the future of their respective firms with regard to revenues, profitability, and employment. The report is the first of three from Mercator’s annual Small Business Payments and Banking Survey Series, a part of Mercator’s Primary Data Service. It is based on findings from Mercator Advisory Group’s online survey of 2,002 U.S. small businesses fielded in March and April 2019.
The survey’s charts show the primary payment methods used by type, and they reveal attitudes toward cash flow and line of credit. The findings include small businesses’ criteria for choosing a new credit card for the business, which differ by size of firm and indicate the average number of cards held per company.
