Chase has announced a series of new product innovations designed to help small business owners overcome some of their biggest pain points.
Top concerns among small business owners include cash flow, staffing, and revenue growth. That’s why Chase is introducing new services that will allow small business owners to electronically create and send invoices, make better use of customer insights, and speed up the payment process.
“We want to be good partners to our business clients and that means listening to them and creating products and services that meet their needs,”
said Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. “Time and again our clients tell us they are looking for something more from their bank than traditional transactional assistance. They want to work with great people and they want great technology that runs in the background. We’re uniquely able to provide both.”
Create and Send Invoices Electronically
Today many small business owners have to manually create, send and reconcile their invoices. Starting in May, Chase is offering a digital invoicing solution that gives small business clients an easier way to bill their customers so they can get paid faster. It’s exclusively available for Chase Business Complete Banking customers at no additional cost.
Through chase.com or the Chase Mobile® app, they can:
- Easily create professional-looking invoices that can be sent via text or email
- Give their customers options to pay, including by Zelle® or check
- In addition, customers who have Chase QuickAccept® can also easily and securely take credit card payments and get same-day deposits, automatic online invoice updates, and higher daily acceptance limits
In a recent Chase for Business survey, 86% of small business owners said it’s important to send and receive invoices quickly.
- 48% said it currently takes more than 3 business days to get paid on invoices; only 14% say their invoices are paid in real-time
- 50% said they would change banks to one that provides free digital invoicing
Get Actionable Insights
Chase also plans to introduce Customer Insights, a powerful business intelligence platform that provides simple, actionable insights to help business owners more effectively reach their customers, run more efficiently, and make better strategic decisions.
The platform is already available for customers who use Chase to accept credit card payments.
Chase for Business customers will have complimentary access to aggregated, anonymized data about businesses like theirs, such as average customer profile, average ticket amount, and busiest shopping times.
When they use Chase to accept credit card payments, they’ll get transaction-based data coupled with actionable insights:
- Marketing and loyalty program suggestions based on sales trends
- Staffing recommendations based on peak transaction periods
- Suggested expansion opportunities based on customer ZIP codes
“Customer Insights has been an absolute godsend,”
says Cullen Fuller, co-owner of Meredith Jaye and M and Em’s boutiques in Chicago. “It has helped us define who our customer is. I’m getting data that would essentially cost me thousands of dollars to get elsewhere. It makes me more money, drives positive margins and is free.”
“Before Customer Insights I would just target my social media campaigns for 35 miles around my store,”
says Terica Gatewood, co-owner of Play It Again Sports in Topeka, Kansas. “Having ZIP codes of frequent customers, I can focus my marketing and make my budget go further. It also helps me validate the effectiveness of my campaign and benchmark against my marketing agency reports.”
In the Chase for Business survey, 82% of small business owners said they’re likely to use data in their business decision-making.
- 64% are interested in data for competitor analysis
- 59% are interested in data that helps them understand customer spending habits
Send Payments Faster
Chase recently introduced an online Payments hub that gives business owners a menu of secure, on-demand options for paying vendors and employees.
Business customers can:
- Send large sums of money quickly and securely
- Reduce writing and mailing checks
- Choose their delivery method (Standard, Same-Day or Real-Time)
- Pay as they go (per payment) versus a flat monthly fee
Chase is one of the first banks to offer real-time, same-day, and standard ACH (electronic) payments without a flat monthly fee. In the Chase for Business survey, 83% of small business owners said they prefer to pay their vendors electronically.
- Only 31% prefer to send a paper check
- 54% said they would change banks to one that sends same-day or real-time electronic payments
- Accept Contactless Payments via iPhone
Last year, Chase became one of the first banks in the
U.S. to offer Tap to Pay for iPhone. It’s available exclusively to business customers who use Chase QuickAccept to accept payments. Businesses can seamlessly and securely accept contactless payments using only an iPhone and a supporting iOS app — with no additional hardware needed. The feature accepts all forms of contactless payments, including Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards and other digital wallets.
"With Tap to Pay on iPhone and the Chase app, I can take my business to more events,”
says Eunji Lee, founder of Lysée, a pastry boutique in New York. “It’s a great opportunity for me to expand beyond my shop.”
