Banks Expand Services for Small Businesses
Banking is becoming a buyer’s market for entrepreneurs, as financial institutions of all sizes court them with upgraded service and new products. The nation’s 23.7 million small companies account for 99.7% of U.S. employers and pay roughly 44% of the country’s private payroll, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.“Small business has become big business for banks,” says David Weinstein, president of the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, a nonprofit group that helps entrepreneurs find funding and clients.
In addition to bread-and-butter checking and savings accounts, most major banks now offer payroll services, insurance, import/export services, tax filing and 401(k) plans to small businesses. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., which last year acquired Bank One Corp., has 1,000 Small Business Financial Services bankers stationed across its 2,500 branches. In January, Bank of America Corp. launched online tools that for $15 a month let entrepreneurs pay taxes, initiate stop payments on checks and manage payroll and financial accounts, among other things, from a single Web site. And while checking-account fees are still common in many locations, some midsize institutions such as Washington Mutual Inc. and M&T Bank Corp. offer free business checking accounts with no minimum balance as an enticement.
KC on March 11th, 2005 6:23 am
I signed up with Wachovia for my small business for exactly these reasons. Their service has been amazing, their information complete and straightforward, and their staff has been great.
More and more often I’ve seen them called “Watch-over-ya”.
Other than having my business and (now) personal checking accounts through them, I have no affiliation.
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