Banks Improve Digital Experience for Small Businesses with Real-Time Messaging, Transaction Management and Security Options

Bank of America Repeats First in Keynova Group's Annual Small Business Banker Scorecard

WILMINGTON, Del., July 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Keynova Group, the principal competitive intelligence source for digital financial services firms, today announced the results of its 2025 Small Business Banker Scorecard. Bank of America continues to secure first place in the annual benchmark that evaluates the top 11 small business national and regional banks' online and mobile experience.

The key findings of this year's Scorecard include the critical nature of proactive and real-time notifications for small business customers, increased control of transactions and advanced security options. With small business digital account opening and mobile functionality evolving, Bank of America stands out for its best-in-class capabilities and customer experience in these areas as well as for its virtual assistant, Erica, and its integration of third-party business applications such as QuickBooks, ADP Payroll and Stripe into online banking.

"As banks focus on improving the digital experience for small business customers, they must continue to meet the unique needs of owners and operators by improving key features and account controls," said Susan Foulds, managing director, Keynova Group. "In addition to streamlining online account opening and enhancing digital payments, banks need to provide businesses with urgent and actionable balance and transaction alerts in real time. They should also offer additional security options which are especially important for businesses that have multiple people with access to their accounts."

Key Findings:

Proactive and Real-Time Messaging Critical
Clear and frequent messaging and notifications allow small businesses to efficiently monitor and manage their accounts and finances. Real-time alerts for high risk or time sensitive events, such as suspicious activity and certain payments and transfers, enable immediate action by owners and are offered by 82% of Scorecard banks. However, just 55% send real time non-sufficient funds alerts which can prevent costly fees for overdrafts and returned payments. A few banks (36%) also send a convenient daily alert summarizing transaction activity—an option that is particularly helpful for business customers with higher transaction volumes.

Payments Management Options Improve
Small businesses often have more account activity than consumers, so they need a full range of money movement options including ACH, Zelle, bill payments, wires and external transfers. Three-quarters of the reviewed banks enable businesses to initiate ACH payments to individuals or vendors independent of a payroll platform, and one-quarter enable small business customers to request incoming ACH payments. However, only Chase's online banking provides businesses with an efficient centralized area to manage payment and transfer preferences including specifying transaction amount limits. For improved cash flow, invoices and payments receivables are also trending in online banking and are available at more than half of Scorecard banks.

Small Business-Specific Security Features
Delegated online access and transaction authority controls for non-account holders such as accountants and employees are essential for business owners who frequently assign account access to others. Nearly all Scorecard banks enable small businesses to designate online access with different levels of tiered privileges for viewing information and to transact–though the extent of controls vary. Other security measures like advanced options for managing delegated digital access, user activity reports and transaction limits, are available from some banks. Multi-factor authentication for higher risk online and mobile transactions continues to expand at most banks, providing additional safeguards when others access digital banking. As small business accounts are subject to increased fraud risk, BMO and Wells Fargo recently fortified their account sign-in defenses by offering optional passkey authentication or a FIDO-compliant device.

About the Small Business Banker Scorecard
Syndicated for more than two decades, Keynova Group's annual, fact-based Small Business Banker Scorecard objectively evaluates the online and mobile banking services offered to small business customers by leading U.S. banks, identifying industry best practices, evolving digital trends and insights. These banks include Bank of America, BMO, Chase, Citi, Citizens, Huntington, PNC, TD Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo. For more information please visit: https://www.keynovagroup.com/scorecards/#banking

About Keynova Group
Keynova Group is the nation's foremost competitive intelligence firm providing trusted benchmarking insights and analysis of consumer and small business digital financial services, including banking, credit card, home lending and insurance. Since 1999, Keynova Group's Scorecards have served as the go-to source for leading financial services firms to obtain reliable competitive intelligence and actionable insights. The firm's proven methodology and highly detailed results help its clients maximize the value of their digital channels to deliver a premier experience to customers and prospects.

SOURCE Keynova Group