DIGITAL SHIFT: Integrating technology and banking solutions to improve your business

A local author recently asked his readers to answer the question, “How would you describe 2020 in just one word?” The responses were mostly expected and all accurate: chaotic, tumultuous, intense and exhausting. One, however, wasn’t as expected: transformative. Considering the adjustments everyone had to make during the pandemic and that many of those adjustments have been permanently integrated into our daily lives, it’s actually a spot-on description of 2020.

Business owners, especially, had to make significant changes.

Banks were there to help them adapt.

The “Visa Back to Business Study 2021 Outlook” shows that more than four in five, or 82 percent, of small businesses altered the way they operated during the winter of 2020. Those figures were largely driven by owners who adopted technology to help their businesses survive. Many found digital solutions in business banking, with services to help them sell products online, accept contactless payments and digitize business functions such as back-end payment operations.

Today, as businesses move forward from the COVID-19 crisis, owners should continue to invest in their digital transformation strategies and take advantage of business banking solutions — for a variety of reasons.

First, technology increases efficiency by allowing flexible ways to do certain tasks — going to the bank, for example. As many employees continue to work from home, having the ability to make deposits and transactions without having to visit a bank branch or use an ATM remains important.

Solutions such as remote deposit capture and ACH payment services (electronic bank-to-bank money transfers processed through the Automated Clearing House network) can help business owners and managers digitally deposit and collect payments from their office or at home. Remote deposit capture, for example, allows checks to be deposited using a desktop scanner and online banking system, and it helps accelerate access to bank funds.

ACH allows businesses to pay their vendors through one service.

Business owners can also make payments to, and set up direct deposit for, employees, cutting out physical checks and reducing the time it takes for payments to be received.

Second, technology increases convenience simply by making processes faster — sending out wires or making payments, for example. Online solutions for wire transfers, merchant services and same-day ACH allow transactions from computers, tablets or mobile devices, offering more flexibility and speed than ever before.

Third, technology increases customer satisfaction by providing options — offering different payment methods, for example. With digital banking solutions, businesses can offer a variety of ways for customers to pay, including electronic checks, recurring payment plans and debit and credit card payments. These payments can be made online, over the phone or through electronic invoice.

If card-present payments are required, businesses can even offer the option of taking contactless payments through a merchant service provider. With germs and cleanliness still at the top of everyone’s minds, these solutions help customers feel safe and at ease.

Fourth, technology helps with security by protecting against attacks and fraud — providing account encryption, authentication and systems to prevent check and payments fraud, for example. Investing in fraud protection programs is a smart, proactive approach when it comes to potential fraud attacks and compromised financial information. Many fraud protection features and solutions are available through business online banking, merchant service gateways and third-party software.

And last — but not least — technology enhances relationships by strengthening customers’ confidence in businesses, giving them more options and ensuring them that their financial information is safe and secure.

Last year was a difficult year, to say the least, but lessons can be learned from every experience. For businesses, those lessons included how to launch modern, meaningful products to serve customers better digitally. Looking to the future, the digital shift within the business banking and payments world will continue to be important, because technology is undeniably one COVID-related trend that’s here to stay.

Rest assured that making the change to digital banking and payments doesn’t have to impact or remove points of contact with banking representatives. More often than not, designated relationship managers will continue to work with businesses as they implement digital solutions — now and into the future.

Charly Owens is a vice president and treasury management relationship manager at Bank of Utah. She oversees a team that focuses on treasury management, business banking and private banking. She has worked for Bank of Utah since 2016 and has been in the banking industry for 10 years.