I am a representative of a local Credit Union, and am looking to find out what is important to small business owners as we continually look to maintain our small-business niche.  Thank you for your input!

I think location was a close second, because I walk to the bank to make deposits. But I have to say that the free checking was the thing to first sell me.

It`s a sad fact of modern life that people without a lot of money get charged for just about everything, and can`t afford to save money on various good deals. Banking perhaps exemplifies that rule more than anything else.

It might make perfect business sense for banks to tack on service charges for anything below a minimum balance, but for a startup business, those charges add up. To me, it seems most existing businesses really don`t understand what it means to have a "low budget," where it comes to starting a business from scratch.

How many single moms are trying to start a business, having kids requiring home-attention, and not having the money for daycare? They`re working from home, scraping together materials for a new product, and sinking the returns into more materials. What money do they have for a bank? Not much.

Banking has become extremely competitive, and it`s a sort of cutthroat business. I get that. The problem is that because of all that competition and tight environment, banks have entered into more of an adversarial position with potential customers. They don`t see it that way, but so what? Reality is still reality.

I appreciate your input!  As I have been out networking and speaking with small business owners and entrepreneurs, I hear the same story over and over.  I definitely hear you and others who feel the same way.  After 16 years of working in the banking industry, I am now heading up the efforts of a Credit Union that is beginning to do "business banking" and I can say that I am thrilled to be here offering the services that we provide.  At our credit union, we have one business checking account and it`s tailored to meet the needs of small business owners with features such as:  dividends paid on your balance, no minimum balance requirements, no monthly service charge, no transaction limits, no per transaction charge, overdraft protection, online banking, etc.  Yes, it is simple and non-complicated...but we like it that way.  I appreciate any feedback that you can provide. 

One suggestion would be to drop the language, "...tailored to fit your small business needs." :-) EVERY bank says that, and it doesn`t mean anything.

Another thought: A "small business" has an economic definition. I`m not sure, but I believe it includes any business with revenues up to something like $5-million annually?

A "startup" or enterpreneurial venture could probably be called a "micro business," I suppose. But the point is that many enterpreneurs are "bootstrapping" their company, risking any kind of security at all in favor of a wild gamble on future success.

To my understanding, that`s directly opposed to what maybe we could call "the banking mentality?" Is that true? Aren`t bankers mostly concerned about security?

Unfortunately, most banks have tried to "talk the talk" about "customer service", "tailored to fit your needs", "`Free` Checking", "`Small Business` Partners", etc., etc., but by their very nature are unable to "walk the walk".  When it comes to the bottom line purpose for being in business:  a bank is there to make a profit for its stockholders and to support it`s management structure (you will find that its decisions are geared toward that end...where to locate its offices, number of employees, fees charged, loans made, etc.), which definitely means that they are mostly concerned about security in their banking and lending practices (of course, the Community Reinvestment Act mandates that they provide a benefit to the communities in which they are located); a credit union on the other hand, is a non-profit organization that is only in existence to provide a service to it`s owners--which are the members.  Yes, a credit union must be careful to not make high risk decisions, but it is geared to make common sense decisions to help the needs of it`s members--even if it means that it does not fit the normal guidelines. 

I looked into a credit union around here. I think the problem was having to leave money in the `bank` for an extended period of time. I`d have to check again, but I remember feeling it wouldn`t be something I could use.