SMB Bank Satisfaction

How happy are SMBs with their bank? To find out, we recently surveyed 500 U.S. SMB principals.

First, we asked what kind of bank SMBs use as their primary business bank, defined as where they have their business checking account. Most SMBs use a major national bank, whether the plurality of Microbusinesses (M, <$500K in annual revenue) or the majority of Small Businesses (SBs, $500K to $5 million) or Commercial (C, $5 million or more). However, SBs and Cs are significantly more likely to use a major national bank than Ms, who in turn are much more likely to use a local or community bank, or an online-only bank.

SMB Bank Type

Overall, SMBs are happy with their business banking relationship. On a scale of zero to 10, 50% of Ms rate their bank a 9 or 10, increasing to 68% of SBs and 74% of Cs. However, Ms are more likely to give their bank low marks, resulting in a “Net Satisfaction Score” (sum of 9+10 minus sum of 6-0) of 28, compared to 56 for SBs and 62 for Cs.

SMB Bank Satisfaction, by Revenue

We also looked at satisfaction by bank type. SMBs who use an online-only bank are the happiest, with a Net Satisfaction Score of 43. Major national banks and credit unions are tied for second, at 37, while community banks and regional banks score 16 and 13, respectively.

SMB Bank Satisfaction, by Bank Type

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