Main Street Monday — Bank of America Goes Mobile with Small Biz Lending App

July 24, 2017

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Main Street Monday

Main Street Monday — Bank of America Goes Mobile with Small Biz Lending App

Will the app compete with FinTech lenders who market immediate approvals and next-day funding?

“No.” Sharon Miller, head of Small Business Banking at Bank of America told me.

“We use the app to start the conversation. We’re not here to say apply today, get approved tomorrow.

The app provides real-time access with a small business banker to chat via online or phone. The customer may also schedule an appointment with a banker.

Bank of America touts almost $12 billion in loans to Main Street last year. It claims 3 million small business clients, of which 1.3 million are active uses of B of A mobile apps.

When I asked Sharon about small business owners having a 70% Gallup approval rating she said, “They have an amazing can-do spirit to succeed. We want to support them. Small business is local and supports local communities.”

“We know there are barriers to starting a small business, to getting financing. We want to provide them easy access to the bank — when they want, where they want and how they want.”

And is small business optimistic today?

“They have very good insight about the economy, their growth prospects and what they need. We survey small businesses twice a year. In our last report we saw small owner optimism at the highest level in the last five years.”

Some cool Bank of America mobile stats:

Active Users: 23 million
Account logons in 2016: 3.8 billion
Checks Deposited via Mobile in 2016: 103 million
FICO Scores Checked in 2016: 15.6 million
Text alerts: 1.1 billion

And I’ll conclude with this line for you to ponder, “More customers are opening new accounts through mobile, with sales increasing 38% over the past year.”