Banks reaching out to small businesses in advance of National Small Business Week

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been evidence of a continuation of the sometimes tentative recovery in the small business market.

Banks are now starting to introduce initiatives in anticipation on a sustained small business recovery.  At the end of April, Chase committed to lending $12 billion in small businesses in 2011.  And some leading banks have introduced small business initiatives around the upcoming National Small Business Week:

  • Citibank launched a nationwide small business campaign, starting with a national outreach day.  The bank expects to reach 50,000 small businesses through a range of activities
  • TD Bank has launched its first small business outreach campaign, with a goal of reaching 25,000 companies during May
  • Wells Fargo launched its annual Small Business Appreciation Celebration and introduced the online Business Insight Resource Center

Other national and regional banks, as well as community banks, will be looking at these small business campaigns with interest, and will be trying to determine if they constitute a one-off to coincide with National Small Business Week, or the tipping point for an industry-wide re-commitment to this segment.  If it is the latter, these other banks will need to quickly develop and introduce small business marketing and sales support programs, so that they are not left behind, as small business recovery takes hold.