In 2023, success in serving small businesses in digital channels will hinge on the ability to build the infrastructure for two essential elements of banking: payments and customer service. 

FedNow alters the playing field. The anticipated introduction of the Federal Reserve’s FedNow Service theoretically will provide community banks and credit unions with a long-desired counterbalance to the Clearing House’s RTP service owned by the nation’s largest banks. In 2023, that theory must evolve into concrete plans as community FIs face the dual challenge of integrating FedNow into digital banking and overcoming the skepticism of small businesses that don’t yet appreciate the potential benefits of real-time payments. 

Momentum builds for a simpler way to make payments. Intelligent payments routing will provide a key piece of an FI’s payments strategy to remove complexity and banking jargon from decisions about payment rails. The biggest beneficiaries will be smaller employers and freelancers.

Small businesses demand more digital customer service options. Consumer expectations have risen fast when it comes to digital customer service—and 2023 will see an acceleration of service options at banks and credit unions. This will put pressure on FIs not only to add options such as contextual help, live chat, chatbots, and virtual assistants but also to integrate them in a fashion that satisfies small businesses that still value connecting with bankers.