Emily owns a thriving coffee roasting business in State College, Pennsylvania. She’s passionate, driven, and deeply committed to her craft. But like millions of other small business owners across the country, Emily faces a constant balancing act: focusing on her product while managing the daily complexity of running a company.

She’s not an outlier. She’s the norm — and her story is one banks can no longer afford to ignore.

More Than Just a Coffee Roaster

Emily’s business runs on a tight system of digital tools: a point-of-sale platform, online banking, accounting software, delivery services, payroll providers, and more. These tools help her stay nimble, responsive, and efficient — exactly what modern entrepreneurship demands.

But when it came time to fuel her next phase of growth, Emily ran into a wall.

She needed capital. Fast.

And her bank? It couldn’t keep up.

Why She Didn’t Go to Her Bank

Despite years of loyal banking, Emily didn’t turn to her local branch for help. She didn’t want to schedule a meeting or fill out a stack of paperwork. She needed an answer in hours, not weeks. She wanted to apply where she already was — in her POS system, on her phone, or through the dashboard she logs into every day.

And like so many of the 33 million SMBs in the U.S., she found what she needed from a non-bank provider. It was faster. Simpler. Embedded in her workflow. And it didn’t feel like a detour from running her business — it felt like part of it.

What Emily Really Needs

Emily’s not just looking for working capital. She needs:

  • Business banking that integrates with her accounting software
  • Merchant services that scale with her volume
  • Payroll tools that are easy to manage
  • Tax and reporting support, built for business owners — not accountants

She doesn’t need a banker to visit her store. She needs a system that understands her business, anticipates her needs, and responds proactively. In short, she needs her financial partner to act like a partner — not just a provider.

A Wake-Up Call for Banks

Traditional banks still rely heavily on manual processes, branch networks, and internal sales reps to “manage” SMB relationships. The result?

  • Reactive service
  • High customer effort
  • Poor conversion on cross-sell
  • A widening gap between what SMBs expect and what banks deliver

Meanwhile, fintechs and next-gen platforms are offering seamless, embedded experiences that meet SMBs exactly where they are — and when they need it most.

A Better Way Forward

The good news? Banks can change this narrative. With platforms like LendingFront, they can:

  • Pre-qualify and target the right SMBs for the right products
  • Embed offers within the tools SMBs already use
  • Automate onboarding and fulfillment, reducing friction to nearly zero
  • Continuously market, not just once-a-year check-ins

By doing this, banks stay in the middle of the relationship — not on the sidelines.

Emily Deserves Better — And So Do Your Customers

Emily is just one of millions. But her expectations are quickly becoming the standard. Banks that modernize how they engage and support small businesses will not only retain customers like Emily — they’ll unlock deeper relationships, higher revenues, and long-term loyalty.

The small business economy is changing fast. It’s time for relationship banking to catch up.