Simplifying small business finances: Inside U.S. Bank’s award-winning approach

Most small businesses don’t wake up thinking about their bank. They’re thinking about inventory that needs restocking, invoices that need to be paid, or payroll that’s due again. Somewhere in the middle of all that, the financial system they rely on can either support them or slow them down.

This year’s Tearsheet SMB Finance Awards honored U.S. Bank as Best Bank for SMBs. The win reflects a deliberate shift the bank has made over the past year: building tools that mirror how small businesses operate today: faster, more digital, and with far less patience for fragmented financial tasks.

From the all-in-one Business Essentials suite to spend controls, bill pay, integrated payments, and payroll, U.S. Bank has been stitching together the messy edges of running a business into something that feels more manageable. Early signs from the bank’s data suggest that the approach is resonating: business owners are adopting the tools, embracing digital workflows, and consolidating more of their day-to-day financial activities into a single system.

The Tearsheet Award recognizes that evolution. Kristen Link, SVP and Product Lead for Business Customer Journeys and Delivery at U.S. Bank, provides insight into how the super-regional bank helps small businesses navigate the day-to-day realities of cash flow, payments, and operational decisions.

Q: What is one pain point SMBs still face that you believe the banking industry hasn’t adequately solved – and how is U.S. Bank approaching it differently?

Kristen Link: One pain point U.S. Bank is working to solve is integrating the tools SMBs use to run their business into the banking experience. It starts with needs that are banking-adjacent, such as payroll, which is what we’re addressing with the Business Essentials platform. By bundling payments and banking capabilities into a single product with interconnected benefits, we’re providing more value to SMBs. Integrating payable management, payroll, and spend controls simplifies the day-to-day tasks of running their businesses. What’s critical – and different from what’s happening elsewhere in the industry – is ensuring deep integration between these capabilities so they work together seamlessly.

Q: U.S. Bank supports SMBs across multiple financial areas. Which one do you believe has the most untapped potential to transform how SMBs operate, and why?

Kristen Link: Simplifying the reconciliation process in a way that seamlessly connects banking transactions to the general ledger and then to the tax filing process has the most untapped potential. This is a process every SMB deals with on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis, and no one has a simple, comprehensive solution available today.

Q: Based on the bank’s data on SMB interactions with its digital tools, which insights directly shaped a recent product change or enhancement?

Kristen Link: We layer voice-of-customer data with behavioral analytics to understand pain points and opportunities. We have to move away from a checklist of features (do we have XYZ or not?) and focus on how a feature has been implemented – how it fits into the experience when an SMB is trying to complete a job. We have evaluated the money movement journeys and made numerous robust enhancements. Recently, we’ve simplified the process for SMBs to understand their money-sending options and removed multiple pain points, making it easier for them to complete payments.

Q. How does U.S. Bank ensure its SMB tools evolve with businesses, supporting them as they grow from early-stage to more mature operations with more complex financial needs?

Kristen Link: Being a large bank that serves customers with annual revenues ranging from $50 to $50 million is an advantage, as it acts as a forcing function when designing products and experiences. We must consider the full spectrum of businesses we serve and articulate how a specific solution works across customer segments, or how a customer graduates from solution A to solution B as they grow. This proactive approach ensures our solutions and experiences both support SMBs and evolve with them as they grow and their needs change.

Q: What’s one major improvement or innovation you’re prioritizing next that you believe can have the biggest impact on SMBs in the coming year?  

Kristen Link: The next priority is to improve the money movement experience. We’re ensuring frictionless digital money movement capabilities within online banking and the U.S. Bank mobile app, enabling customers to move money at the speed of business, with robust data to simplify reconciliation.