Through external partnerships, financial institutions can gain information to help them target SMBs with personalized recommendations on financial content and products. 

A group of financial institutions has linked up with a small business-focused fintech to help them make personalized recommendations. 

JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Mastercard are all working with Hello Alice to offer its new Business Health Score tool, which helps SMBs measure and improve their creditworthiness. 

Chase and Wells Fargo will offer the recently announced tool to entrepreneurs and small businesses, while Mastercard will make it available to partner banks that offer small-business credit cards. 

The goal is to simultaneously “empower small business owners” and help FinServs better serve their customers.  

The insights from Business Health Score “provides on a small business owner’s business health and challenges “will benefit financial institutions by allowing them to better identify the needs of small business owners, improve their own engagement strategies and product marketing, and make better recommendations on products and services to SMBs,” Hello Alice CEO Carolyn Rodz told Insights Distilled.  

Hello Alice has reason to believe that SMBs need help: Its research found that only 25% of small business owners have applied for a business credit card, and 85% of those applications were denied due to poor credit or lack of credit. The firm expects that personalized recommendations, education, and products can help turn that tide.  

For example, if a business owner indicates they have a strong revenue stream but struggle with cash flow management, they might receive interactive educational content from Hello Alice alongside information about Wells Fargo’s treasury management solutions.  

The tool is also part of a larger, industry-wide focus on SMBs: Small businesses have historically felt underserved by their financial institutions, leading FinServs to focus lately on hyper-targeted features and products, including Amex’s cashflow-management hub, Standard Chartered’s partnership with upSWOT on personalized tools, and Westpac’s work with Rich Data Co to supercharge its ability to provide credit.