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Many banks now offer customized software programs or supportpopular money-management applications such as Intuit's Quicken,so individuals with personal computers can pay their bills or trackpersonal accounts online. Since the mid-1980s, banks have alsoprovided their large corporate customers with PC banking programsto track payments in real time. So what's available forsmall-business customers?
Not much.
The good news: Experts predict that's likely to change inthe near future. Bill Burnham, an associate with New YorkCity-based management consulting firm Booz Allen & Hamilton andleader of the company's recent Internet banking survey, saysbanks are beginning to provide online banking services tocompanies, including small businesses.
"Online banking services are probably better suited tobusiness owners than to consumers because businesses need areal-time way to manage payments and keep track of their financialsituation," says Burnham. "We think [the banks']focus is going to change dramatically as [bankers] start torecognize small business's true potential."
In the past, online banking has been available primarily throughdedicated software programs installed on individual users'computers. But Burnham predicts most of the industry's futuregrowth will be in another area: the Internet. In fact, the BoozAllen & Hamilton study found that more than 30 banks expect tohave Internet banking sites by early next year, and more than 500say they will have such sites by the end of the decade.
Since May, Wells Fargo Bank customers have been able to transferfunds between their Wells Fargo consumer accounts, as well as paytheir Wells Fargo credit balances, through the Internet (http://wellsfargo.com). It expectscustomers will be able to make payments over the Internet to othervendors in the near future. In addition, First Union'scorporate trade customers can apply for commercial letters ofcredit online through its new service on the World Wide Web, calledCyberbank LC, which is accessible from First Union's home page(http://www.firstunion.com).Likewise, First Union expects to offer fund transfers and billpayments over the Internet by year-end.
Still, most Internet banking services leave something to bedesired. Almost 90 percent, however, have aggressive plans forimproving the size and functionality of their Internet bankingofferings. Within three years, 69 percent of the banks surveyedplan to offer advanced services such as account balance inquiriesand bill payments over the Internet.
Just how will Internet banking help small business? In thecoming years, Burnham anticipates small-business owners will beable to apply for bank loans; check their deposits, balances andpayments; review their financial histories; and even discussaccount activity with an account manager via videoconferencing overthe Internet.
"In the next five years," says Burnham,"you'll be able to conduct banking business remotely atany time of the day from your home, your office, and maybe evenyour car. From a small-business owner's perspective, this isgoing to be a great benefit."
Net News
Own a retail business? Need someone to talk to about today'sfickle market? Bend someone's ear at Retail Advisors' SmallBusiness Resource Center site (http://www.retailadvz.com).Subscribers to its BizTherapist service ($59.95 per month,six-month minimum) can discuss their retail business'spersonnel, sales, marketing and more with seasoned retailconsultants; responses to inquiries are given within 72 hours viae-mail.
Also, be sure to check out the Ask Harry section, whereyou'll find about 60 small-business resources, as well asHarry's Internet Rolodex, which connects you to useful placeslike the FedEx, United Parcel Service and AT&T sites.
The Small Business Resource Center is a forum to share yourpersonal wealth of information as well. You can recount humorousexperiences in the Small Business Diary section or offersuggestions in the What Works for Me area.
Tick... Tick... Tick...
Listen up: Millennium experts say massive calculation errorswill occur in your computer
system and software if they haven't been equipped to computethe new century properly. What's the problem? All dates need tobe converted from the current six-digit format (12/22/96, forexample) into an eight-digit sequence (12/22/2000)-or elsecomputing blunders will occur in time-sensitive information such asaccounting programs, databases, tax documents and more.
For most small companies using computers, there's still timeto begin tackling this problem-but you need to act quickly."For the small-business person, now is the time tostrike," insists Jerome T. Murray, co-author of The Year2000 Computing Crisis: A Millennium Date Conversion Plan(McGraw-Hill).
Why the rush? Murray estimates the entire date conversionprocess can take anywhere from two to four years. This includes thetime needed to find and hire appropriate computer consultants andtime for them to become familiar with your business'soperations, diagnose the problem, develop a conversion plan andimplement it. And the longer a company procrastinates, Murraywarns, the slimmer the pool of professional personnel to choosefrom-particularly for small-business owners who don't have thedeep pockets corporations have to solve this problem.
Conversion doesn't come cheap. Murray anticipates it willcost small companies anywhere from $500 up to $10 million,including costs for consultant expertise, new software tools, andpotential profit opportunities lost to competitors that havealready converted.
Unless you have the expertise, you'll need a computerconsultant to get you started on the conversion process. Murrayrecommends interviewing several consultants to find one who hasworked on this type of problem in a company of similar size andkind. Talk with your consultant often to track the conversionprocess. Then, once you're satisfied with the solution-and haveconducted several test runs on your computer-it's time toimplement it into your regular operations.
Book Smarts
If you're looking for an easy-and cheap-way to market yournew Web site, consider calling your local telephone company.Several regional phone companies are beginning to listbusinesses' World Wide Web and e-mail addresses in theirtelephone directories. For instance, for a paltry $6 to $16,Chicago-based Ameritech will include this information in several ofits directories' business listings beginning this fall. Or, youcan add a line to your existing Yellow Pages advertisement free ofcharge.
Eventually, Ameritech plans to supply electronic versions of itstelephone directories. The company says it will begin offeringhypertext links to Internet sites in 1997.
Speak Up!
Finally, a computer that actually listens when you talk to it:IBM's newest version of its OS/2 Warp operating system,code-named Merlin, allows users to give vocal commands to theirpersonal computers. Merlin's new speech recognitioncapabilities mean PC users can vocally navigate through menu barsand objects on the desktop to, say, open files, launchapplications-even access Internet sites. Plus, the dictationcomponent enables you to dictate memos and other documents, thenpaste them into word processing or e-mail applications to eitherprint out or send on their way.
IBM says Merlin's speech recognition capabilities are about95 percent accurate, with a base vocabulary of about 22,000 words.The system also supports six languages: U.S. and U.K.
English, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
Other new features include a cleaned-up interface with 3-Dicons, a WarpCenter tool bar that accesses a task list indicatingwhich programs are running, and a Warp button that quickly createsa view of everything on the desktop.
The newest version of IBM's OS/2 Warp is expected to beavailable by year-end.
Contact Sources
Ameritech Advertising Services, 100 E. Big Beaver Rd., 15th Fl.,Troy, MI 48083, (http://www.ameritech.com);
Booz Allen & Hamilton, 101 Park Ave., New York, NY10178;
Jerome T. Murray, 5493 N. Via Frassino, Tucson, AZ85750;
Retail Advisors, 1463 E. Republican, #174, Seattle, WA98112, (206) 324-2627;
Wells Fargo Bank, (800) 423-3362.
