New research from Cornerstone Advisors shows many small businesses haven’t left their banks and credit unions, but they have moved daily financial activities elsewhere. Now institutions have an opportunity to win back those workflows.

For decades, small business banking centered around the checking account. Making deposits, paying bills, managing cards, accessing financing – it all happened within the banking relationship, often because there was no alternative. For many small businesses and financial institutions, the days of default loyalty are over. 

Today, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) conduct financial activities across a growing set of specialized fintech platforms, each built to solve a different business problem. While banks and credit unions traditionally measured relationships through balances, products and loan growth, fintechs measured engagement across individual workflows – payments processed, expenses approved, invoices sent. They chipped away at the banking relationship one workflow at a time.

The shift isn’t always obvious. Accounts stay open and balances may look healthy, even as the everyday work that shapes the relationship happens somewhere else.
 

Competitors didn’t take the customer. They took the financial workflows.

According to 2026 Cornerstone Advisors research commissioned by Fiserv, roughly four in 10 businesses with annual revenue between $100,000 and $100 million now have an account with one or more fintechs. Those businesses typically spend $500 to $1,500 a month on fees, subscriptions and transaction costs.

The primary provider still handles 68% of their monthly spending. But bookkeeping, payroll, expenses, payments, receivables and more increasingly run through specialized apps, software and providers.

Each workflow that moves to a separate platform can take fee income with it. It also takes daily interactions, operating data and the context an institution needs to anticipate financing needs or deliver timely advice. The report puts it simply: "The account kept the money but lost the work." The checking account’s new job is to reconnect the account to those workflows and make the relationship smarter. 

For business owners, the result can be multiple tools and disconnected workflows. The research shows that businesses value confidence in their cash position, time savings, strong digital experience and software that fits the way they work.  

The opportunity for financial institutions isn’t just to add more products. It’s to become more essential to a small business owner and their operations.

Financial institutions are still competitive on the fundamentals 

Cornerstone's study looked at SMBs that use both traditional financial institutions and fintechs. Among them, businesses rated banks at least as highly as fintechs on every core financial-management challenge measured, including fraud protection (59% versus 54% rating them "very well") and access to credit (54% versus 48%).

Winning back the daily workflows takes more than leading on the fundamentals. The study also asked what SMBs value most in a primary relationship. The top answers described factors that make it easier to do business: confidence in their cash position, time savings, a strong digital experience and software that fits how they work. 
 

Five ways to reconnect workflows and deepen relationships

Many SMBs say they are willing to engage in deeper banking relationships. Nearly three-quarters say they would probably or definitely consolidate more financial activity with their primary bank if it offered capabilities comparable to the fintech platform they value most. Here’s where to start:

1. Reinvent the business checking account – The checking account is how a bank typically begins the process of bundling services. If services are appropriately positioned, the customer will see their value.
2. Win the money movement layer – Invest in the embedded AR/AP experience (bill pay, invoicing, receivables) that can keep those workflows within the bank's platform.
3. Consolidate existing customers before chasing switchers – Existing customers are valuable, and are already running applications like QuickBooks, Square and PayPal in tandem with their account. 
4. Cross the consumer/business wall – The traditional small business customer is shifting and making way for solo operators, freelancers, side hustlers and “bizumers” to make their play. For them, personal and business cash flow may run through one account and that blend may not be easily distinguishable, but they can be recognized in gig income and blended cash flow.
5. Turn deposits and data into proactive lending – Small businesses increasingly borrow from other sources, but banks who have their deposits and payment data have the raw material to make pre-underwritten offers.