Unraveling The Enigma Of Business Accounts In Digital Realm

According to statistical data from the Singapore Department, small and medium-sized businesses are a major source of revenue, providing employment opportunities to almost two-thirds of the nation’s population and contributing to nearly half of the country’s GDP. Isn’t that a huge impact on the economy? 

In 2019, these enterprises struggled to innovate products and services that met customer’s requirements, which was not the only risk. Still, they were also juggling to keep up with the brand’s reputation while engaging in the race of fierce competition. The government-funded program “SMEs Go Digital” provided opportunities for these businesses to be well-acquainted with basic digital solutions and received subsidies of seventy percent on implementing tools supporting cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

This can be considered the turning point for SMEs in the country who earlier faced difficulties in going digital full-fledge. Apart from the subsidies mentioned above, these business firms had easy access to loans required to implement large technology-driven projects. 

For example, large-scale automation to enhance productivity and efficiency, redesigning workflows, and adopting new technologies were some of the initiatives that restructured the financial ecosystem of Singapore, and the government was an active entity behind all this significant progress. No wonder, it turned out to be a cornerstone of propelling the nation towards consistent growth and making it an international business center.

Have we imagined what could happen in adverse circumstances? With the influx of sales the businesses are getting from their digital base and how consumer behavior has transformed in the past few years, what would happen with the SMEs still not ready to embrace digital transformation and switch to digital banking? It may sound blunt, but they will struggle to sustain, especially in this dynamic digital era landscape where cashless payment mode is the new norm. 

Let us break down the basic measures that can be adopted to ace the digital space and how most of the SMEs are doing it:

• Welcoming new technologies with open arms-: 

1. What started as a revolution to establish online and contactless modes of payments through POS (point of sales) tools later transformed into a well-rounded digital toolkit.
2. This means SMEs ventured into a contactless mode of payments for online checkout and later shifted to implementing a digital payment model in full swing that didn’t just create a seamless payment platform but helped them achieve increased digital engagement and revenue streams and enhance employees’ productivity. 
3. Such powerful impact convinced more SMEs to ditch the conventional method of operations and hop on the bandwagon of digital payment systems. Digital business accounts act as the conduit of this digital toolkit, unlike traditional banks that don’t invest enough in providing digital services, data-driven insights, and seamless integration to improve overall business performance. 
4. So, business account opening for small businesses can pave the way for a simplified digital pathway and provide access to tools that control finances and increase customer retention.

• Associating with a trusted digital partner-: 

1. Delving into the intricacies of financial technologies can be a tough nut to crack for most SMEs, as they might lack members with expertise. Therefore, allying with a trusted digital partner in the form of digital bank accounts is paramount to handle the complexities and tailor the financial solutions according to the business organization’s long-term goals and objectives. 
2. Financial institutions should be at the forefront of leading this digital revolution, and the banking partners of enterprises failing to do so cannot provide data-driven financial insights that businesses can leverage to strengthen their digital strategy. 
3. Digital banks are ideal in this situation because they are equipped to meet those expectations, and they can provide recommendations to SMEs in the areas of product adoption.

The kind of financial strength these digital banking partnerships provide is unparalleled, and needless to mention, it has fostered the enhancement of digital literacy. Small businesses are not only desiring but also demanding these digital tools to keep up with the elevated sense of digitization in almost all financial institutions. 

This is the business model of the post-pandemic world, and the sooner the start-ups implement this, the better progress they can forecast. Digital fluency is the art that can only be nurtured by digital banking partnerships and fortifies fiscal resilience. These attributes empower the foundation of any business organization in diverse situations of dynamic market conditions.