Closing the Relationship Gap in Business Banking

A financial institution that assigns a relationship manager to a small business promises that someone will know the business, and satisfaction with those managers fell 35 points among customers with two years or less. J.D. Power's 2026 study of U.S. small business banking found that overall satisfaction with banks rose 10 points, while satisfaction with relationship managers fell 15. Sixty-one percent of small businesses now have an assigned relationship manager, up from 58%, yet customer-initiated contacts and face-to-face meetings both went down. Small businesses say their managers are harder to reach and slower to respond, and more of them question whether those managers understand and care about the business. The drop is sharpest among the newest customers. Businesses that have banked with their institution for two years or less cut their relationship manager score by 35 points, compared with 13 points for customers of three years or longer. Jim Marous owns a small business, and his banker calls every quarter without getting into any detail. His view is that an assigned relationship manager is a promise that someone will know the business. For a relationship manager to win the battle for the customer, the institution has to supply the ammunition. Jim looks at the form Fifth Third and Bank of America use to give bankers a specific reason to talk, and at how predictive and generative AI are starting to reach calling officers. He closes with four actions for banks and credit unions, starting with a substantive conversation during onboarding. About: Banking Transformed is hosted by Jim Marous, a top five banking industry influencer and Co-Publisher of The Financial Brand. Banking Insights episodes deliver the most important strategic ideas in under ten minutes, for the executive who wants the takeaway without the deep dive. Subscribe to the Digital Banking Report at digitalbankingreport.com.