Lending, AI, outreach: What you'll see at Small Biz Banking 2024

September 12, 2024 12:18 PM

Danielle Kane of Grasshopper Bank speaks with Penny Crosman at Small Biz Banking 2023. — Danielle Kane of Grasshopper Bank speaks with Penny Crosman onstage at Small Biz Banking 2023.

Bankers who serve small businesses are facing new challenges this year, between the election, economic uncertainty and inflation hitting their clients' profits. At the same time, the banks themselves are dealing with the Fed's interest rate moves, the continuing regulatory fallout from the 2023 banking crisis and growing competition from nonbanks and fintechs.

At the American Banker Small Biz Banking 2024 conference, these issues will come to the fore.

The conference will be held at the Encore in Las Vegas on Oct. 9 and 10, with a pre-event reception the night of Oct. 8. Here are some agenda highlights.

The TD story

Amy Dinkar-Patel of TD Bank.

What are banks hearing from their small-business customers? How do banks come up with new products that help business customers solve problems? Amy Dinkar-Patel, head of Small Business Banking & Commercial Banking at TD Bank, will be the first executive onstage, discussing what clients are asking for and what challenges small businesses are facing today. Dinkar-Patel, a Chicago-based banker who joined TD in 2022 from BMO and previously worked at Bank of America, will sit for a fireside chat to kick off the conference.

AI and small-business banking

Kathleen Woodard of Microsoft.

As companies everywhere figure out how to use generative AI, banks are working on integrating it to make their operations more efficient and to work better with customers. Microsoft's Kathleen Woodard, a longtime CIBC banker who now heads banking advisory for the Americas, will answer questions about what's hype and what's useful with gen AI in the highly regulated banking industry.

How to build trust with small businesses

Devon Bray of US Bank.

Persuading a small-business owner to trust a bank can be difficult, especially after the bank runs of 2023. Original research from American Banker shows what small businesses say about their banks and what that means for banks' strategies. Devon Bray, U.S. Bank's small-business banking regional executive for California, also will discuss her experiences in the field. Bray, based in San Diego, joined from Union Bank, where she originally started as a part-time teller.

The small-business playbook

Mark Valentino of Citizens.

What makes a bank special? Standing out is difficult, as is finding and keeping customers. Mark Valentino, president and head of Business Banking at Citizens, will be talking about how his bank acquires clients and new ways to compete with other financial institutions. Valentino is a veteran Citizens exec who recently returned to the bank from a stint running a health care company.

Working with diverse customers

David Femi of M&T Bank.

When bankers seek minority and women small-business owners as customers, they need to take into consideration different issues than if they're aiming at a mass market. Working with CDFIs, developing special purpose credit programs, looking at CRA credit: It can be a complicated process. David Femi, senior vice president, Business & Professional Banking regional manager for Fairfield County and Southern Connecticut at M&T Bank, will discuss how his bank approaches these segments. Femi, who's been at M&T for a dozen years, previously started and ran the bank's Multicultural Banking & Diverse Market Strategy program.

Going local with small-business banking

Charlie Griffin of Bank of America.

Bankers need to understand what's going on in their local area at a micro level. Small-business owners surf the waves of the economy every day, and they are likely to choose a banker who can speak to their experiences. Charlie Griffin, national client acquisition executive, senior vice president at Bank of America, who oversees client strategy for business customers, will walk through how to become an expert in the economic forces buffeting the community.

How small businesses’ payments will work

John Frerichs of JPMorgan Chase.

In a world where payments are going real time, small businesses want their payments to be as easy as they are for the owners' own personal accounts: instantaneous, app-based and fully digital. But are banks ready? John Frerichs, managing director, head of Global SMB Payments at JPMorgan Chase is a former PayPal exec who's seen this issue from the banks' and the payments companies' sides. He'll explain what Chase is up to in this area and what the bank expects to see next.