Despite the hardships of the pandemic, small businesses have demonstrated resilience every step of the way by adapting to public health restrictions and changing consumer behaviours that impact the bottom line. Some have expanded their services, pivoting to provide online shopping and more eCommerce-driven offerings, while others have partnered with peers to bolster the success of the entire small business community.
A key driver for these changes is the new ways through which Canadians are interacting with small businesses. Three-quarters (75 percent) say the pandemic has made shopping and supporting businesses in their community more important, and more than half of Canadians (55 percent) say their desire to support local businesses is causing them to shift their spending by shopping closer to home, according to an Interac survey.
Digital, contactless payments are also an important driver of choice for consumers when shopping small. Many are reducing their use of cash as a payment method and are relying instead on digital payments In fact, the same survey revealed that two-thirds of Canadians believe businesses that fail to adapt to allow digital payments will struggle.
These needs are fuelling demand for innovative business payment solutions, such as Interac e-Transfer® for Business. An enhancement of the existing Interac e-Transfer service, this tool was built to meet the needs of Canadian businesses and offers higher transaction limits up to $25,000 depending on the financial institution, fast money transfers with instant confirmation and rich remittance data, allowing businesses to reconcile transactions with less paperwork. In other words, it can help streamline accounting processes and accelerate a paperless office strategy.
For those who own small businesses, this would mean being able to make just-in-time supplier payments as these payments will be confirmed and deposited within five seconds, minimizing the likelihood of late payments and maximizing eligibility for supplier discounts. Further, businesses could settle bill payments for regular expenses such as rent or utilities more efficiently.
From an internal standpoint, it could mean the ability to manage payroll in real-time, with employees receiving payments or tip-outs at the end of a shift, maximizing cash flow for the employee and employer alike. With flexible routing options, these payments could also be routed directly to an account number or via an identifier like an email or SMS.
With Interac e-Transfer for Business, the company is now able to manage this new abundance of relatively small B2B transactions directly from its online banking and can receive payment instantly, reducing the number of cheques and cash they receive. Getting paid in seconds means money arrives in the bank right away, which helps improve cash flow and save time. For this growing business, freeing-up time is key, so team members can spend less on repetitive back-office tasks and more on dealing with renewed demand and growth from consumers.
In a recovery-focused economy, these examples demonstrate that the demand for digital payment options within the small business sector is showing no signs of slowing down. Assessing how a business can revamp its payment processes and financial management to become more efficient and effective with tools like Interac e-Transfer for Business is necessary to equip small businesses as they embark upon growth and recovery plans.
Those interested in using the solution are invited to learn more by visiting Interac.ca/business, In The Know.
Interac commissioned Hill+Knowlton Strategies to conduct a national survey of adult Canadians. A total of 1,000 adult residents of Canada were surveyed online in April 2021. The sample was randomly drawn from a panel of potential survey respondents. An associated margin of error for a probability-based sample of this size would be ±2.5%, 19 times out of 20.
Interac and Interac e-Transfer are registered trademarks of Interac Corp.
