If your company grosses less than $5 million in annual revenue and regularly uses services like checking accounts, savings accounts, and debit and credit cards, you're in a very similar situation to the other 55,000 companies that National City studied in their recent research paper, Untapped Resources: Financial Products and Services for Women Business Owners.
If your company has grown beyond the $5 million mark, then both women-owned and men-owned companies are equally likely to offer increased use of wire transfer, automated clearing houses, and sweep accounts.
However, the major difference that emerges between women-owned firms and men-owned firms with $5+ million in revenue is that companies owned by men tend to regularly use tools like treasury management, account reconcilement, cash concentration, lockbox, and foreign exchange, while companies owned by women are substantially likely to not use these tools.
"Similar to previous studies that have documented a gap between women and men entrepreneurs' access to capital, this new research suggests that women owners also underutilize or are being underserved when it comes to noncredit banking products, and not only in their companies' early stages of growth," said Linda Stevenson, senior vice president of Women’s Business Development, National City.
Sharon Hadary, executive director of the Center for Women's Business Research, which conducted the research, found in a related survey of women business owners that "more than half (52%) are actively investigating financial resources to benefit their businesses and 70 percent are confident of their ability to access financial products." The research points to a potential emerging market for financial advisors, with Hadary remarking that "The research... shows that there is terrific market potential for financial institutions as increasingly women are leading businesses that achieve these high levels of revenue and growth."
If you're still growing your business, now is a good time to start getting acquainted with these alternatives, or non-credit banking products. There is a wealth of knowledge available to you through your trusted advisor and team of experts. Tap it!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=wire+transfer (a way to easily transfer funds between bank accounts)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ACH (United States electronic network for financial transactions)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sweep+accounts (at the end of the day, a "sweep" transferring any amount exceeding your specified level into a higher-interest earning account)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Treasury+Management (monitor and control payables and receivables, often through electronic updates at your financial institution)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Account+Reconcilement (service for large volumes of checking activity)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Cash+Concentration (typically for business with multiple locations: at the end of the day, an ACH transfer is initiated to concentrate all funds into a primary account, thereby centralizing all funds)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=lockbox (cuts down on collections process by having checks sent directly to the lockbox/bank, reducing the sorting time needed via postal mail)
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