"Once treated as routine bookkeeping, cash flow is now the engine room of SMBs, driving decisions that ripple beyond the balance sheet. This shift also reframes the stakes for financial firms that serve SMBs. The rise in digital payments tells part of the story; the deeper narrative is that whoever owns the payment layer can effectively lay down the core infrastructure for SMBs."
"In H1 2025, US consumers and SMBs sent and received 2 billion payments, reflecting a 19% growth year-over-year. Consumer-to-SMB transactions increased by a sharper 31%, with the average payment rising 5%. According to Zelle, payments to SMBs represent its fastest-growing use case. Zelle is becoming a two-way street: consumers are paying small businesses directly, and in turn, small businesses are using the platform to pay their contractors and gig workers: payouts on the platform to individuals rose by 22% year-over-year."
"Bank of America's recent Small Business Checkpoint shows a close-up of how payments now function as a real-time strategy map for small firms. Among the bank's millions of small-business accounts, total payment volumes rose 6.6% year-over-year in August 2025, but the standout signals come from two specific flows: hiring and technology. On the labor side, payments to hiring firms have dropped more than 6% below their 2024 average, the lowest monthly level s"
Cash flow now functions as the operational engine for SMBs, influencing strategic choices beyond accounting. Digital payment volumes surged in H1 2025, with Zelle reporting 2 billion US payments, a 19% year-over-year increase and consumer-to-SMB transactions up 31% while average payments rose 5%. Zelle payouts to individuals increased 22% year-over-year. Bank of America data shows total SMB payment volumes rose 6.6% year-over-year in August 2025, while payments to hiring firms fell more than 6% below the 2024 average. Ownership of the payment layer is emerging as core SMB infrastructure.
Read at Tearsheet
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]