CHERRY HILL, N.J. — Commerce Bank, "America's Most Convenient Bank," has launched Business Direct, a free, comprehensive online business banking service that enables businesses to securely view and manage all their financial and banking needs at a glance, in real time, from anywhere, via the Internet.
For many small businesses, online banking is becoming a financial lifeline. An August 2007 report from Aite Group, LLC, found that online banking is now the preferred channel for small businesses to interact with their banks because many are looking for "anything that will save them time."
Commerce's online banking site offers the same user-friendliness, security and enhanced functionality as the retail version of Commerce Online Banking, while providing businesses with the additional tools to manage their banking from their desks. Unlike other online banking sites, Commerce business customers have access to a live customer service professional via Commerce's call center, open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Business Direct enables small businesses to:
- view all their business accounts in real time
- pay bills and manage payrolls
- transfer funds between accounts
- integrates finances with accounting software such as Quick Books
- establish tiered authority for users, which enables a customer to specify users' access at designated levels
- initiate ACH payments and wire transfers
- view electronic statements and check images
- set email alerts for specified balance thresholds, payment status, payment due information and transactions requiring approval
"Commerce Bank was built on a mission to provide the best banking services and an unparalleled level of service to all our customers," said Robert D. Falese, Commerce Bank's president and CEO. "As an industry leader in innovation and service, we are happy to offer small businesses with this essential and easy to use full-service online banking product."
A popular tool on the site is tiered authority, which allows owners to set up secondary user accounts for employees or trusted partners. Built in security ensures unauthorized transactions cannot be made. The flexibility of the program lets small businesses decided what's right for them. Tiered authority lets businesses control access at the following levels:
- application — bill pay, transfers, balances
- transactions — create and modify transfers
- account — accounts can be viewed or transacted upon
- threshold — limits transactions based on dollar value
Commerce Bank worked with Corillian Corporation, a leading provider of online banking solutions for financial institutions, to launch and power its business online banking service. Corillian maintains Commerce's retail online banking service as well.
