U.S. Bank offering special card for small businesses

Phil Levine

Tuesday, March 7, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

Technology continues to transform the world of business-to-business commerce.

U.S. Bancorp hopes the technology behind its new "UBank" business check card -- designed to simplify financial management for small and medium-sized companies -- will help it establish an image as a big bank responsive to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.

Bank officials say products and services specifically designed for small businesses -- such as the UBank card -- can also significantly add to their bottom line.

"There's no doubt the small business (market) segment is growing nationwide, and especially here in Nevada," said U.S. Bank spokeswoman Dotti Loader. "We've identified the fact that market is currently underserved (by banks), and are devoting the resources needed to address that fact."

Although similar to consumer debit cards, the UBank card provides small businesses the ability to control employee access to company accounts.

"It's not a credit card, or a traditional debit card," said Loader. "Rather, it allows a business owner to say to one employee 'o.k., you can make deposits without being able to access funds.'

"Meanwhile, another employee may be able to make purchases with a preset limit. This card provides the small business owner a simpler way of keeping track of financial transactions."

The UBank card also provides a detailed monthly statement chronicling the location, date and amount of each transaction.

Loader said in the future small and medium-sized businesses can expect U.S. Bank to devote even more resources to their segment of the banking market.

"We've made a strategic decision to better serve the small business community," she said. "To that end, we've increased our sales force by 25 percent in the last six months, and will devote a good portion of that manpower towards serving that market."