My youngest recently graduated from college and now has a fulltime job (sigh of relief). She is now faced with the need to changeher account from college checking to regular checking. I told hershe may need to stop by a branch to make the change. She respondedas if I had asked her to walk barefoot across burning coals. Visita branch? That's absurd!

And so it goes for the next generation of members for creditunions. Banks are closing or planning to close branches on aregular basis. SNL Financial reported 332 branches were closedduring the first quarter of 2015. Bank of America recently statedit had closed 1,400 branches as of June 2015. JP Morgan reported inFebruary its plan to close 300 branches. The reason is the rise ofmobile banking capabilities and a customer base all too eager touse them.

How does this impact small business members? The old rule ofthumb was that 60% of your small business members would be withintwo miles of your branch, and within a five mile radius it wouldcover 90% of your small business members. Branches used to rule thesmall business segment! But given branch closures, how are weaddressing access to small business credit?

In 2006, I visited the websites of the top 10 banks by assetsize to see if I would be able to submit an application for credit.At the time, only three of the 10 had online functionality thatenabled a business owner to actually submit an application forcredit (not fill out the form, and print and fax the application).Only one of the three would accept an application for somethingother than a credit card, but the application process was longenough to discourage most applicants.

Fast forward to 2015. With all the branch closings, I decided torepeat but expand the assessment. I looked at three categories offinancial institutions: Top 10 banks by assets size, top 10 creditunions by asset size offering member business loans, and 10 banksof similar asset size to the top 10 credit unions (to see if sizereally matters). Of the 30 financial institutions, only two allowedfor an online application for a credit product other than a creditcard: Wells Fargo (existing customers only) and San Diego CountyCredit Union.

Given the plethora of alternative lenders that only takeapplications online (e.g., Lending Club, Kabbage, OnDeck), the ideathat we continue to push our members to call, fax or actually visita branch to apply only serves as a competitive obstacle. Considerthese seven ways to better serve your small business members'credit needs:

1. Start small and identify an appropriate dollar range (say up to$50K).

2. Offer online applications – at least to existing members.

3. Auto-populate the app for existing members from your onlinesmall business platform.

4. Assign a resource to process the applications. Know that thebulk of the applications will likely be submitted duringoff-hours.

5. Communicate the expected response time up front (24 hours, forexample).

6. Provide an immediate confirmation to the member that theapplication was received.

7. Provide at least a conditional decision before asking for moreinformation. Initial review can be as little as: Membershipeligibility, credit score of the principals/guarantors, businesscredit report, or no reported past dues on bureau reports orexisting loans with the credit union.

Even if the entrance to your branches doesn't lead to a pathwayof burning coals, realize that it may seem like it to this newbreed of small business members. Now is the time to kick off astrategy that takes the burn out of small business servicing!

Joel Pruis is a senior director at Cornerstone Advisors. Hecan be reached at 480-424-5842 or [email protected].