Banks are failing many small business clients on financial advice
“Mobile banking has become a core part of how Canada’s small business owners manage their companies’ finances,” said Paul McAdam, senior director of banking and payments intelligence at JD Power. “However, an app cannot fill the gap when a banking representative is unavailable to help with more complex financial needs or advice. While the big five banks are making everyday transactions easier, they also need to keep personal support accessible and responsive, offering timely advice that can save businesses time or money.”
Relationship managers: continuity up, contact down
The study offers a nuanced picture of relationship manager effectiveness. Continuity has improved: seven in 10 customers with an assigned relationship manager had the same one throughout 2026, up from 53 per cent in 2022.
More customers also report their manager understands their business goals – 34 per cent strongly agreed in 2026, compared with 31 per cent four years earlier.
Despite those improvements, contact frequency has dropped significantly. Personalised outreach from relationship managers fell to an average of 2.9 times annually in 2026, down from 3.8 in 2022, while in-person meetings declined from 2.8 to 2.1 over the same period. The result: overall bank satisfaction among customers with a relationship manager has fallen 17 points since 2022, even as satisfaction rose 22 points among those without one.
For financial advisors serving small business owner clients, the data reinforces a well-established truth: frequency of contact matters as much as quality. WPC has previously reported on how banks are rethinking advice delivery for small business clients with the 2023 JD Power study showing a 23-point spike in satisfaction when relationship managers were actively engaged.
