For the 10th consecutive year, Bank of America has been named North America’s best bank for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The bank continues to deliver as an adviser, financier and innovator for SMEs navigating an increasingly complex economic environment.
Through its Global Commercial Banking (GCB) division, Bank of America serves one in five US middle-market clients with revenues between $50 million and $2 billion, as well as almost one third of US Fortune 1,000 companies looking to growth, either domestically or internationally.
The bank effectively combines local insight with national and global scale. With a presence in over 115 cities across the US and Canada, clients benefit from dedicated relationship managers embedded in local communities. These bankers provide access to capital, market insights and sector-specific expertise.
“We work closely with clients to help them manage everything from raising capital to addressing FX concentration and interest rate risk and navigating macroeconomic uncertainty,” says Wendy Stewart, president of global commercial banking. “Many of our US clients are now actively looking to Europe and Asia for growth and we’re helping them get there safely.”
Responding to SME needs
For American SMEs operating in the fast-paced world of e-commerce and looking for a low-cost, high-impact solution, Bank of America’s launch of Paze provides a frictionless checkout solution that enhances both customer experience and security. Introduced in December 2024, Paze removes the need for manual card entry, passwords or third-party apps, enabling quicker transactions with card tokenisation that safeguards sensitive data. The solution helps SMEs boost online conversion and reduce cart abandonment, especially vital during peak shopping seasons. The bank connects SMEs to a trusted payments network spanning more than 2,500 financial institutions.
The bank deployed $7.8 billion in debt and equity financing, resulting in over 12,600 affordable housing units
Managing cash flow and maintaining supplier relationships are constant challenges for SMEs, especially those operating with limited finance staff. Bank of America’s payables solution helps alleviate these pressures by automating payment processes and eliminating the need for separate technology investment. It analyses a business’s supplier base to determine preferred payment methods, accelerating the shift from manual to electronic payments. Crucially, this is made possible by the bank’s extensive supplier network, unparalleled among financial institutions in the US. The result is not just greater efficiency, but access to richer data that supports more accurate forecasting and faster decision-making.
Supporting local economies
In 2024, Bank of America reaffirmed its commitment to community impact by investing in initiatives that benefit small businesses, local economies and underserved populations. These efforts are directly aligned with the long-term success of SME clients, who depend on stable and thriving local ecosystems.
Through its Community Development Banking division, the bank deployed $7.8 billion in debt and equity financing, resulting in over 12,600 affordable housing units for individuals including veterans, seniors and those with special needs. In addition, Bank of America maintained a $2 billion portfolio of loans and investments in community development financial institutions which support small businesses, healthcare, education and local infrastructure.
