Agenda | Small Business Banking

Principal Technical Product Manager

Small businesses are turning away from financial institutions and seeking better, more affordable services from rival fintechs and neobanks. This session explores how banks can regain competitive advantage in the new battleground for the SMB relationship. At issue: how banks bring accounting, payroll, and e-commerce services to small business clients who are eager to manage cash flow more effectively. Industry leaders will debate where the embedded finance opportunity is greatest, where the threat of disintermediation is most acute, and what a winning app or platform strategy looks like for large and small banks and credit unions. The discussion will examine how banks are deciding whether to build or partner, and how to stay at the center of the small business banking relationship.

10:20 am

Networking Break in the Exhibit Hall

55 min

Zurich Foyer

11:15 am

The Deposit Retention Toolkit: Strategies for Winning and Keeping Small Business Relationships Away From Neobanks and Fintechs

40 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Welles Borie

FIS

Ben Shoemake

Head of Small Business Banking

Moderator

Small business deposits are among the most valuable assets in banking—low-cost and relationship-anchoring. They are also increasingly under siege. Neobanks and platform-native financial services are targeting small business owners with digital-first experiences and seamlessly integrated tools that many traditional institutions still cannot match. The banks and credit unions winning the deposit battle in 2026 are competing not just on rate, but on speed, simplicity, and the genuine sense that their institution is invested in the success of the businesses they serve. This session delivers a practical, immediately applicable toolkit for winning new small business deposits and—more importantly—retaining the relationships you already have, including what is working right now, what has failed, and what every institution needs to do differently to stop losing ground.

11:55 am

Fireside Chat From Pilot to Production: Modernizing Community Banking with Tokenized Deposits

25 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Shawn Main

EVP, Chief Business Architect

Vantage Bank Texas

Moderator

Vice President and Director of the Business Loan Center

As financial infrastructure evolves, community banks are finding actionable ways to transition digital asset technology from experimental pilots into core production. This fireside chat explores how forward-looking institutions are bridging tokenized deposits and stablecoins with their existing core systems and operational workflows.

12:20 pm

Case Study Streamlining Automation and Expertise at NBT Bank

30 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

NBT Banker

What if small business lending could be faster, smarter, and easier—for borrowers and bankers? Baker Hill and NBT Bank will explore how digital workflows, credit scoring, and data analytics can eliminate friction, accelerate decisions, and turn data into actionable insight. See how combining automation with banker expertise can streamline the lending journey, increase efficiency, and create capacity to serve more small businesses.

12:50 pm

Networking Lunch in the Exhibit Hall

1 hr 15 min

Zurich Foyer

Innovation Luncheon Unlocking the Small Business Opportunity: Win Deposits, Deepen Relationships, and Compete in the Digital Era

1 hr 15 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Carlos Lopez

Senior Analyst

Jack Henry

Small businesses represent one of the largest underdeveloped growth opportunities for financial institutions — yet many still rely on fintechs and disconnected platforms to manage critical operations. This session explores how financial institutions can position themselves as trusted financial and technology partners for entrepreneurs and growing businesses. Drawing on industry research, executive benchmarks, and real-world examples, attendees will gain insight into emerging small business trends, evolving owner expectations, and the growing role of payments, embedded fintech, and AI in shaping banking relationships. Participants will learn how to identify hidden business relationships within their existing customer base, overcome common pain points, segment small business clients effectively, and develop a scalable strategy that drives deposits, engagement, and loyalty — while preparing for the competitive landscape ahead.

2:05 pm

Credit Without Barriers: A Practical Framework for Expanding Small Business Loan Access Without Expanding Risk

30 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Devon Bray

EVP, Director of Business Banking & SBA

Hancock Whitney

Oscar Johnson, Jr.

Head of Business and Community Banking Strategies

Wintrust

Moderator

Managing Director, Business Banking Midwest Region Executive

Women-owned businesses represent 42% of all U.S. businesses yet receive just 4% of small business loan dollars. This session explores the largely untapped market opportunity represented by underserved entrepreneurs—and the specific tools, data sources, and underwriting models allowing institutions to say yes to more small businesses profitably and at scale. Industry leaders will examine how AI-powered underwriting is making it possible to evaluate non-traditional data, reduce decision-making subjectivity, and extend credit to businesses traditional models have historically passed over. The discussion will address what it actually takes to build or expand a lending program that reaches minority-, women-, and rural-owned businesses without expanding risk—and how the institutions doing it right are turning inclusive lending into a genuine competitive advantage.

2:40 pm

The New SBA Landscape: What the 2026 Rule Changes Mean for Lenders and Small Businesses

35 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Timothy Little

Bank of America

Daniel Pische

Director, Office of Financial Assistance

Moderator

While the SBA has expanded capital access for high-growth businesses, its recent rule changes could present challenges for banks. While SBA borrowers can now combine 7(a) and 504 loan limits for up to $10 million—double the previous limit—banks must now meet more rigorous SBA-specific loan guidelines, reducing underwriting flexibility.

3:15 pm

Networking Break in the Exhibit Hall

40 min

Zurich Foyer

3:55 pm

Case Study Augmentation, Not Automation: A Community Bank’s AI Case Study in Relationship Banking

30 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

SVP, Retail Sales Manager

Republic Bank of Chicago

As business clients expect more proactive, informed banking, innovative community and regional banks are using AI to help commercial bankers spot opportunities earlier, engage prospects with more relevance, and bring consistency to business development. The premise is simple: AI won’t replace relationship managers – it helps them know who to call, why, and what to discuss. This session follows one community bank from pilot to bank-wide rollout across its relationship-manager teams, what the market managers actually experienced, the operating-model changes it required, and the results it produced. Such transformation is enabling banks of any size to compete for commercial relationships against the AI budgets of the largest banks.

4:25 pm

Roundtable Banking: Peer-Driven Practices to Amplify the Future of Small Business Banking

45 min

Zurich E/F

1. AI and the Reinvention of Small Business Banking 2. Cash Flow, Credit, and the Future of Lending 3. Payments, Deposits, and Treasury as Growth Engines 4. Fraud and Cybersecurity in the AI Era 5. On-Chain Finance, Stablecoins, and the Next Financial Infrastructure

Roundtable Credit Union: Peer-Driven Best Practices for Competing for the Small Business of the Future

45 min

Zurich E/F

1. Modernizing Your Technology Stack 2. Competing for and Keeping Small Business Members 3. Scaling Small Business Lending to Compete With Banks and Alternative Lenders 4. Managing Fraud, Risk and Regulatory Complexity 5. Reaching Underserved Small Business Members Profitably

5:10 pm

Reception

1 hr 15 min

Zurich Foyer

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

8:00 am

Networking Breakfast

55 min

Zurich Foyer

8:55 am

Opening Remarks Day 2

5 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

EVP, Head of Small Business Banking

9:00 am

Keynote The Owner’s Lens: Building the Future of Small Business Banking

25 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Heather Kesner

U.S. Bank

Small business owners do not wake up thinking about banking. They wake up thinking about making payroll, managing cash flow, finding customers, retaining employees and growing their businesses. Yet as economic uncertainty, technological change and competitive pressures continue to accelerate, the role banks play in helping business owners navigate these challenges has never been more important.

9:25 am

The Rise of Fraud and Curtailing Its Sprawling Risk

35 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Tom Gregory

SVP, Head of Treasury Management, Merchant & Government Banking

TD Bank U.S.

Shawn O'Brien

EVP, Consumer and Business Banking

Moderator

Small businesses are the fastest-growing target of financial fraud and most of them aren’t adequately—if at all—protected. This session explores the rapidly evolving fraud landscape confronting small business owners, from business email compromise and synthetic identity fraud to account takeover and payment scams. Industry leaders will examine why small businesses have become the primary target of sophisticated attackers, how treasury management solutions are emerging as a critical line of defense for visibility, and how to gain greater control over payment flows. The key for banks: moving from reactive loss management to proactive, relationship-defining protection. The discussion will address how institutions are turning their commitment to small business security—and the treasury management tools that support it—into a competitive differentiator that fosters loyalty and drives retention

10:00 am

Demo SMB Banking Technologies

1 hr

Zurich A/B/C/D

VP, Business Solutions and Sales

Chief Technology Officer

Head Community and Credit Unions

11:00 am

Networking Break in the Exhibit Hall

30 min

Zurich Foyer

11:30 am

From Invoices to Instant Liquidity: Can On-Chain Finance Actually Fix SMB Cash Flow?

40 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

President, Institutional Banking

SouthState Bank

Blake Weathers

SVP, Business Lending and Account Services

America First Credit Union

Moderator

Chana Schoenberger

Editor-in-Chief

American Banker

Small businesses rarely fail from lack of demand—they fail from delayed access to cash. This panel explores whether on-chain finance can fundamentally reshape SMB liquidity through tokenized invoices, real-time settlement, and programmable working capital. Industry leaders will debate whether these models truly reduce friction and expand access to capital, or simply introduce new operational, regulatory, and adoption challenges. The discussion will examine how banks, fintechs, and digital asset infrastructure providers are rethinking supply chain finance, receivables, and the future of SMB liquidity.

12:10 pm

Keynote Realizing Small Business Liquidity and Capital Through Residential Mortgage Loans

25 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Ken Choi

Head of Consumer Lending, SBA, & Mortgage Banking

East West Bank

For many small business owners, their most valuable financial asset may not be their business, but their home. Yet residential mortgage loan products remain an underutilized source of liquidity and working capital for entrepreneurs who need flexible and affordable access to funds. This session explores how banks and credit unions can better serve small business owners by leveraging residential mortgage loans as a capital access strategy. It will illuminate the differences between single family residential loans and HELOCs and when each is the right tool along with the qualification methods that make these products accessible to business owners whose income structures do not fit traditional underwriting models. The discussion will address how residential mortgage loan products compare favorably to conventional small business loan offerings regarding rate, flexibility, and terms and how institutions that connect their mortgage and small business banking teams create a competitive advantage that deepens relationships and drives loyalty.

12:35 pm

Innovation Luncheon Give Your Bankers the Time to Spend With Their Clients

1 hr 15 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Adi Agrawal

VP, Asset Management Solutions

WRITER

Small business clients are running harder just to stand still. With inflation now the biggest drag on loan demand, relationship managers spend only about 30% of their week in actual client meetings — the rest goes to prep, admin, and chasing documents. This session looks at where we are in the business cycle, how AI adoption is faring in small business banking, and where the real opportunities lie. We will explore how AI embedded directly in the tools bankers already use can shift that time balance — and then tackle the harder question: what to do with the capacity it frees up, and how to build the business case in dollars, not hours, so you can give your bankers their week back and spend it where it matters most: with clients.

Networking Lunch

1 hr 15 min

Zurich Foyer

1:50 pm

Practical Strategies for Solving the Payments Gap: Delivering on Speed and Integration

40 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Stacy Armijo

Chief Experience Officer

Amplify Credit Union

Kris Varma

Head Community and Credit Unions

Visa

Brian Waldron

President & CEO

Dort Financial Credit Union

Moderator

Larry Cao

Senior Market Intelligence Analyst, AI

American Banker

Small business owners expect instant, seamless payments from their banks—anything less could be a deal breaker. This session explores the practical steps needed to close the payments gap—which is impacting some institutions’ small business relationships—and deliver a better, faster, more integrated customer experience for small businesses.

2:30 pm

What Do Small Businesses Want From Banks? Transparency, Guidance and Access to Capital

40 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

James Duff

Head of Business Banking

BMO

Elaine Szeto

EVP, Chief Innovation Officer & Founder

Integro Bank

Heather Tuason

Founder, Chairman, and CEO

Arena

Moderator

EVP, Head of Innovation and AI Products

The gap between what small businesses want from their bank and what most deliver has never been wider—or more critical. They want transparency around finances, tailored guidance, and access to capital. Yet many banks fail to deliver these, opening the door for small businesses to turn to fintech rivals. This session explores the latest on small business owner attitudes, expectations, and banking behaviors that provide a data-driven picture of where the market segment is headed. Industry leaders will examine what small business owners most want—instant credit decisions, proactive fraud protection, seamless payments, and genuine advisory support—and why so few banks are consistently delivering it. The discussion will address the specific changes in product design, service model, and digital experience that will determine who wins and who loses the small business relationship.

3:10 pm

Keynote Beyond Banking: Reimagining Support for Small Business Owners

25 min

Zurich A/B/C/D

Vijay Konduru

Huntington Bank

Small business owners and entrepreneurs wear many hats and carry a heavy load of invisible work. Without the time, resources and specialized expertise available to larger companies, they often piece together support across fragmented tools, providers and advisers while navigating the everyday demands of running and growing a business.

3:35 pm

Closing Remarks

5 min

Zurich A/B/C/D