Imagine being the owner of a small independent retail store. A majority of your revenue stems from holiday sales each year, but to prepare for the rush, you must order additional inventory and hire extra staff weeks before Halloween. Meanwhile, most of that revenue will not arrive until December or even January.

Managing such a variance in cash flow can be a challenge and if not managed properly, it can prove fatal for a small business. In fact, failure to pay attention to and manage cash flow is the second most common reason small businesses flop, according to research firm CB Insights.

While cash management tools are nothing new, most of these tools are very expensive and sophisticated and geared toward large corporations. The prohibitive costs coupled with the lag in business banking technology has led many small business owners to make do with a regular retail account, which still does not meet their financial needs. For credit unions to best serve these members, they must close the gap between consumer and corporate financial offerings and deliver the appropriate level of cash management services.