The Internet has had a positive effect on nearly one third of US businesses, according to KeyCorp. But that leaves a remainder without access to, or appreciation of, the new medium. In a survey of 400 small businesses, one quarter said the Internet had had some impact on their business and an additional 7% said that impact was major. The flip-side to this is that two thirds of US small businesses think the Internet has had no effect on business and this has caused KeyCorp, a Cleveland, Ohio-based holding company, which counts Unisys Corp among its allies to devise on- line electronic payment schemes, to rethink. Until recently, KeyCorp was steaming ahead with its personal computer-based direct banking package. But the results of its survey have checked its pace, as senior vice-president Sandra Maltby told American Banker: Entrepreneurs are very bottom line-oriented. If they can’t find value on the Internet, they shouldn’t spend time with it. This was echoed by New York consultant Charles Wendel of Financial Institutions Consulting Inc. Of those small firms who do have an Internet presence, the majority are static and largely unhelpful. Until there are cornerstones on the networks to entice people to come back, he said, small firms won’t get much value from the Internet. Interest in the Internet is growing but not as quickly as the move towards improving sophisticated technology. Highest revenue growth was experienced by firms who owned above average equipment (15% described themselves as having cutting edge; 28% as sophisticated) and were also more likely to say the Internet had assisted their business. Analysts, such as Allan Bloomquist of Oxford Information Technology Inc, recommend these high-fliers team with banks to form on-line financial communities that could encourage less able firms to get onto the superhighway.
