Bank Launches Big Data Insight Product For SMEs

Barclays is giving businesses a data boost through a new online service which aims to provide insights and deeper analysis of their customer transactions to flag up behaviour and spending patterns.

Using the SmartBusiness service, it is claimed that SMEs will be able to spot trends in cash-flow, and see information on average customer spend and whether payments are made by cash, debit card or cheque as well as measure their performance against similar businesses in the region.

Barclays insists that such insights could help SMEs design loyalty or reward schemes by having an easy to read summary of customer visits and spending.

The scheme, which is run through a Barclaycard terminal, is built on Hadoop software, supported by an in-house app to access the data. Following a year long, pilot scheme, SmartBusiness will now be offered to over 500,000 business customers through Barclays' online banking service from May.

Barclays head of information Peter Simon said: “It’s not so much about playing them back the data they get, but playing it back in a way that helps them take action. We’re at the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution that’s fundamentally data driven. What we’re trying to do is give that [data] straight back to our customers.

“We want to give small businesses access to affordable market insights that traditionally would be the preserve of larger companies. We are equipping the nation's businesses with access to their own data in a form that’s much easier to use, and supporting the Government’s plans to promote digital business solutions around data.”

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