# Small Business Solutions
source: https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/usecases/small-business-solutions/index.md

Leverage real-time business account data, Cash Flow Analytics, and predictive insights to seamlessly onboard and underwrite small business (SMB) customers.

## How It Works {#how-it-works}

These solutions are designed for organizations that work directly with small businesses or provide services to companies that do. They support a variety of use cases, primarily onboarding, credit/fraud risk, and business financial management.

* For most use cases, you will first need to generate a URL to launch the [Mastercard Data Connect](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/connect/index.md) application, which allows businesses to link their accounts and give you permission to access their financial data through Mastercard Open Finance. Data Connect is the only way for your customers to link their accounts and is mandatory for integrating with any Mastercard Open Finance APIs.
* [Webhooks](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/webhooks/index.md) enable your app to receive notifications about Data Connect events and report generation progress.

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The sections below illustrate common ways different types of organizations use Mastercard Open Finance APIs for small business use cases and are not intended to be exhaustive or limiting.

## Issuers {#issuers}

Issuer use cases often involve analyzing cash flows, transaction activity, and historical balances (with a small business's consent) to assess creditworthiness and predict the likelihood of future payment risk.

Below are examples of products commonly used by small business issuers to access consolidated, owner-permissioned financial data across linked business accounts. These APIs are modular and can be used independently or in combination with each other:

* [Account Owner Verification](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/pay/verification-account-owner/index.md) confirms that the individual attempting onboarding is an owner or authorized signer on the business account.
* [Account Balance](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/pay/account-balance/index.md) confirms routing and account numbers and helps open/fund accounts after the account owner's identity and the account have been verified.
* [Payment Risk Insights](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/small-business/payment-history/index.md) provides a risk score that can be used to determine the probability that a business will experience a payment risk event in the near future when making a payment.
* [Bill Pay Switch](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/pay/switch/bill-pay-switch/index.md) provides the ability for businesses to switch their recurring automatic payments from their incumbent account into a new/existing account at a Financial Institution.
* [Verification of Income](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/lend/reports/voi/index.md) confirms a business's revenue using up to 24 months of its bank transaction data.
* [Small Business Credit Analytics](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/small-business/sbca/index.md) provides access to near real-time transaction-based insights to build a more complete view of business performance and creditworthiness.

### Example Scenario {#example-scenario}

This sequence diagram shows how you could combine the products above for a small business credit
card issuance use case.
Diagram sb-usecase-1

## Merchant Service Providers {#merchant-service-providers}

After a small business consents to share account data, cash flows, transaction activity, and historical balances, this information can be analyzed to assess onboarding risk, funding reliability, and the likelihood that payments will succeed.

The APIs listed below are examples of products commonly used by merchant service providers (MSPs) to access consolidated, owner-permissioned financial data across linked business accounts. These APIs are modular and can be used independently or in combination with each other:

* [Account Owner Verification](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/pay/verification-account-owner/index.md) confirms that the individual attempting onboarding is an owner or authorized signer on the business account.
* [Account ACH Details with RTP/FedNow](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/pay/verification-money-transfer/index.md) collects and verifies the business's accounts and routing numbers.
* [Account Balance](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/pay/account-balance/index.md) verifies the current account balance(s) of the business.
* [Transaction Aggregation](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/manage/transaction-data/index.md) provides transaction details for each transaction associated with a connected account.
* [Cash Flow Analytics](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/small-business/cash-flow-analytics-sb/index.md) surfaces cash-flow health and trends to assess a business's capacity to pay and volatility.
* [Payment Risk Insights](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/small-business/payment-history/index.md) provides a risk score that can be used to determine the probability that a business will experience a payment risk event in the near future when making a payment.
* [Small Business Credit Analytics](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/products/small-business/sbca/index.md) provides access to near real-time transaction-based insights to build a more complete view of business performance and creditworthiness.

### Example Scenario {#example-scenario-1}

This sequence diagram shows how you could combine the products above for an MSP decisioning use case.
Diagram sb-usecase-2

## Next Steps {#next-steps}

![Quick Start Guide](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/open-finance-us/uploads/usecases_nextsteps_quickstart.png)

### Quick Start Guide {#quick-start-guide}

Get started with using Mastercard Open Finance APIs in less than 30 minutes.


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[Get Started →](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/quick-start-guide/index.md)
![API Reference](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/open-finance-us/uploads/usecases_nextsteps_apireference.png)

### API Reference {#api-reference}

Find detailed explanation of all resources available through Mastercard Open Finance API.


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[Learn More →](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/api-reference/index.md)
![Postman](https://static.developer.mastercard.com/content/open-finance-us/uploads/usecases_nextsteps_postman.png)

### Postman {#postman}

Run the Postman Collection to start using Open Finance API without the need to write any code.


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[Learn More →](https://developer.mastercard.com/open-finance-us/documentation/integration-and-testing/postman-collection/index.md)