JPMorgan Chase has introduced Jot, a mobile phone app for small businesses that use the bank’s Ink line of business charge cards.
Jot is designed to save small business owners time in the back office by enabling them to track, categorize and organize business expenses in real-time from their iPhone and Android mobile devices.
Jot will provide Ink from Chase customers with the ability to receive text alerts within seconds of making a purchase with their Ink card; immediately tag these purchases to custom categories on a mobile device or online; enable employees to tag their business expenses; immediately view all transactions on their account, including those of their employees, through their mobile devices or online; adjust employees’ card spending limits in real-time via a mobile device; and create and download reports into accounting software, including QuickBooks and Excel.
To gauge the value of mobile applications for small business owners, Ink from Chase partnered on a recent study with the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. The study, which surveyed 300 small business owners, found that American small business owners who are currently using a mobile application report saving an average of 5.6 hours per week. The use of mobile applications is currently saving an estimated 1.28 million small business owners approximately more than 372 hours annually or nearly two full weeks, giving them more time to focus on growing their business.
A separate survey conducted with 276 Ink from Chase customers showed that 84 percent of these small business owners are personally involved in managing business expenses, and 29 percent feel that they are spending more time on financial management than they had initially planned or predicted. More than 60 percent also believe a solution that would allow for business expenses to be organized and categorized immediately after they make purchases would simplify expense tracking, save time and give them more time to spend on other aspects of their businesses.
In April, Chase pledged to lend $12 billion to American small businesses in 2011, a 20 percent increase over the bank’s 2010 commitment, which the bank met in December. In 2010, Chase became the #1 Small Business Administration lender in America, based on number of loans.
Through a mobile device, Ink customers can download Jot for iPhone at
