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What does progress look like when over seven million small businesses trust you to move their money, guard against fraud, and provide advice that works? For Jameson Troutman, Head of Product for Small Business at Chase for Business, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase & Co., the answer is simple: real innovation must help people, not overwhelm them.
Techopedia caught up with Jameson to find out why a bank trusted by millions still refuses to hand everything over to automation. However, by keeping humans in the loop, small businesses can thrive and avoid taking unnecessary risks.
Key Takeaways
- Fraud protection blends automation with instant customer confirmation.
- Customer education stays central, helping companies to recognize scams before damage occurs.
- Data should provide clear advice, not overwhelming dashboards.
- AI pilots start small, ensuring safe rollouts without disrupting trusted services.
- Agentic AI handles basics, freeing humans for complex, relationship-driven tasks.
- Practical automation blends speed with human judgment to reduce costly mistakes.
Hearing Customers Properly
Every business leader is currently challenged to innovate and implement new technologies without losing the trust of their customers. But trust heavily depends on listening carefully, not just once but continuously. Jameson Troutman explained how this works at scale:
“When we launch new capabilities, it makes an immediate impact on a large number of customers, which is exciting. That’s what our product teams enjoy about what they do. But we have to be very careful because if we deliver something that doesn’t quite hit the mark, it can also disrupt a large number of customers.”
To stay aligned with real needs, Chase blends formal research with daily conversations.
Bankers sit with small business owners in branches and bring back raw, practical insight. It is not about ticking a box. It shapes how the next feature gets built.
As Troutman put it:
“We regularly talk to small business owners day to day through both survey-based and research-based conversations, but also just in the wild with our bankers every day who are out in the field sitting down across the table from a small business owner.”
The importance of in-the-field feedback, which is later combined with AI tools capable of detecting patterns across millions of accounts, should not be underestimated. It means managers are not flying blind or relying solely on gut instinct.
Data Should Guide, Not Drown
It is easy to assume that more information automatically helps people make smarter decisions. But this is rarely true. Jameson Troutman is clear about this trap:
“The last thing they need is to be given a whole bunch of data and being asked to sift through all that to find actionable insights.”
Instead of dumping charts, Chase’s Customer Insights product does the sorting behind the scenes. Small businesses see only clear, practical advice. A pattern in sales trends? The owner considers a suggestion. A slow-paying client? A prompt shows how to act sooner.
In Jameson’s words, “It’s giving them that data and that value add that lets them make those decisions to grow their business over the next couple of years.”
These insights are not static reports. They show up exactly where the customer already works. This saves precious time and cuts stress.
Taking Control of Cash Flow
Not long ago, a small business owner looked at their balance after everything had happened. Today, tools let them manage cash ahead of time.
Troutman explained:
“Small businesses are trying to take more and more control over their cash flow and how they manage cash flow. They’re trying to move from less passive and reactive management of that to a more proactive and on the front foot type of management.”
To make this work, Chase gives clear choices. Owners can opt for slower payments to save money or faster transfers when time is of the essence. This control matches the realities of small business life.
As Jameson described:
“We’ve centralized all of our payments capabilities for the small business customer into a sort of payments hub experience that lets them, kinda transaction by transaction, make decisions as to what type of payment and what speed of payment is most appropriate.”
The power lies in presenting these options in plain language, not financial jargon.
At Techopedia, we have previously reported on how rushed changes can be risky when many rely on stable systems. Troutman shared how his team avoids this trap.
“Our piloting mentality has allowed us to move quickly but also balance the potential impact to the larger ecosystem,” he said.
Features start with small trials. Real customers give feedback. If something needs fixing, it happens before a wide launch. This balance of speed and caution provides the product team with the confidence to keep improving.
Fighting Fraud Without Halting Business
Speed also brings risk, and faster payments mean that criminals are working faster as well. Jameson Troutman discussed the daily challenge of preventing fraud without unfairly penalizing customers.
He told Techopedia:
“We’re trying to make sure that we do everything we can to protect our customers and do it in a way that doesn’t disrupt their business.”
One such method is implementing to perform smarter checks directly within the mobile app. If a wire appears suspicious, the customer can confirm or reject it immediately without needing to make extra calls or experience delays. This reduces the friction while stopping criminals in their tracks.
Prevention alone is not enough. Owners need to know how to spot scams before they strike.
Jameson said: “We’ve been doing a lot to educate our customers, both within the product experience, but also even with marketing and direct messaging to customers.”
Another challenge is successfully serving high-tech startups and traditional shops equally well. According to Troutman, the way forward is to develop reliable core tools and then add features tailored to specific industries. He said:
“We really try to build products in a scalable way that can work for all customers because it’s the most efficient and cost-effective way to manage products. But we recognize that the one-size-fits-all solution isn’t gonna always work.”
The Next Chapter for AI
As we looked to the near future, Jameson Troutman shared what keeps him curious: how AI might handle basic customer support, freeing humans for more thoughtful work. He said:
“One of the most interesting and exciting spaces that we’re watching closely and starting to test our way into as well is the transformation that’s starting to happen with Agentic AI.”
It is early days, but the goal is clear. Let digital assistants handle simple questions so bankers and owners can focus on bigger ideas that move the business forward.
The advice offered by Troutman is to start small. Test with real people. Keep listening. Improve what works rather than chasing trends that don’t add value, and prioritize with the customer at the center.
The Bottom Line
Chase’s path shows that clever technology or jumping on the latest trend is not enough. Human sense must shape what gets built, when it launches, and how much control the user keeps.
For a bank with over seven million small businesses counting on it, progress has to be real, not just shiny. The real story is not about throwing algorithms at every problem. It’s giving owners a clear view of their money, quicker options when timing counts, strong protection against fraudsters, and human help when it matters most.
