Business

5 Tactical Employee Retention Strategies for SBOs

Published

3 years ago

May 13, 2023

In today’s competitive job market, employee retention has become a top priority for organizations of all sizes. But what are the most tactical and practical ways to increase employee retention? Let’s dig a little deeper.

Try These Employee Retention Strategies

According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), it typically costs a company six to nine months of an employee’s salary to replace that employee. For perspective, that means it costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000 to $45,000 in recruiting, training, and hiring costs to find and onboard an employee making $60,000 per year.

“Some employees find better paying jobs while others go back to school. Sometimes it’s their choice and other times they follow a spouse who’s been transferred to another state,” Enrich explains. “Whatever the reason, it has been well documented that employee turnover is costly and disruptive.”

Thankfully, there are plenty of tools and strategies at an employer’s disposal for increasing employee retention. Here are a few:

Offer Better Salary and Benefits

Why do most employees leave? Robert Half’s data says 38 percent of employees move on to another job due to “inadequate salary and benefits.”

Thus, one of the most effective (and obvious) employee retention strategies is to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package. This includes not only a fair salary, but also perks like health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off.

By providing these benefits, you can show your employees that you value their work and are committed to their well-being.

Give Employees a Clear Path Forward

Make sure you’re providing clear opportunities for career growth and development. This can take many forms, including training programs, mentorship opportunities, and career advancement paths. When you invest in your employees’ professional development, you help them feel valued and motivated to continue growing within your organization.

Lead By Example

Offering benefits and development opportunities is only part of the equation. The role that managers and leaders play in employee retention cannot be overstated. In fact, a recent study found that 75% of employees who voluntarily left their place of employment did so because of their direct superiors.

To create a positive and nurturing work environment, it’s important for managers to communicate openly and frequently with their team members. This includes offering regular and consistent feedback for a job well done. It’s also key for those in management and leadership positions to lead by example and communicate a strong commitment to the company’s mission and values.

Invest in Culture

As a business owner, you can support employee retention by fostering a sense of community and belonging within the workplace. This can be accomplished through various team-building activities, volunteer opportunities, and fun, inviting social events.

By creating a strong sense of camaraderie and shared purpose, employees are more likely to feel connected to their colleagues and invested in the success of the organization.

Tailor Your Approach

Of course, not all employee retention strategies will work for every organization. It’s important to tailor your approach based on the unique needs and preferences of your team members. This may include conducting regular employee surveys to gather feedback on what is working and what could be improved.

You should also be proactive in addressing potential retention issues before they become major problems. This can include identifying employees who may be at risk of leaving and taking steps to address their concerns or provide additional support.

For Best Results, Know Your Employees

If you’re a small business owner, you know how difficult it can be to retain top talent. With larger organizations offering more resources and benefits, it can feel like an uphill battle to keep employees engaged and committed for the long term. But as you can see, there are a number of employee retention strategies that you can implement to help keep your team members happy and motivated.

Ultimately, the key to successful employee retention is creating a workplace culture that values and supports its team members. By offering more competitive compensation and benefits packages, providing opportunities for career growth and development, and fostering a positive and supportive work environment, you can improve retention rates, bolster the bottom line, and build a strong and committed team.

Business

Inside the $4.3B Quarter: What’s Fueling Black Banx’s Record Revenues

Published

1 week ago

January 16, 2026

Matthew Wiles

Every quarter brings fresh headlines in fintech, but few make the kind of impact achieved by Black Banx in Q2 2025. The Toronto-based global digital banking group, founded by Michael Gastauer, reported an extraordinary USD 4.3 billion in revenue and a record USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, while improving its cost-to-income ratio to 63%.

These results not only highlight the company’s operational efficiency but also mark a pivotal moment in its journey from challenger to global leader. The big question is: what’s fueling such impressive financial performance?

Customer Growth as the Core Driver

One of the clearest engines of revenue growth is Black Banx’s expanding customer base. By Q2 2025, the platform had reached 84 million clients worldwide, up from 69 million at the end of 2024. This 15 million net gain in six months demonstrates both the attractiveness of its services and the scalability of its model.

Unlike traditional banks, which rely heavily on branch expansion, Black Banx leverages digital-first onboarding that allows customers to open accounts within minutes using just a smartphone. This approach is especially effective in regions underserved by legacy institutions, where access to affordable financial tools is in high demand.

More customers don’t just mean higher transaction volumes—they generate a compounding effect where network size, brand trust, and service adoption reinforce one another.

Real-Time Payments and Cross-Border Solutions

A major contributor to Q2 revenues is the platform’s real-time payments infrastructure. Black Banx enables instant cross-border transfers across its 28 supported fiat currencies and multiple cryptocurrencies, helping both individuals and businesses bypass the traditional bottlenecks of international banking.

For freelancers, SMEs, and multinational clients, this means faster liquidity, reduced foreign exchange costs, and simplified global operations. The demand for real-time financial services is growing rapidly—Juniper Research projects global real-time payments turnover to hit USD 58 trillion by 2028—and Black Banx is strategically positioned to capture a significant share of this market.

Crypto Integration as a Revenue Stream

Another key revenue driver is crypto integration. While many traditional institutions remain hesitant, Black Banx embraced digital assets early and has built infrastructure to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the Lightning Network. In Q2 2025, 20% of all transactions on the platform were crypto-based, reflecting strong customer appetite for hybrid banking services that bridge fiat and digital assets.

Revenue comes not only from transaction fees but also from value-added services like crypto-to-fiat conversion, staking yields (4–12% APY), and blockchain-enabled payments. For customers in markets with unstable currencies, these services act as a financial lifeline, further expanding the platform’s relevance.

AI-Powered Efficiency and Risk Management

Record revenues would be less impressive if costs ballooned at the same rate. But Black Banx has proven adept at balancing growth with efficiency. Its cost-to-income ratio improved to 63% in Q2, down from 69% a year earlier, thanks to heavy reliance on AI-powered automation.

AI now drives fraud detection, compliance, and customer onboarding—areas where traditional banks often struggle with cost inefficiencies. By automating these processes, Black Banx can process millions of transactions securely while maintaining profitability at scale. This level of efficiency is rare in fintech, where high growth often comes at the expense of margins.

Regional Expansion and Untapped Markets

Geography also plays a role in fueling revenues. Much of the Q2 growth came from Africa, South Asia, and Latin America—regions where demand for mobile-first banking continues to soar. In 2024 alone, Black Banx reported a 32% increase in SME clients from the Middle East and Africa, signaling the strength of its positioning in underserved markets.

By extending services to populations previously excluded from formal banking—migrant workers, rural communities, and small businesses—Black Banx taps into vast pools of latent demand. The strategy proves that financial inclusion and profitability are not mutually exclusive but mutually reinforcing.

Diversified Revenue Streams

Another factor behind Q2’s record revenues is Black Banx’s diversified business model. Income is not tied to a single service but spread across multiple streams, including:

Transaction fees from cross-border transfers and payments.
Crypto trading and exchange services.
Premium account features for high-net-worth clients.
Corporate services for SMEs and international businesses.

This diversification insulates the company against volatility in any single segment, creating stable revenue growth even in shifting market conditions.

Michael Gastauer’s Strategic Blueprint

Behind these results is Michael Gastauer’s long-term strategy: scale aggressively but with efficiency, innovation, and inclusion at the core. His vision has always been to create a borderless financial ecosystem, and Q2 2025’s performance is evidence that this vision is not only achievable but sustainable.

By balancing mass-market accessibility with premium features, and by blending fiat with digital assets, Gastauer has positioned Black Banx as a category-defining player in global finance.

The Road Ahead: Toward 100 Million Clients

Looking forward, the company’s goal of reaching 100 million customers by the end of 2025 will likely be the next catalyst for revenue growth. More customers mean more transactions, more data insights, and more opportunities to refine and expand its service offering.

If current momentum holds, the USD 4.3 billion quarterly revenue milestone could be just the beginning of an even larger growth story. The challenge will be ensuring systems scale securely while maintaining trust in an environment where privacy and compliance are paramount.

A Record That Signals More to Come

Black Banx’s Q2 2025 performance—USD 4.3 billion in revenue, USD 1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, 84 million clients worldwide, and a lean 63% cost-to-income ratio—is more than a financial milestone. It is a signal of how the future of banking is being rewritten by platforms that are borderless, crypto-inclusive, and data-driven.

What fueled this record-breaking quarter is not one innovation but a combination of strategies—scalable onboarding, real-time payments, crypto integration, AI efficiency, and expansion into underserved regions. Together, they form a model that doesn’t just challenge traditional banking but actively builds the foundation for global dominance.

For Black Banx, the road ahead is clear: the $4.3 billion quarter is not an endpoint but a launchpad for even greater scale and profitability.