Identifying Small Business Owners via Financial Transaction Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Small businesses and their owners are difficult to identify due to their use of traditional consumer accounts, making it challenging for sellers of business products to target and offer specialized services, resulting in missed opportunities for both parties.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that analyze financial transaction data from computing system implemented financial management systems to categorize transactions associated with business ownership or management, identifying potential small business owners and managers based on thresholds, and providing access to these individuals for targeted marketing and services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If small businesses use traditional consumer accounts to avoid fees, then they save on banking costs, but they become difficult to identify and access for business services
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces financial transaction data as an intermediary medium to indirectly identify small business owners. Instead of directly asking business owners to self-identify or requiring traditional business banking accounts, the system analyzes transaction patterns from consumer accounts to infer business ownership, thereby resolving the identification problem while respecting the choice to use consumer accounts
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical identification methods (direct contact, business registry searches, traditional banking relationships) with an automated data-driven approach using financial transaction analysis algorithms to detect business ownership patterns
2Productivity
If sellers of business products use traditional identification methods, then they maintain simple processes, but they miss marketing opportunities with small businesses
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses a universal data source (consumer financial transaction data) that serves multiple purposes: it identifies small business owners, provides insights into business behavior patterns, and enables targeted marketing campaigns, thereby increasing productivity without requiring separate complex identification systems
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables small business owners to self-identify through their own transaction patterns without requiring active participation or manual input from them. The automated analysis of their existing financial data naturally reveals business ownership, eliminating the need for separate identification processes
3Ease of operation
If small business owners do not identify themselves as businesses, then they avoid additional fees and complexity, but they deprive themselves of specialized business offers and services
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback to sellers of business products about the identified small business owners, enabling them to reach out with specialized offers. This feedback mechanism allows small business owners to benefit from business-specific services while maintaining their simple consumer account structure, as the identification occurs automatically through transaction analysis
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system for identifying small businesses and/or small business operators includes a process for identifying small businesses and/or small business operators whereby financial transaction data for one or more consumers is obtained from one or more sources. The one or more consumers' financial transaction data is then analyzed to identify financial transactions typically associated with ownership and/or management of a business, i.e., business management related transactions. If more than a threshold number of business management related transactions associated with a given consumer are identified, that consumer is identified as a potential small business owner and/or manager.