Patent ID: 8660945

Claim:
A system for identifying small businesses and/or small business operators comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having processor executable instructions stored therein, which when executed by the processor, perform a process for identifying small businesses and/or small business operators comprising: defining a threshold number of business management related transactions such that if the threshold number of business management related transactions are identified and are of a given consumer, the given consumer is identified as a potential business owner and/or manager; obtaining a given consumer's financial data, the given consumers financial data comprising data representing one or more individual financial transactions performed by the given consumer; analyzing at least part of the data representing one or more individual financial transactions of the given consumer to identify individual financial transactions of the given consumer that are business management related transactions of the given consumer, the analyzing comprising: identifying a community of peers, categorizing individual financial transactions of the given consumer as business related financial transactions, the categorization being based on what category is assigned, by a majority of consumers in the community of peers, to similar financial transactions; and identifying the given individual financial transaction of the one or more individual financial transactions of the given consumer categorized as a business related financial transaction as a business management related transaction of the given consumer; identifying at least the threshold number of the individual financial transactions of the given consumer as business management related transactions of the given consumer; and identifying the given consumer as a potential business owner and/or manager based, at least in part, on having identified the at least threshold number of individual financial transactions of the given consumer as being business management related transactions of the given consumer.