80 million people in the US (or over 39% of working Americans) report having a side hustle and actively pursuing income beyond their primary jobs. This percentage increases to 50% among millennials and reaches 70% within Gen Z. This jump signals a fundamental shift in how Americans approach work and financial independence.
For financial institutions, this presents both an opportunity and a challenge. Many of your retail banking customers are likely operating small businesses, freelancing, or generating income through side hustles—yet may still be using personal accounts for commercial activities. Understanding how to identify these hybrid customers and transitioning them to appropriate business banking solutions can significantly expand your commercial banking portfolio while better serving their evolving needs.
(Source: Side Hustle Nation)
Understanding the Small Business Opportunity
The rise of the gig economy has created a unique customer segment that traditional banking categories don’t fully capture. Side hustlers pursue entrepreneurial activities for diverse reasons, from passion projects and skill development to flexible income generation, creating varying levels of business sophistication and banking needs.
The Financial Scale
The U.S. side hustle market is valued at over $2.58 trillion, creating substantial opportunities for financial institutions to expand their business banking portfolios. The average side hustler earned $891 per month in 2024, up from $810 in 2023, demonstrating consistent growth in entrepreneurial income that often outpaces traditional account growth.
For financial institutions, this represents customers generating meaningful revenue through channels that may not be properly supported by personal banking products. 45% of gig workers are from households earning $100,000 and over, indicating these customers have both the income and sophistication to benefit from comprehensive business banking relationships that extend beyond basic deposit accounts.
(Source: 2025 Side Hustle Statistics, Side hustle statistics for 2025)
Strategy 1: Leverage Operational Tools to Identify Business Owners
One of the most effective approaches to identifying business customers within your personal banking base involves offering operational tools that small businesses actually need. Unlike traditional business banking products that focus on lending or complex commercial services, operational tools address the day-to-day pain points that entrepreneurs face.
The Payment Collection Challenge
Small business owners and side hustlers often prioritize practical solutions over traditional banking products. They’re less interested in business checking accounts with monthly fees and more concerned with tools that help them manage invoicing, payment processing, expense tracking, and basic financial operations.
75% of solopreneurs prefer to get tools, especially payment tools, from their financial institution rather than third-party providers. This preference stems from their desire to consolidate financial services and maintain existing trusted relationships rather than managing multiple banking relationships.
Their first issue when starting a business is “how do I collect payment?” not necessarily “where should I hold those funds,” especially if they already have a personal account with your institution. Offering a solution to their most pressing challenge—collecting digital payments—is the key to unlocking this relationship.
By providing these operational tools, you create a natural discovery mechanism. Customers who sign up for business-oriented operational tools are self-identifying as having commercial banking needs, even if they haven’t formally established business accounts with you.
Implementation Approach
Once you’ve identified which customers are using operational tools, you can cross-reference this data with your existing business banking customers. This reveals a clear picture of personal account holders who are operating businesses but haven’t transitioned to business banking services. These customers become prime candidates for business banking upselling opportunities, including lending products, merchant services, and comprehensive business financial management solutions.
Strategy 2: Analyze Transaction Data for Business Indicators
Your existing transaction data contains valuable signals about business activity that may be hidden within personal accounts. By systematically analyzing deposit patterns and payment sources, you can identify customers who are likely operating businesses.
Payment Platform Deposits
Look for regular deposits from major payment platforms and business service providers. When customers receive deposits from platforms like Stripe, Square, Bill.com, QuickBooks, PayPal Business, or Venmo Business, these are clear indicators of commercial activity that may warrant business banking solutions.
Transaction Pattern Analysis
Beyond specific platforms, analyze transaction patterns that suggest business activity. Regular, recurring deposits from multiple sources often indicate entrepreneurial income streams. Watch for deposits with business-related memo lines, high-frequency small-dollar deposits typical of service businesses, seasonal deposit patterns that align with business cycles, and expense patterns suggesting business purchases like office supplies, equipment, or professional services.
Strategy 3: Monitor Usage of Existing Business Services
If your institution already offers business services, analyze adoption patterns to identify crossover opportunities. This strategy focuses on understanding who is already engaging with business-focused offerings but may not have fully transitioned to business banking relationships.
Current Business Service Utilization
Review which personal banking customers are already engaging with business-oriented services. This includes customers using business credit cards for personal accounts, accessing small business lending information or tools, downloading business-focused mobile banking features, attending business banking webinars or educational sessions, and engaging with business banking content on your digital platforms.
Digital Engagement Patterns
Monitor digital behavior that indicates business interest. Pay attention to time spent on business banking pages, downloads of business financial guides or resources, inquiries about business services through chat or customer service, and social media engagement with business banking content.
Implementation Best Practices
Partnering with Operational Tool Providers
Financial institutions can leverage partnerships with established fintech providers like Finli to quickly deploy operational tools that small businesses actually need. These solutions include invoicing, payment processing, and expense management tools that appeal directly to entrepreneurs and side hustlers. By integrating these services, banks can identify business banking prospects through usage data while providing immediate value that strengthens customer relationships.
Data Integration and Analysis
Successful identification requires thoughtful data analysis capabilities. Financial institutions should implement systems that can cross-reference multiple data sources, identify meaningful patterns across large customer bases, score customers based on business probability, and track conversion rates from identification to business banking adoption.
Compliance and Privacy Considerations
Every identification strategy must carefully comply with customer privacy regulations, banking compliance requirements, data protection standards, and established opt-in preferences for business-related communications.
Segmentation and Personalization
Once identified, segment these customers thoughtfully based on business size and complexity, industry or business type, geographic location, current banking relationship depth, and demonstrated business banking needs.
Takeaways
The entrepreneurial boom represents a significant opportunity for financial institutions willing to think beyond traditional customer categories. By implementing systematic identification strategies focused on operational tools, transaction analysis, existing service usage, and demographic targeting, banks can uncover substantial business banking potential within their personal banking customer base.
The key to success lies in understanding that today’s entrepreneurs often start with personal banking relationships before recognizing their need for business services. By proactively identifying these customers early in their business journey, financial institutions can position themselves as partners in their customers’ entrepreneurial success while capturing valuable commercial banking relationships that might otherwise go to competitors.
Remember, this isn’t just about converting retail customers to business clients—it’s about recognizing and serving the complete financial picture of customers who are already operating businesses. The institutions that master this identification process will be best positioned to capitalize on the continuing growth of America’s entrepreneurial economy.
