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In short
- Construction and trades are 15–20% of small businesses in most local markets — and roughly $1.5T in annual spend.
- These businesses run on jobs, milestones, and delayed payments, so payment acceptance is the natural entry point for the bank.
- Payment-first adoption is measurable, repeatable, and produces the data that drives everything else.
- The broader lesson: every small business segment has a natural entry capability, and banks that find it win the segment.
How big is the construction and trades segment for community banks?
Construction and trades firms account for roughly 15 to 20% of small businesses in many local markets. They exist in every community. They rely on local financial institutions. They are operationally consistent. They are also underserved.
This segment alone represents approximately $1.5 trillion in annual spend, exceeding retail e-commerce and food services. Ignoring it is not a strategy.
Why do payments drive engagement for construction and trades businesses?
Trades businesses run on jobs, milestones, and delayed payments. Cash flow gaps are common. Getting paid is the primary financial event.
Approximately 80% of firms experience payments-related challenges. Despite this, paper checks remain dominant, with 76% of subcontractors still paid that way. At the same time, digital payment adoption intent is rising. The gap between how these businesses operate and how they want to operate is widening. That gap creates leverage.
Source: PYMNTS Intelligence, From the Ground Up: Rebuilding Payments in the Construction Industry (January 2024)
Why are construction and trades the right starting point for small business banking growth?
Construction and trades force focus. Their workflows are repeatable. Their engagement is measurable. Their success shows up quickly in usage and deposits.
The webinar outlined why this segment is ideal for adoption-led growth:
- Clear operational triggers
- High payment frequency
- Natural alignment across checking, payments, and lending
- Measurable outcomes tied to behavior
Designing for the trades creates internal discipline that strengthens execution. The playbooks built here scale outward to other small business segments.
What can banks learn from construction and trades about small business growth in general?
Construction and trades do not just represent opportunity. They expose the formula. When banks align internally, design around real workflows, and measure what customers actually use, growth follows.
Small business growth is engineered. Trades make that visible.
Watch the webinar recording to see how this segment clarifies strategy, alignment, and execution.
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Frequently asked questions
How big is the construction and trades small business market?
Roughly 15 to 20 percent of small businesses in many local markets, and approximately $1.5 trillion in annual spend nationally — larger than retail e-commerce or food services.
Why start with construction and trades specifically?
They have clear operational signals (jobs, milestones, invoicing) that make engagement measurable. Payment acceptance is both their biggest need and the easiest capability for a bank to activate.
What capability should a bank lead with?
Payment acceptance — typically invoicing with pay-by-link and ACH/card acceptance. Every job creates a receivable, and every receivable is an opportunity to route payment through the bank instead of a third party.
How is adoption measured for this segment?
By counting invoices sent, payments accepted, and the percentage of a business's receivables flowing through the bank. Those numbers move quickly once the capability is activated, which makes the segment a fast feedback loop for the rest of the portfolio.
Does this only apply to construction and trades?
No — the pattern generalizes. Find the operational workflow that defines a segment, lead with the capability that matches it, measure adoption against that workflow. What makes construction and trades a good starting point is that the workflow is unusually visible.