SMALL BUSINESSES USING CREDIT CARDS MORE

July 24, 2007

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Credit card use is soaring among small businesses as many entrepreneurs find it’s faster and simpler to sign up for a card than to apply for a bank loan or they don’t qualify for bank loans, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Cards geared to small businesses and even consumer credit cards are being used by the small firms to pay for just about everything — including health insurance, energy bills, taxes and photographers. Card spending by small businesses on tax payments and preparation alone jumped by 80 percent in the 12 months ended February 2007, according to a report by Visa USA, based on data about spending on Visa cards by 600 small businesses during that period. “Using credit cards is often your only choice,” says Edmund Mierzwinski, consumer programs director at U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit consumer group in Washington, D.C. “But the message is to carry as little debt as you can with cards and to pay them off early to avoid fees and higher interest rates.” Click here to read the full story. (Registration required.)

Small Businesses Using Credit Cards More