Small Business Credit Card Use on the Rise
By Justin McHenry
A new Small Business Administration study has found that small business loans of under $100,000 are on the rise, and that more than 70% of such loans are via business’ credit cards. However, and perhaps surprisingly, while the number of these small loans increased 25 percent between June 2004 and June 2005, the total amount of dollars loaned increased only about 1.9%. So, while more small businesses are carrying debt, especially on credit cards, the majority are carrying smaller amounts of debt than in the past.
The Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy offers the study of what it terms small business lending (loans of under $1 million) and micro business lending (loans of under $100,000) each year. The full 120-page report just released is available at http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/sbl_05study.pdf.