Credit cards remain a top funding source for small and medium-sized businesses according to The Small Business Payments Alliance. Specifically, it has released a report containing new data that affirms the value of credit cards for small businesses

Credit card rewards programmes were also cited as the top borrowing tool for unplanned costs.

“Once again, the evidence affirms the value of credit cards and rewards programmes for small business. So why would Congress consider legislation that would threaten the electronic payments system? Small business owners don’t need Congress to try to ‘fix’ a system that isn’t broken,” said SBPA Spokesperson Peter Kauffmann.

He said that credit cards consistently ranked as SMBs’ top source of funding, above other resources such as lines of credit, BNPL, or loans.

Nearly a third (30%) of SMBs reported that they relied on credit cards over the past 12 months for funding.

When asked about their reasons for using corporate cards, SMBs cited numerous reasons related to growth, unexpected expenses, and predictable expenses. These include meeting cash flow needs (54%); emergency expenses (43%); buying inventory or services (30%); company assets (22%); and business expansion (19%).

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In addition, small businesses rely on credit card rewards for unplanned costs.  SMBs use credit cards to handle both predicted and unexpected expenses.

Credit cards help small businesses during the holiday season. Small business owners used their credit card rewards programmes to help themselves and their employees during the 2023 holiday season. Rewards points were used for employee benefits, keeping spending down, and growing and retaining consumer/client bases.