Dive Brief:
- Credit card giants Visa and American Express both pitched new programs this week in making new plays for small businesses.
- Visa announced the launch of a service on Thursday intended to provide small businesses with more loans and services, while Amex said it will introduce a pay-over-time option for small business owners in the UK.
- In separate news releases on Thursday, both companies boasted that they are committed to the success of mom-and-pop stores. “We're connecting Visa’s products and in-house knowledge with the expertise of our clients and partners to provide small businesses with flexible financing," Kim Lawrence, Visa's regional president of North America, said in the company's press release.
Dive Insight:
The initiatives from Visa, the largest U.S. card network, and New York-based Amex both involve some form of financing for small business owners.
Visa said in its Thursday announcement that it would extend $100 million in loans to small businesses.
In addition to providing loans, San Francisco-based Visa is also offering small businesses digital payment acceptance tools, expense management software, marketing support and fraud mitigation services.
Visa’s new services became available Thursday morning, a spokesperson said in an email.
American Express said that Business Platinum and Gold card holders in the UK could unlock an instant line of credit in the form of a "flexible payment option." The new feature is now available for "newly approved Business Platinum and Gold cardmembers," Amex said. A company spokesperson did not immediately respond to a message asking for more information about the timeline.
American Express’ Business Platinum and Gold cards are credit cards, which means cardholders must settle their balances in full on the due date, the news release said. Newly approved cardholders can now choose to pay over time with interest, the release said, although it did not say what interest rate Amex would charge.
