Google rolls out SME credit card

Google is getting into the business of credit, according to American Banker.

The online search giant is rolling out a limited-use co-branded MasterCard for small-business owners to help them buy its search-based advertising.

World Financial Capital Bank is issuing the no-annual-fee card, which carries a fixed annual percentage interest rate of 8.99%. There are no rewards associated with the card.

Google is clearly eager to find new audiences for its vaunted search-based advertising services, analysts said, but a narrow-use credit card may not be the smoothest approach to reaching that market.

“We are beta testing the AdWords Business credit card with a small group of our US-based advertisers,” a Google spokeperson said via e-mail, notes InformationWeek.

“AdWords is a tremendous driver of growth for small businesses, so we think it makes sense to give them a more attractive way to pay for AdWords.”

The spokesperson declined to offer additional details, but Google executives told Reuters the card will offer varying credit lines at an 8.99% interest rate, and that it can't be used to purchase anything other than search campaigns.

Google says the idea behind the card is to provide SMEs with funding to undertake large ad campaigns around important selling periods, reveals SmartCompany.

Claire Johnson, VP of global online sales at Google, told Reuters that this could include Valentine's Day or Halloween in the US. “They are resource-constrained and they are often cashflow-strapped. Many of them are trying to grow a business without the kind of means that, say, your classic company has,” she said.

Google's treasurer, Brent Callinicos, says availability for the card will skew towards smaller businesses, although the beta rollout will try to include some larger businesses to see how having the card impacts “historically monthly spends”.