Credit card companies trying to gain big bucks from small business market

Credit card companies see big bucks in the small-business market (Los Angeles Times).

Discover Financial Services, which launched its first small-business card last June, will unveil a card today designed to lure small-business owners by offering high frequent-flier miles rewards and few restrictions.

It is just the latest in a string of credit cards tailored for small-business owners.

The draw for card companies: Although small-business owners spent $4.9 trillion in 2006, less than 5% of that was with the aid of a credit or debit card, according to Visa USA research.

"Our competition is essentially checks. That's what we are trying to dislodge from the small-business owner's wallet," said Raghav Lal, senior vice president of small-business products for San Francisco-based Visa USA.