A majority of small businesses now have debit cards.

• Position: MARKETING NEWS - Brief article

MORE THAN HALF OF SMALL-BUSINESS OWNERS

now have business debit cards, according to a survey by Synergistics Research, Atlanta.

One-fourth of these debit card holders report they do not use their business debit cards in a typical month. One-fifth indicate very light usage of less than once a month. Overall, an average frequency of 9.0 transactions per month is reported, or a median of 5.0.

In terms of the potential for growing usage, one-fifth of the small businesses in the survey were found to be prospects who expressed interest in obtaining a business debit card.

"Findings show that small-business checking account providers have been successful in getting debit/check cards into the hands of a majority of their small-business customers,1' says William H. McCracken, CEO of Synergistics.

"Expanding the pool of users and encouraging increased frequency of usage remain challenges. About one-fifth of small-businesses express interest in business debit cards...