Yahoo Finance 0% interest credit card: CBA targets entrepreneurs
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) is extending its ‘Neo’ zero interest credit card to small business owners, hoping to tap into the millennial market.
CommBank Neo Business will provide small business customers with up to $3,000 of credit, with no interest payments, no late payments and no foreign currency fees, for a fixed monthly fee.
Customers will be refunded their monthly fee if they have no purchases in a month and the card balance is zero.
“A dedicated business credit card with no-interest, no late fees and no foreign currency fees, ticks the boxes for small businesses who want more flexibility with short term cash flow to make purchases for their operations,” said CBA group manager of small business banking Claire Roberts.
“Further, the fixed monthly fee provides small business owners with some level of financial certainty, which will help with their budgeting.”
This comes after both CBA and NAB launched zero interest credit cards for consumers in September last year.
CBA research found the number of millennial small business owners is on the rise as many young Aussies have been turning to entrepreneurship.
The number of new CBA Business Transaction Accounts surged 36 per cent over the past six months with millennials (those born between 1981-1996) driving the majority of growth, the bank said.
Millennials accounted for 57 per cent of all new business accounts in the last 6 months – up from 43 per cent in 2015, while Gen Z (those born from 1997) opened 10 per cent of new accounts.
Small business owners are getting younger, CBA said, with the average age of Aussies opening up a CBA Business Transaction Account dropping from 44 years back in 2015 to 38 years today.
The research also found that the proportion of millennials running a ‘side hustle’ has increased by 40 per cent over the past year.
Roberts economic uncertainty motivated many Australians – particularly millennials – to come up with business ideas and ultimately kick-start their side hustle.
“While it’s been a challenging year for many small businesses, the pandemic did present entrepreneurs with the time and opportunity to start a small business as a passion project or as an alternate source of income and we’ve seen many of our new business customers skewing younger,” Roberts said.
