CardWeb conducted a survey of small-business cards last month at Business Week's request. It's a booming field. Last year, there were 9 million small-business cards outstanding, up 15% from 1997, carrying lines of credit worth $36.8 billion, up 25% in a year, according to The Nilson Report, a financial newsletter in Oxnard, Calif. psi Global, a financial consulting firm, estimates that 49% of all small companies have the cards, up sharply from 37% in 1998. They're embracing cards in part because of the discounts, and also because cards help them track and manage expenses. New or weak companies like them because credit-card loans are their big source of capital. Whatever the reason, the cards aren't overly hard to get: A Federal Reserve study suggests bankers are mass-mailing applications in lieu of genuine efforts to make small-company loans. The result: a glut of cheap plastic.

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