StreetShares to launch credit cards for veteran-owned businesses
A new credit card for 2.5m veteran-owned SMEs in the US
US-based SME lending platform StreetShares is launching credit cards for military veteran business owners, reports Julie Muhn at Finovate.
StreetShares will market the credit card to the 2.5 million veteran-owned small businesses in the US, a niche population the Virginia-based company considers to be underserved. StreetShares anticipates that adding a credit card to their suite of offerings will provide a tool for business owners to finance and pay for everyday expenses.
“Veterans will use their card to do good while doing well,” says Mark Rockefeller, CEO and co-founder of StreetShares and an Iraq war veteran. “Our mission is to be the trusted financial solution for America’s heroes and their communities, and this offering will help us achieve that.”
A portion of the proceeds from every card will support training and educational programs for military veterans and military spouse entrepreneurs. The company expects to make the card available in the second quarter of this year.
Founded in 2013, StreetShares began leveraging Title IV (Regulation A+) of the JOBS act in 2017 to allow unaccredited investors to lend to small businesses. It is now one of only a handful of peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platforms open to unaccredited investors.
Last autumn, USAA announced it would use StreetShares to pilot a small business lending programme for military veterans.
