Hello Alice launches small business credit card with Mastercard

The card provides small businesses with access to tools and services such as expert business advice, insights, cashback, and a rewards programme

Free small business platform Hello Alice has launched a new credit card in partnership with Mastercard and First National Bank of Omaha.

The Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard is designed for small businesses of all kinds, so it will be offered as a traditional credit card or as one with additional provisions to help with credit-building.

The card also provides small businesses with access to tools and services such as expert business advice, insights, cashback, and a rewards programme based on completing business-advancing activities on the free Hello Alice platform.

It is part of Hello Alice’s larger Equitable Access to Capital programme, which provides financial products, tools and education for owners to scale their businesses, including its own grant fund providing security deposits for high-potential but credit-challenged small business owners.

By 2025, Hello Alice estimates that approximately $70 million in grants could fund credit enhancements for approximately 30,000 business owners, unlocking up to $1 billion in credit access.

Commenting on the new credit card, Elizabeth Gore and Carolyn Rodz, co-founders of the small business platform, said in a joint statement: “We designed the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard to meet the needs of small business owners where they are, breaking longstanding barriers to mentorship, access to credit, and overall financial health for those who have traditionally been denied access.”

Linda Kirkpatrick, president for North America at Mastercard, added: “The launch of the Hello Alice Small Business Mastercard is an important step in our mission to build a more inclusive digital economy by providing small businesses with the financial tools and capital they need to thrive, while also advancing our half-billion-dollar commitment to help close the racial wealth and opportunity gap for Black communities.”

Entrepreneurs who are women, people of colour, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, veterans or people with disabilities are targets for the new card, as the small business platform attempts to help these groups overcome barriers to capital access.

In its own Small Business Capital Access Study, the platform found that 78% of small business owners claim access to capital is limiting their ability to manage their day-to-day operations, with Black (84%) and Multi-Racial (82%) owners over-indexing on this claim.

Image: Hello Alice

Mark Dugdale