Google launches credit card in UK

Businesses in the United Kingdom have become the first in the world to have the chance of obtaining a Google credit card. The Google AdWords Business Credit card” to give the plastic its formal name, is a tool the Chocolate Factory hopes small business will use to rack up big bills for online ads they don't have the cash to …

[Anonymous Coward]

"We know what you spent your money on Last Summer...."

"... and, for a price, we will sell that information to the Stasi and anyone else who wants to buy it."

[LarsG]

They only offer it

To those they know everything about!

Even comes with a built in cookie.

[Velv]

Re: They only offer it

"Even comes with a built in cookie"

Which is handy, since Cookies are something you can't buy with it

[Anonymous Coward]

Looks like they are going to put the costs of Adwords up then.

[jake]

Do not want.

Gawdess. What fool would buy into this this clusterfuck?

And at 12%, no less ... I routinely get valid 0% interest offers via snail-mail.

[Antidisestablishmentarianist]

Re: Do not want.

This is for businesses remember, who pay more than consumers in lots of areas. No consumer in there right mind would pay the same price corporates do for their PCs for example. It'll be the same for business and interest rates. I remember trying to get an overdraft for my one and just about fainted at the interest rate. However a personal overdraft's rate, well that I managed to stay quite lucid about.

[Steve Davies 3]

Only used to buy Adwords?

Obvious 'Fail' then

[Anonymous Coward]

Tough one.

Google had a problem: SMEs. What are they? Enterprises, or consumers? Consumers, or enterprises? Oh dear oh dear. How do you approach them?

"Oh, we know!" the oompa loompas said. "We'll give them a credit card, so they'll be sheep to be fleeced!" and so it was done, and so it was to be.

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's call it what it is...

...it a storecard; well apart from storecards at least let you choose what to buy from within that store, not just a single item.

[Mystic Megabyte]

Stop

Barclaycard <=============================================Bargepole

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Stop

Make that twice the length for anything involving HSBC..

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL

More of your data for them to analyse and share with the world. Imagine all the junk mail you will get.

[mark l 2]

Why would small businesses go for a google credit card at 11% APR rather than one of the many that offer 0% APR, or they could even get a credit card that offers Airmiles or other voucher points such as tesco clubcard which means they can get free stuff for buying the adwords. Unless of course you get more ads for your money paying with the google card than with a normal credit card which may make it worth while.

[James 100]

Not a real "credit card" then

All they're really doing is selling AdWords on credit - at a pretty poor rate for store credit too.

<-- better thing to use money for

My company used some 'free' AdWords credit a while ago as an experiment. Google, of course, depend heavily on AdWords for their income, but we never saw much point: much better places to put resources.

[Anonymous Coward]

How stupid do Google think businesses are if they expect to convince them to take effectively take a loan to buy Adwords?

Social marketing is the name of the game these days, only muppets buy Adwords. Adwords on credit? You'd have to be a seriously incapable business baffon to buy into that.

[Anonymous Coward]

Err?

Who would run their company using a credit card? It's insane.

[Graham Marsden]

Re: Err?

So I'm insane, am I?

I pay for most of my business expenses on a credit card, then, at the end of the month I get a nice statement of exactly what I've spent and where and pay it off in full so I don't get charged interest.

It saves a lot of time and hassle faffing around with petty cash or having to refund myself the costs.

Sounds pretty sane to me.

[Graham Marsden]

“weren’t buying Adwords as much as they need to”

ITTM "Weren't buying Adwords as much as we wanted them to"!