Issuers are aggressively marketing small-business credit cards that lack protections from the new law.

Can you explain how the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility & Disclosure Act will affect small business owners? The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility & Disclosure Act, which took effect Feb. 22, applies to consumer credit cards — not to business credit cards. The new law requires:

New evidence that banks have sharply increased rates for small-business credit cards has rekindled calls for Congress to intervene.

As many as 59 percent of small businesses in a spring 2009 survey reported that they used credit cards to finance their firms during the previous year, according to the National Small Business Association, or NSBA.

The Credit CARD Act does not apply to small-business credit cards. What can business people do?