The Best Business Credit Card Offers For Your Small Business
Published 3/10/08 (Modified 7/10/12)
By MoneyBlueBook
Updated List Of The Best Business Credit Cards Below!
Like most small business owners, I have my eyes on the prize with expectations based on the potential of future expansion. While my current small home business is still in the early growth stages and has not developed to the size where I needed to incorporate, I decided early on that now was a good time as any to start keeping my personal and business expenses separate by taking advantage of the expense tracking and management benefits afforded by business credit cards.
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Whether you are a small business owner who works from your own home, or have your own dedicated virtual office setup, there may eventually come a time when you will need additional cash and credit infusion to pay for business expenses such as inventory, office supplies, or utility fees including wireless services. More than half of all small businesses currently use credit cards to pay for expenses, but less than half of the users utilize business credit cards. While most seem content on relying on their existing consumer cards, there are a number of key reasons why it's better to use business credit cards under your company's banner.
For those running a business as a sole proprietorship like myself, you may have already applied for an Employer Identification Number (EIN), sometimes referred to the Federal Tax ID. If so, you will need to enter it when applying for a business credit card. If you are a regular non-business consumer who wants to take advantage of the rewards and benefits that business cards have to offer, you can still apply by entering your personal name as the name of the business, thereby leaving the Federal Tax ID part on the card application blank. That's generally permissible because individuals can always declare themselves to be a sole proprietorship business unto themselves.
Benefits And Advantages Of Using A Business Credit Card
Business credit cards provide a focused selection of business oriented tools to help business cardholders better manage their expense transactions and day to day employee operations. Many of their advantages are not available in ordinary consumer credit cards. Here are some of the important small business benefits that they offer:
- Special Business Rewards - Business credit cards offer unique discounts and rewards for an array of business expenditures that range from office furniture and equipment, to airline travel, gas fill-ups, car rentals, and utilities such as wireless services. Many businesses also choose to carry multiple business cards - using low to 0 interest APR offers to carry 0 interest balances, while using reward oriented cards to earn airline miles or cash back of up to 5% on business related purchases.
- High Credit Limit - Compared to their consumer card counterparts, most business credit cards tend to offer higher initial credit lines, an attractive benefit for growing businesses in need of access to lots of credit. The higher business credit limit is particularly attractive when coupled with 0% APR introductory purchases and 0% balance transfer offers. High credit limits and 0% APR credit card offers help businesses build start up venture capital to better grow and expand their enterprises.
- Avoidance Of Asset and Expense Commingling - For solo proprietorships, commingling your personal and business expenses is not as big of an issue. But as your business expands, due to liability and taxation concerns, you may ultimately want to convert your business into a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation - operations that mandate the separation of your personal expenses from your business transactions. By using dedicated small business credit cards now sooner than later, you make it easier to complete the transition in the future.
- Multiple Cards For Employees - One useful benefit of business credit cards is the ability to request multiple linked credit cards for your business employees. By adding employees as cardholders to your account, you enable the consolidation and tracking of your business transactions from one location. Most business credit cards also offer free expense accounting, with transactions broken down by each authorized employee's card access account.
- Itemization and Expense Tracking - The usage of business credit cards also offers the flexible and scalable ability to fix preset credit limits for each employee. Not only can you place credit usage limits for each employee cardholder working off your account, many card programs allow you to set limits on how much particular employees can spend in specific purchase categories. Business credit cards make it easier for small business owners by providing monthly and year end credit card statement summaries, with all transactions conveniently itemized and categorized. Rather than having to fumble around with a bulky envelope full of receipts, business credit cards make it easier for you to manage your cash flow and daily business transactions.
- Opportunity To Build Business Credit - A small business credit card also offers your new business the opportunity to link your business tax ID to the account, enabling your business to build its own credit history. Maybe not now, but having a developed credit report and ready access to credit are key ingredients to growing your future business. One day, your business may very well require a capital infusion through credit loans to take it to the next level.
List Of The Best Business Credit Card Offers:
1) Discover Business Card - With this card, businesses can earn 5% cash back reward bonuses on office supplies, 2% on gas, and up to 1% on everything else , limitations apply. The card also offers a low 0% purchase APR. There is no annual fee.
March 24, 2008 at 2:28 pm
We've really liked the Starwood American Express credit card. It sounds like Starwood and American Express will also be adding experiential rewards too. Your rewards will no longer be limited to airline miles, Starwood hotel points and gift certificates, but just about anything your imagination can dream up.
June 8, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Can I apply for a business card even if my personal credit is really bad? I want to establish my business account but I can't get any equipment...suggestions..
June 12, 2008 at 10:53 pm
which card can a new company can obtain that have been in business for 5 months with bad personal credit
June 25, 2008 at 9:41 am
I am particularly interested, too, in one of the very best small business credit cards with less than perfect credit .. fair credit .. though working with all three agencies to get incorrect mistakes off of my reports, which will bring my scores up, most likely, to a good rating, but I need the card now.
August 2, 2008 at 4:39 am
I live in France and there are very limited options on what we can do here. Quite an advantage to have such options.
Stumbled the post and I have posted a link to it in my blog carnival.
May 5, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Have you applied for the American Express business Gold cards? They are part of the Amex Open network I believe...and they are particularly geared towards business owners. The Amex Starwood Preferred credit cards are also pretty good - mostly beneficial for frequent business travelers as you can rapidly accrue frequent flyer airline miles quickly for free airline travel tickets.
Have you also considered the new AT&T Business Rewards Card? You can apparently get 3% rewards on purchases at office supply merchants, gas stations, and earn casback rewards for professional services. You also get 1% rewards everywhere else.
May 26, 2009 at 11:35 am
Advanta just cancelled ALL small business accounts -- with 3 days' notice! Obviously, I'm not happy with them at all.
May 26, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I WAS very happy with my Advanta Business Card for many years...that is until they gave ONLY a 3 day notice that all of their cards will be canceled on May 29, 2009. Now I'm scrambling to find another option.
May 27, 2009 at 1:08 am
I just got my letter from Advanta today. Real nice of them to give us a whole 3 days to find a new card. I was very satisfied with my card, but this was very poor business on their part. Advanta members barely have time to apply for much less receive a new card from another company before they cancel our Advanta card. I had used mine for all of our gas purchases and most of our day to day business purchases. Thanks Advanta. Real classy.
May 27, 2009 at 3:06 pm
I am going ape here over the recent Advanta business credit card closures. Here are the relevant excerpts from the Advanta business website addressing the impending credit card account cancellations. This angers me and pisses me off!!
According to Advanta press releases: As communicated in our recent letter to customers, we deeply regret that all Advanta Business Credit Card accounts will be closed effective May 30, 2009. Substantially all Advanta accounts are funded by an independent trust which owns the account balances and provides funding for new transactions. The trust is going to stop funding activity. The trust also restricts our flexibility to fund account activity. As a result, all Advanta Business Card accounts will be closed....
According to the announcement, pre-existing 0% balance transfers and outstanding credit card balances do not have to be paid back right away and can be paid down at the cardholder's own pace per the cardholder's credit card agreement. But this really sucks.
Down goes another formerly popular business credit card deal. Who ever said the economy was getting better must be smoking crack. All of the business cards in the market (Citi Card, Bank of America, Capital One, Discover, Chase, American Express business OPEN) have been annihilated or are in the process of getting decimated, and with President Obama's new anti-credit card industry regulations and consumer protection rules, things are going to get even worse for those of us who rely on credit cards for reward cash back, free frequent, flyer airline miles, and even lucrative balance transfer offers.
But yeah....thanks Advanta for another job well done
May 28, 2009 at 4:50 pm
Another ADVANTA sob story here too!
Loved the card and the service. Had a pretty hefty available balance on it so as a Sole Proprietor this account closing is really going to ding my Utilization score.
I also just got my letter TODAY, 2 days before the account closes. SCRAMBLING for a new card is an understatement. I had about 10 minutes worth of real panic there when I read the letter.
Because the terms and service were so great, ALL my recurring charges were keyed to that card so even IF I can get a replacement in any near term future, it will be a nightmare to move them over.
To echo the others, YEAH, REAL CLASSY! I'll guaran-darn-tee-ya that if ADVANTA does not go under and they pull through this, they have LOST a customer, and a GOOD CUSTOMER at that.
I'll never trust my business to the Advanta name again!
September 29, 2009 at 3:00 am
Be glad that your business account was closed with Advanta. The company is insolvent and has ripped off numerous people with exhorbant interest rates. Go to ripoff reports .com to check it out. Pay off your debt to ADVANTA quickly and run...