The Best Business Credit Cards for Small Business

21. February 2012  by Lindsey Cram

There is a lot more to a business credit card than simply providing available cash. It is very important to have credit cards in your business name in order to protect personal credit ratings. However, depending on your needs there are other things to consider when it comes to what makes the best business credit card for your business. 

There are things like frequent flier miles and hotel savings that the right business credit card can provide for those that have to travel often on business. These are just a couple of the incentives that business credit cards offer. If your business doesn’t require you to travel, however, those may not be the right business credit cards for you, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t others that will give you the bonuses you can use.

Types of Incentives Available

Cash Back: Many business credit cards give you a cash back bonus simply for using the card. These bonuses may be general cash back on all purchases, or they may stipulate certain types of purchases. In other cases there may be several types of cash back bonuses on a single business credit card. For instance, the bonus from “SimplyCash®” business card from American Express OPEN that offers 5% cash back on office supply purchases as well as on wireless services. It also gives 3% on gasoline purchases and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

Bonus Miles: If you travel heavily for business, or just want to take a much needed vacation you can choose a card like Capitol One® Spark Miles for Business that gives you thousands of frequent flier miles with no limits. There are no blackout dates for traveling, or any airline restrictions and you can even use the miles for cash back or gift cards if you decide you aren’t going to travel. Capitol One® also has a Spark card for cash if you prefer bonuses rather than miles.

Bonus Points: Another form of bonuses are given as “points” toward special purchases. InkBold with Ultimate Rewards gives you 50,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 in 3 months. If you have a lot of large expenses, or use your credit card for regularly recurring expenses this can be a very beneficial type of bonus.

Hotel Bonuses: If you travel on business or for pleasure this type of bonus can save you a lot of money. Marriott Rewards Business Card is one of these types of cards. It gives you 1 point for every $1.00 spent, plus 2 free nights at certain locations throughout the year, no limits on the amounts you can earn, plus if you use your card to pay for hotel accommodations at a Marriott you will get triple points for each dollar spent.

What You Should Consider when Choosing a Business Credit Card

Remember that along with helping you protect personal credit, your business credit card will help you build your company. However, it’s important to determine what you need your card for in order to pick a card properly. If you need a business credit card to finance big, long-term purchases look for a card with a lower interest rate rather than big bonuses. In the long-run, you will pay a lot less for the overall purchases even after you take bonuses into consideration.

If you are using your business credit card to finance monthly expenses and make accounting easier, you will be paying off the entire amount every month, so interest is not a concern. In those cases, get the most for your dollars by choosing a business credit card with the most useful bonuses for your needs.

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Not using business credit cards yet? Here's what you are missing

29. November 2010  by James Penny

not using business credit cardsThe economy isn’t doing that well these days, and yet more and more smart people want to start their own businesses right now. Why would they want to do that? The answer is simple: they have learned that with greater risks come much greater opportunities.

Don’t be tricked into thinking that this is a novel idea; it’s happened the same way during the Great Depression. In fact, many business owners have profited greatly during the Great Depression, either by having their rivals cut back, or simply by being able to profit better by offering what the market was demanding even during those hard times.

Think about this for a second: the people continue to spend money even during troubled economical times, be it for food, different products, various services, and so on. This means that if you’re able to offer what they’re looking for and you can get them a better deal, you can thrive even when your competitors fail. And by doing so I’d dare to say that you will definitely end up having lots of loyal consumers when the things return to normal. So now that we’ve got this out of the way, let’s return to our business credit cards advantages.

Business credit cards offer almost anyone the ability to start their company, because it allows them to access the needed funds right away, while at the same time separating business expenses from personal charges. Nevertheless, the advantages don’t stop here; making use of business credit cards also allows the company to be more organized and to grow faster.

Many wise companies take care of their expenditures through credit; this allows the company to keep track of its expenses much more easily, because the credit card companies keep track of each and every transaction that is done through those specific accounts, sending the business owner monthly statements that paint a clear picture of the company expenses and allowing them to monitor the transactions, evaluate the tax benefits in advance, and so on.

Here’s another advantage: through business credit cards usage, the company builds its business credit rating, thus creating a good image in the eyes of its customers, suppliers, potential investors, and so on. And on top of that, you can carry a business credit card and be able to make payments even if you are in foreign country, where carrying a bag full of cash wouldn’t be such a great idea.

Making use of a business credit card will allow your company to gain some time when it comes to paying for your company purchases, thus improving your cash flow; by using it, you can also get bonuses like airline mileage or even get some of the cash back.

It might sound surprising, but a good business credit card can make the difference between a strong and a struggling or even failing company; it might be just the needed push that helps you stay afloat now, while your competitors have to close their businesses because they lack the needed capital.

As a conclusion, using business credit cards offers many advantages: they are a source of funding for your business, allow you to keep the spending records in good order, boast your business’ credibility, and improve your cash flow.

Compound Profit offers MerchantCard, a business credit card that doesn’t require personal guarantees, fixed payment schedules or collateral. Contact us to learn more about this offer – our Profit Advisors offer 100% free consultations.

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