Best Business Credit Cards for 2024
If you own a business, even a side business, a business credit card can help you keep your finances organized and run your business better.
A business credit card lets you track business spending without confusing company purchases with your personal expenses.
If you have a business card with cash back rewards, and you pay it off every month, you may be able to reduce your expenses anywhere from 1% to 5% a month, every month, by collecting those rewards and putting them back into the business.
Interested? Explore our list and find the best business card for you.
Best Business Card Overall – CardName
All of the business credit cards listed here are good choices, but we chose the
following cards because of how they empower people to truly run their businesses using these cards as a tool.
If you want an all-purpose business card that does a bit of everything – helps you save
money in general, helps you save money on travel, helps you run your business well – these cards have it all.
Best Business Card Overall | Purchase Intro/Period | Regular APR | Annual Fee | Credit Score |
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Intro APR: 0% on purchases Intro Period: 12 months from account opening |
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The CardName
is a business card for people who love to pore over their business’ numbers. It’s perfect for a CFO.
If that describes how you approach business, you’ll appreciate the 4x Membership Rewards points on the two categories where your business spends the most (each billing cycle) from six eligible categories. While your top two categories may change, you will earn 4x points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these categories each calendar year (then 1x thereafter). Only the top two categories each billing cycle will count towards the $150,000 cap. Additionally, earn 3x Membership Rewards points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on amextravel.com using your Business Gold card. There is also a “pay over time” option that you might like, which can help manage cash flow on purchases of $100 or more.
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Who should get the CardName
?
If you’re a sophisticated entrepreneur or executive who enjoys crunching numbers, this business credit card is
probably for you.
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Runner up in this category, and another solid business card with a generous rewards package, is CardName.
You’ll earn 2% cash back on up to $50,000 spent per calendar year on eligible purchases, then 1%. The cash back earned is automatically
credited to your statement.
As with many business credit cards, there are a lot of extras that you’ll want to look
at too, like a roadside assistance hotline, included business expense tracking tools and a flexible spending limit.
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This is another business credit card for the cardholder who just wants to have something simple. You want cash back
without keeping track of categories or limits. Well, that’s what you get with this credit card – earn
unlimited 1.5% cash back for your business on every purchase, everywhere, no limits or category restrictions.
There’s also no foreign transaction fee, and no annual fee.
CardName
Best Business Credit Card for Cash Back – CardName
This category is for business owners who really care about getting cash back.
Of course all business owners want money back, but some are more focused on collecting
miles for business travel. Others want the cash but aren’t interested in jumping through a lot of hoops to get it.
These credit cards are for business owners who enjoy hunting down deals and don’t mind
keeping track of categories. They’re immersed in their business’s expenses, and following rotating categories isn’t
a chore to them. It’s kind of fun, actually, because these business owners love to save money.
So take a look and see if one of these best cash back business credit cards can provide
the thrill of the chase as it helps your bottom line. There may be business cash back credit card for which you
should consider applying.
Best Business Credit Card for Cash Back | Purchase Intro/Period | Regular APR | Annual Fee | Credit Score |
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The CardName
is another card where you get cash back on quite a lot.
You’ll appreciate this: Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent each account anniversary year at office supply
stores and on internet, cable, and phone services. Plus, earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent each account
year on gas station and restaurant purchases. After hitting the caps, and on your other purchases, earn 1% cash
back.
The only downside might be if you spend way over $25,000 and feel like you can find something better.
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The CardName
is the perfect business credit card for the slammed-for-time or world-weary business owner who thinks, “I don’t want
to follow rotating categories or think about limits and what gets me a certain percentage of cash back. Just give me
cash back, thank you. No thinking involved.”
Wish granted.
With the CardName,
you get unlimited 1.5% cash back on all your purchases. You may want to think a bit when it comes to the bonus,
though, since the spending threshold is high – earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.
CardName
Best Business Card for Travel – CardName
This category is for the business traveler.
Traveling frequently for business can add up quickly. These cards can help you get from
here to there without spending a bundle. You’ll get cash back or points, the more you spend. Generally, if you use
these cards in the way you’re supposed to, you could come out far ahead.
Best Business Credit Card for Travel | Purchase Intro/Period | Regular APR | Annual Fee | Credit Score |
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The annual fee is significant with the CardName,
but that’s because you’ll see a lot of significant savings if you use this card regularly and wisely.
If you don’t travel much, this card may not be the best business credit card for you, but if you’re constantly on the
move, it’s worth consideration.
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If you do a lot of business travel, this is your card. Instead of earning cash, you’ll earn miles. You’ll earn two
miles per dollar on all your purchases. The more you spend, the more you save on your business travel. And there is
no foreign transaction fee.
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How to Choose a Business Credit Card
When you choose a business credit card, think of it as hiring an employee. You may
interview a bunch of people who are terrific human beings. You know you’d like to work with them all – and yet, you
only have one slot, and you know that not everyone would be a good fit. Some people are going to be better for a
position than others.
It kind of works the same way with a business card.
Be selective
You can get a cash back card if you do a ton of traveling; but if that cash back card
has a foreign transaction fee, and your business trips are all 3% higher than they would be otherwise, even if your
cash back card gives you 4% back (just to give you an example), you might break even.
In the same way, you’re not really making a great business decision if you get a
business travel credit card, but then you never travel. If that travel card has an annual fee, you could be losing
money every year with the card.
Consider the bottom line
On the other hand, don’t automatically assume that a credit card with an annual fee is a
bad idea. Generally, if a credit card has an annual fee, there are a lot of perks that come with them. They’re good
cards, but they still may or may not be right for you.
Business credit cards can truly be a helpful business tool. But they can also help you
lose money if you don’t pick one that works well with your needs, just like the wrong employee can hurt your bottom
line.
How to Use a Business Credit Card to Your Advantage
Once you feel like you’ve found a good credit card, put it to work for you.
If you applied for a credit card with a bunch of rotating categories, but then you don’t
pay attention to those categories, and maybe you pay for gas with one credit card when a different one would save
you more money by giving you more cash back, you’re wasting opportunities.
You can start to see how that wouldn’t help your bottom line.
Businesses do well when they save money. If you can use a cash back business credit card
to help you save even 2% of your expenses, that’s huge. It may not sound like much: 2%. Until you start doing the
math.
Do the math
If you spend $20,000 on your credit card in a year, and you always pay it off every
month so that you aren’t paying interest, you’ve just earned $400.
That may not sound like a lot, but it’s a lot of free lunches to give to your
hardworking employees. Or it could buy a laptop. There’s probably a lot you could do with $400. And, of course, if
you’re really spending a lot on a cash back credit card, like, $50,000 or more, you might be earning $1,000 or more
back.
Cash back cards, travel rewards credit cards, and business credit cards that help save
your business on business and travel expenses can really make a difference to your bottom line.
Business credit cards vs. personal loans
While business credit cards are an effective tool for any business owner, personal loans
shouldn’t be discounted for the small business owner working out of his or her home. It may work out better for you
to take out a loan if you’re, say, struggling and you are worried that you’re going to max out a credit card.
One nice thing about a personal loan is that
you have a fixed amount of money to pay back every month, and then the debt is paid off. If you max out your credit
cards to fund your business and then have trouble paying off the cards, you could really damage your credit score
and your cash flow.
What Credit Score Do You Need for a Business Credit Card?
Most business credit cards require you to have excellent credit or at least good
credit. If you have a credit score of 700 or more, you’ll likely be able to get most of the cards on this list.
The higher into the 700s, the better, of course, and the easier it’ll be to get
approval.
You still might have a shot in the high 600s. Generally, most credit scores are between
300 and 850, though very few people have credit scores at 300 or 850. It can be difficult to find business credit
cards for bad credit.
If you have a low credit score, that’s another reason to consider a personal loan.
Paying a personal loan off on time and without any missed and late payments can build your credit
score. And if you do that, then you can apply for a business credit card.
Methodology
MoneyRates has compiled some of the best business credit cards available, but this isn’t an exhaustive list. To
arrive at our picks, we considered three aspects of business credit cards that appeal to business owners the most:
cash back rewards, travel points for business travel, and the ease of tracking business spending.
We also looked at fees, including annual fees, and weighed those against reward rates, whether cards offer one
structure for all rewards or a revolving bonus structure, signup bonuses, and APRs.
If you’re a business owner, whether new or established, you can’t go wrong with
any of the credit cards on this list. Some business credit cards are going to be a far better fit for your business
than others.
To see the rates and fees of the American Express cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links:
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