credit cards

Small business credit cards offer easy access to credit along with excellent rewards. The top offers come with significant signup bonuses and fraud protection. Here are the best business credit cards of 2020.

Since launching my own small business in 2007, I’ve used a business credit card. While some entrepreneurs choose not to use a business card, I’ve always found it a good choice for several reasons.

For one thing, using a separate business credit card makes keeping my business expenses separate from my personal expenses a snap. Whether your business has loads of expenses or only a few, good bookkeeping is essential. Getting into the habit of charging all business-related expenses to a separate business credit card early on streamlines bookkeeping and makes tax time easier.

There’s an argument to be made, of course, for simply using a separate personal credit card for business expenses. And some solopreneurs go this route. The one major advantage to using a business credit card, however, is that it allows you to build your business’s credit. If there comes a point when you need a small business loan to expand, you’ll need this credit ready and waiting.

One final reason to consider using a business card is that it’s easier to share expenses safely. You can quickly give your partner or employees access to the company’s money through the card. And individual card-level expense tracking means you know who is spending money on what at any given time.

Business credit cards do have some caveats, which we’ll talk about below. But, first, let’s discuss our top business credit card picks for 2020.

Best Overall Business Credit Cards for 2020

Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card

The Chase Ink line has been very popular among business owners, and with good reason. These cards are easy to use and offer great rewards. The Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card is a great card for smaller businesses looking for excellent rewards with a simple cash back structure. You can also scale it up as you start spending more for your business. It offers flexible rewards, and rewards can be redeemed in a myriad of ways.

With all Chase Ink options, you can redeem rewards in several different ways. You can use cash to offset spending right away. Alternatively, you can use the Chase Ultimate Rewards program to buy travel tickets, hotel stays, gift cards, or other items.

The Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card is an excellent card for business owners with good credit who won’t spend enough to outstrip the annual fee of the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card (see below). It offers great cash back on spending categories typically used by business owners, as well.

Blue Business Cash Card from American Express

The Blue Business Cash Card from American Express is one of the few 2% cash back credit cards. It does have a spending cap (see below). However, it offers up to $300 in bonus statement credits, all with no annual fee.

Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card

As you can see, we like the Chase Ink line here at allCards. The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is a bit different from the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card above, but offers some excellent rewards. This can be a good card if you’re a big spender for your business, especially in certain categories. This card does have an annual fee, but it makes up for that fee with great rewards.

The card gives you a variety of options for redeeming points, including travel, cash back, gift cards, and more. If you have great credit and spend big for your business, this is a great card to consider. Although it has a $95 annual fee, the signup bonus alone is worth $1,000 in travel. That bonus makes the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card one of the most lucrative rewards cards available today.

Cash Back Business Credit Cards

The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express

The The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express pays 2X Membership Rewards points on every purchase (up to an annual cap). It also offers up to $300 in statement credits and charges no annual fee. The card is ideal for those who want flexibility in how they redeem their rewards.

Chase Ink Business Unlimited

The third Chase Ink card is the Chase Ink Business Unlimited. It’s the newest business credit card in the lineup. It offers a $500 signup bonus and 1.5% cash back, all with no annual fee. The Chase Ink Business Unlimited is an excellent card for business owners looking for cash rewards without the annual fee.

Capital One® Spark® Cash for Business

A low-fee card with good rewards, this is a great general-purpose credit card for your small business. It offers a flat 2% cash back across all spending categories, which makes it excellent for everyday use. You won’t have to worry about which categories are earning you a bonus, or keep track of rotating categories.

If you’re interested in using a business credit card for its overall benefits, but you don’t want to play the credit card game of netting the best cash back benefits on individual categories, this is a great option.

You’ll find more details on this and similar business cards on this page.

The Plum Card® from American Express

You can think of the The Plum Card® from American Express as a 1.5% cash back business card. You don’t get typical cash back rewards. Instead, you get a 1.5% discount when you pay early. You can also take up to 60 days to pay with no interest.

Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business

Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business

Travel Rewards Business Credit Cards

The Business Platinum Card from American Express

The The Business Platinum Card from American Express is one of the most rewarding business credit cards. It offers a generous welcome bonus and up to 5X Membership Rewards per dollar charged to the card.

American Express Business Gold Card

The American Express Business Gold Card is a lower cost and lower reward option to the Platinum card. Its list of rewards and benefits, however, is still impressive.

Capital One® Spark® Miles for Business

Capital One® Spark® Miles Select for Business

Hotel Rewards Business Credit Cards

Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card

The Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card is ideal for businesses that frequent Marriott brand hotels. The card offers an excellent signup bonus and up to 6X in rewards.

Hilton Honors American Express Business Credit Card

The Hilton Honors American Express Business Credit Card is the business card for those who stay at Hilton brand hotels. It offers a generous signup bonus and up to 12X in rewards on purchases.

Airline Business Cards

Southwest Airlines Business Credit Cards

There are two Southwest Airlines business credit cards:

• Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
• Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card

They are both great cards. One comes with an annual fee and higher rewards, the other with no annual fees and slightly lower rewards.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Premier Business Credit Card

Southwest Rapid Rewards Performance Business Credit Card

Delta Airlines Business Credit Cards

Delta offers three business credit cards:

• Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express card
• Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card
• Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card

As is standard, the cards vary in annual fee and rewards–the higher the annual fee, the better the rewards.

Delta SkyMiles Gold Business American Express card

Delta SkyMiles Platinum Business American Express Card

Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card

The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express Card offers one of the best ways to earn bonus Delta SkyMiles. If your business is a frequent Delta flyer, this card is a must.

United Business Card

The United Business Card offers United frequent flyers an excellent signup bonus, travel credits and up to 2 miles per $1 spent on the card.

Choosing the Best Card for Your Business

These are just the top business credit cards of 2020 as we see them. We’ve vetted most of the major players available right now, and these cards offer plenty of variety for different types of businesses. However, choosing between them can be difficult.

When you’re looking at this – or any – list of business credit card options, it’s important to consider your business’s actual spending and expected spending for the coming year. If you don’t spend enough to justify a high annual fee, cross those cards off the list. Also, if you’re looking to finance a big-ticket purchase, check out the cards with the 0% introductory APR option.

Each of these cards has unique perks and benefits. The key is to ensure that those benefits line up with your current and future business spending.

Business Credit Card FAQs

When it comes to business credit cards, you might have a few questions. Here are five that we get most frequently:

Managing Business Expenses with a Credit Card

Managing business expenses with a credit card is similar to managing personal expenses using a credit card. But there are a few additional rules. Here are my personal rules for using a business credit card, which are easy to apply to any business model:

Rule 1: Pay the balance in full each month

To get the most out of your business credit card and keep your expenses in check, pay off the full balance of your business credit card each month. This means keeping careful track of your expenses and your cash flow to ensure you’re not overspending.

One potential exception to this rule is to use a 0% introductory APR deal to make a large purchase for your business. Only do this if it’s necessary, and if taking the time to save up for the one-off purchase would cost your business more in the long run. Then, budget carefully to ensure you can pay off the balance in full before your APR goes up.

Rule 2: Link the card to your accounting software

One of the key reasons I use a business credit card is to make tracking business expenses easier. Yes, you can do this by just looking over your credit card statements monthly. But you can also automate the process by simply linking your credit card to your favorite accounting software.

I link my business credit card to Quickbooks Online. It automatically downloads the transactions as they occur. My bookkeeper then categorizes the transactions at the end of the month.

Rule 3: Use the card only for business expenses

This is an essential rule: don’t ever use this credit card for personal expenses. This will only get you into trouble, especially if this turns into a habit. It’s much easier to keep your expenses separate and easy-to-track by using your business card only ever for business expenses.

Rule 4: Keep your receipts

Even if you have your credit card log, keeping your receipts is essential. The IRS says to keep business receipts for purchases and expenses for at least four years. Keep a file – both digital and hard copy – to keep your receipts organized by date. And if some of your receipts are for expenses that could potentially be questioned, like restaurant expenses, jot down a note on the receipt or in its digital file about the business occasion that led to the expense.

Basics of Business Credit Card Rewards

As you can see from our list of the best business cards above, many come with a variety of rewards. The most popular options, however, are cash back and miles rewards. You can also get purchase rewards, too, though, which give you access to gift cards and other useful items. Understanding rewards and how to use them is a key piece of choosing the best credit card for your business.

Rewards

One mistake business owners often make is choosing a business card that has a great rewards system, but they’re awarded in a way that they won’t use. So as you consider different credit card options for your business, take the time to understand how rewards are earned, and think through how you’d redeem those rewards.

We’ll discuss the most common options, and the best ways to use those rewards:

• Travel Rewards: Travel rewards come in various flavors. Some travel cards let you rack up points to use for any travel-related purchase–from hotel stays to airline tickets to rental cars. Others only allow you to redeem points with certain providers. If you travel often for business and don’t mind always booking with the same airline or hotel chain, a brand-specific card might work for you. But if you’d rather get the best possible deal on flights and hotels, look for a card with more flexible redemption policies.
• Purchase Rewards: Some business rewards cards offer purchase rewards options. For instance, with the Chase cards listed above, you can choose to redeem your rewards in several ways. For instance, you can purchase gift cards to various retailers, shop on Amazon.com directly with your points, or redeem rewards for special experiences. Purchase rewards can be more limited, but can be a way to buy customer and employee appreciation gifts. You can also order necessary office supplies using gift cards or Amazon.com points.
• Cash Back Rewards: Cash back rewards are perhaps the easiest to use. This is my approach. Most major credit card companies will allow you to put cash back rewards directly towards your credit card balance. Most card companies will transfer cash back rewards transferred directly to your bank account.
• Sign-Up Bonuses: When considering signing up for a new credit card, be sure you check out the sign-up bonuses. These bonuses give you extra spending power or even airline tickets right after you sign up for the new card. While you don’t want to choose a credit card based solely on a one-time bonus, it’s certainly something to take into consideration when choosing a credit card.

Interest Rates

You should consider a business credit card’s interest rate if you carry a balance. Should you need to carry a balance, the lower your interest rate, the better off you’ll be. When choosing a credit card for your business, here are three types of interest rates to consider:

• 0% Balance Transfers: Are you already trying to pay down some business debt you’ve let pile up? Look for a card with a 0% introductory interest rate on balance transfers. This is a way to save money while you pay down the debt as quickly as you can. Just be sure you don’t use a balance transfer offer to put personal debt onto your business credit card. To pay off personal debt more quickly, check out this list of 0% APR balance transfer credit cards.
• 0% on Purchases: Again, we don’t recommend regularly carrying a balance on your business credit card. However, if you need to make a one-time purchase of a big-ticket item, a 0% introductory APR may be the way to go. As long as you can pay down the balance before the 0% APR runs out, you can pay no interest on your large purchase. Just be sure you read the card’s fine print. Many will end the deal and hike up your interest rate if you’re even a day late on a single payment.
• Regular APR: You’ll find a credit card’s regular APR in the fine print. These APRs are often listed as variable. The better your credit score, the lower your APR will be. If you don’t ever carry a balance, the regular APR won’t matter much in your budget. But it’s still important to know your APR before signing up for a credit card.

How to Apply for a Small Business Credit Card

Applying for a business credit card is similar to applying for a personal credit card, with a few differences. Here’s how to get started:

• Decide whether to apply for an EIN. If you don’t already have an employer identification number (EIN), consider whether you should apply for one. It’s free to do, and is fairly simple to do online at the IRS website. If at any point you’re likely to hire employees, go ahead and apply. If you plan to keep your business to just yourself and, perhaps, your spouse, you can apply for business credit under your social security number.
• Check your business credit file. If your business has been around for a while, it may already have a credit file. You can check on that here. If your business has a credit file, skip to step four. If not, take step three first.
• Apply for a D-U-N-S number. This is a unique business identification number, separate from your EIN. You can actually apply for this number, and then add or change information in it on the Dun & Bradstreet site, linked above. When you first establish your business credit file, creditors will still pull your personal credit file first to check for creditworthiness.
• Apply for a small business credit card. Business credit card applications are similar to personal credit card applications. You’ll just need to fill out all the requested information. Even if you provide an EIN, most creditors will ask for your social security number as part of your personal guarantee. Remember, this makes you personally liable for your business’s debts, which gives you even more reason to be cautious with your credit card spending.
• Build your business’s credit. As when applying for a personal credit card, you may start off with a relatively low credit limit. You can build up your business’s credit by paying bills on time, keeping your credit card balance low, and keeping a long credit history. You can continue to visit the Dun & Bradstreet website to see your progress with your business’s credit.
• Ask for a credit limit increase, eventually. If you may need to apply for a large business loan in the future, you would do well to continue building your credit by eventually asking for a credit limit increase. Remember, a large portion of your business’s credit rating comes down to debt vs. credit. The more credit you have available, the higher your rating. Once you’ve used a credit card wisely, you can ask for a credit limit increase.