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The best credit cards for small businesses can help owners in three ways: They're a convenient method of payment, a short-term means of finance, and a way to enjoy rewards and benefits for business purchases.
First, a small business credit card allows business owners to make purchases more securely and conveniently than other forms of payment. Just as with your personal purchases, it's a lot safer and easier to use a credit card than it is to write a check, use cash or set up an electronic funds transfer. And just like consumer credit cards, small business cards offer a way to finance purchases.
However, small business credit cards tend to have higher interest rates than consumer cards, and much higher rates than small business loans and personal loans. Therefore, you should only consider using a small business credit card for short-term financing needs.
A small business credit card can also be a valuable way to earn rewards and receive travel benefits. Many small business cards offer rewards for spending in the form of points, miles or cash back. You can even receive a generous intro bonus for opening a new account and meeting a minimum spending requirement. Premium travel rewards cards for small businesses can also provide you with perks such as priority service, a free checked bag and access to airport business lounges.
Here are our picks for the top small business credit cards.
Best Card for Travel Perks and Benefits: The Business Platinum Card® From American Express
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This card comes with so many perks and cardholder benefits, we can't list them all here. Highlights include airport business lounge membership with the Delta SkyClub, Priority Pass Select and American Express Centurion lounges; a $200 annual airline fee credit; up to $200 in annual credits toward Dell purchases; and a $100 credit toward Global Entry or $85 credit toward TSA PreCheck application fees. Then there's a year of Platinum Global Access from WeWork, which includes access to more than 300 locations in 75 cities. You'll also get elite status with Marriott and Hilton hotels as well as with Hertz and National car rentals. There's a $595 annual fee for this card. Terms apply.
Best Card for Introductory Financing: U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card
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You won't find as many introductory financing offers for small business cards as you will with personal cards, and the offers found with small business cards tend to be shorter. However, the U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card is a big exception. It offers new account holders 20 months of interest-free financing on both new purchases and balance transfers, with a 3% balance transfer fee. This is longer than nearly all introductory financing offers for personal credit cards. It also features 12.24% to 20.24% annual percentage rates (APRs), which are lower than most competing small business credit cards. With these great interest rates, you can't expect to earn rewards for spending or enjoy all sorts of travel perks. Nevertheless, you still get to set controls on employees' spending by time, place and dollar amount. You can also customize payment due dates and set up account alerts and other interest-saving tools. And there's no annual fee for this card.
Best Card for Airline Rewards and Benefits: Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card
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American Express and Delta pack a lot of features into this card, and it's a great product to have if you regularly fly on Delta. First, you can earn 80,000 bonus miles and 5,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) after you spend $6,000 on your new card within three months of account opening.
Perks include a free checked bag, priority boarding and a membership in the Delta SkyClub airport lounge network. You also receive a companion certificate good for a free airfare when you purchase a qualifying economy or first-class ticket in the contiguous 48 states. One of the most valuable perks: Cardholders receive upgrade priority ahead of non-cardholders with the same Medallion elite status. So having this card, and elite status, will mean that you have a much higher chance of being upgraded to first class when eligible. There's a $450 annual fee for this card. Terms apply.
Best Card for Earning Bonus Point Rewards: Chase Ink Business PreferredSM Card
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One of the great reasons to have a small business credit card is to earn additional rewards on the kinds of purchases your business makes. This card offers you 3 points per $1 spent on combined purchases of travel, shipping, internet, cable and phone services. You also earn 3 points per dollar on advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines. However, you only earn 3 points per dollar on your first $150,000 spent on qualifying purchases each account anniversary year, and you earn 1 point per dollar spent elsewhere.
New account holders can also earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $15,000 on new purchases within three months of account opening. Points are worth 1.25 cents each toward travel booked through Chase, or you can transfer your rewards to airline miles or hotel points. There's a $95 annual fee for this card.
All information about the The Business Platinum Card® From American Express, U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card, and Chase Ink Business PreferredSM Card has been collected independently by Experian. The product details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.