Are you a big investor who wants to get the most out of shopping for your business? You may want to choose one merchant credit cardl. It’s one of the best ways to maximize rewards and benefits for profit seekers.
Unlike business credit cards, business credit cards don’t have a preset spending limit and can offer some of the best sign-up bonuses out there.
But what goes up must come down, right? So there are downsides to going big. If you want to know why you should choose a credit card for your expenses, we will help you. Especially if you are looking to get the most out of the dollars you invest in your business, this should be all you need to find out if you should get a credit card for your small business, and what is the best credit card for your business. .
Best Business Charge Cards for Small Businesses
- The American Express Business Platinum Cargo Card
- The American Express Business Gold Cargo Card
- The American Express Plum Cargo Card
What is a Charge Card?
Business credit cards are very similar to business credit cards. Both allow you to make purchases without having to load money directly from your bank account, and both can offer great travel rewards and benefits.
The main difference between credit cards and debit cards: When your balance expires at the end of the month, you can pay off your credit card balance over time (although it will accrue interest on the unpaid balance), while waiting pay the full balance on a credit card every month.
A closer look at the APR business charge card
With credit cards, you can find flexible financing to better benefit your payment program. There are 0% APR business credit cards, which allow you to make a purchase and take several months to pay off your debts without interest. And there are other low-interest business credit cards that still only charge 10% APR or less. That is good if you carry a balance.
Credit cards, on the other hand, impose severe penalties if you don’t pay the balance in full every month. The American Express Business Platinum, for example, charges a late fee of $ 38 no matter how much of your balance remains unpaid. On a $ 500 balance, that late fee is equivalent to a 140% APR.
Much less friendly.
Although there are some programs that help lower this APR (for example, Amex Pay Over Time, which we will get to later), the TL; DR you need to know is that if you think you are going to have a balance on your card, you should stick with traditional business credit cards. You can see which ones you qualify for now if you want!
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The Biggest Benefits of Business Charge Cards
If, after all that, you still think you’re a good candidate for credit cards, great. Let’s move on. There are three distinct advantages to choosing a business credit card:
1. No pre-established spending limit.
The advantage for card issuers who do not expect cardholders to have a balance is that charge cards do not have a preset spending limit. Credit cards have a maximum balance you can carry at any given time, and some charge fees for exceeding the limit if you exceed that balance.
Credit cards do not offer unlimited spending – the card issuer may impose limits based on your credit history, usage, business finances, etc. – but there is no explicit limit.
2. Large purchases will not affect your credit score.
Large credit card purchases can strain your debt / credit ratio, which in turn can hurt your credit score. But the new scoring models exclude credit card balances from debt-to-credit ratios, and that’s because there is no pre-set spending limit. Models cannot calculate what percentage of the limit you are using.
If you need to make a large purchase but don’t want to affect your credit score, a business credit card can help.
3. Big advantages for high rollers.
If you are making a purchase large enough to impact your credit score, you probably want the rewards to go with it. (Or, you should. )
Credit cards aren’t cheap, with annual fees typically over $ 100, but they offer best-in-class benefits for business travelers. They change from card to card, but they literally open the doors for you with their access to the airport waiting rooms. There are also fee reimbursements, high point win rates, and more. With all of that in mind, premium business load cards can make large purchases profitable.
Business charge cards often require good credit
Because credit cards do not have a preset spending limit, it is often more difficult to qualify for one than it is for a standard business credit card. If your business is just starting out, or if you or your business doesn’t have great credit, you may want to go with a credit card, or have to do it out of necessity.
Business charge cards that are best for you
The American Express Business Platinum Cargo Card
The Business Platinum Charge Card from American Express is one of the most popular luxury cards.
First, this credit card offers a bonus of up to 50,000 Membership Rewards points – 50,000 if you spend $ 15,000 in the first three months, and an additional 50,000 points if you spend an additional $ 10,000.
Regarding ongoing rewards, you will earn 5 points for every $ 1 spent on prepaid flights and hotels booked through the Amex travel portal; 1.5 points for every $ 1 on purchases of $ 5,000 or more; and 1 point for every $ 1 spent elsewhere. Plus, you’ll earn 35% of your points (up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year) when you redeem them for any flight on the airline of your choice, or for a first or business class flight on any other airline.
The card also offers a wide range of benefits, including a $ 200 annual airline fare credit, access to Amex’s network of more than 2,000 airport lounges, a TSA Precheck or Global Admission credit. , free of charge for foreign transactions, and automatic Starwood Preferred Guest Gold Elite status.
The annual fee for the card is quite high at $ 595 a year, but the $ 200 airline credit, lounge access, and bonus points go a long way toward offsetting the load. Frequent business travelers and heavy consumers can’t go wrong with the Amex Business Platinum.
The Business Gold Charge Card from American Express
If you don’t want to pay the high annual fee for Amex Platinum, the American Express Business Gold Charge Card offers you a solid middle ground. The card comes with a free one-year sign-up bonus to G Suite Basic and ZipRecruiter. Plus, you’ll earn 4 times more rewards in the top two categories you spend on within a list of six each month and 1 time rewards elsewhere. The card comes with an annual fee of $ 295, but that will be easily offset by the optimized value automatically accessed through the card. The Gold card is a great alternative if you want the flexible and automatic redemption options of Membership Rewards but aren’t spending enough to justify Platinum’s high fees.
The Business Plum Charge card from American Express
If you are sure that you will not only carry a balance, but that you will probably be able to return it early, you might want to think about the Plum Charge Card from American Express. This is because if you can pay 10 days ahead of schedule, there are great cash rewards to be had – 1.5% on all your purchases. Which is substantial if you spend a lot on your business.
And do you know that we are talking about big penalties for credit cards? Plum is a good exception to the rule. If you are unable to pay your full balance each month (either ahead of schedule or on time), the Amex Plum Card will allow you to take another 60 days to pay your full balance without interest, late fees or penalties, as long as when you meet your minimum debt.
It’s unusual, and a bonus small business owners might consider: great flexibility, especially if you have cash flow that can be slightly unpredictable.
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If you choose an Amex charge card, you should also know about payment over time
American Express recently introduced Pay Over Time, a program that allows Amex credit cards to function more like credit cards. Qualifying cardholders can move charges above $ 100 or on eligible travel-related purchases to a separate POT balance, which can be paid over time. (Hence the name.)
POT balances accrue interest but cost much less than carrying a balance on a traditional debit card. Please note that not all Amex cardholders can qualify for the Pay Over Time program, and not all purchases are eligible. But it pays to watch out when you think of all this business credit card information.
Now go ahead and choose!