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If you’re a business owner and you’re looking for a new credit card for company expenses, we’ve got some good news for you. Much like with personal credit cards, some business credit cards can help you earn points and miles that you can redeem for travel, or they offer benefits that help offset the costs of running your venture.
Below, we’ve rounded up some of the best small business credit cards based on perks like travel, business discounts and more. Read on to see if there’s a credit card that’s right for you and read more on our methodology below.
Best for travel rewards: Ink Business Preferred
Who’s this for? The Ink Business Preferred Credit Card lets you earn the most for travel. You can earn 3X points on the first $150,000 spent on travel and select business categories each account anniversary year (after, 1X points). Plus, you can earn 5X points on Lyft rides through Sep. 30, 2027. Points can be redeemed for cash back, gift cards and travel, but they can go even further when you book through the Chase TravelSM portal.
Standout benefits: This card lets you earn a welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. The card has a low $95 annual fee.
Best for airport lounge access: Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business
Who’s this for? TheChase Sapphire Reserve for Businesshas a $795 annual fee, but it comes with more premium perks and benefits — one them being airport lounge access. Cardholders get complimentary access to the Chase Sapphire Lounge®by The Club network and Priority PassTMSelect membership. You’re also allowed to bring up to two guests to the lounges free of charge. So, if you’re a business traveler who loves getting to unwind inside an exclusive lounge right before you board, this card can take the guesswork out of lounge access.
Standout benefits: You can earn 150,000 bonus points after you spend $20,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. Those bonus points are valued at $3,000 for select flights and hotels through Chase TravelSM.
Best for free employee cards: Capital One Venture X Business
Who’s this for? TheCapital One Venture X Businesscard lets you grant your employees access to free cards of their own as well as free virtual credit cards. They’ll also earn rewards from transactions made with these cards. Plus, all the transaction data will automatically sync to your accounting software to make tax time so much easier.
Standout benefits: The card currently offers another solid welcome bonus: Cardholders can earn 150,000 bonus miles once spending $30,000 in the first three months from account opening. Because the spending requirement for the welcome bonus is so high, this card may be best for businesses that have high monthly expenditures.
Best for earning on office supplies: Amex Blue Business Plus
Who’s this for? The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Expresslets you earn 2X points on everyday business purchases, like office supplies, up to the first $50,000 per year (then, 1X points).
Standout benefits: While the welcome bonus for this card isn’t as impressive as that of other credit cards on this list, this card doesn’t charge an annual fee.
Best for credits on tech purchases: Amex Business Platinum
Who’s this for? The Business Platinum Card from American Express is quite generous when it comes to doling out statement credits to offset the costs of certain business expenses. You can get up to $150 in statement credits on Dell Technologies purchases made with the Business Platinum Card (enrollment required). You can also get an additional $1,000 statement credit after you spend $5,000 or more per calendar year.On top of that, you can get a $250 statement credit after spending at least $600 on Adobe purchases per calendar year (enrollment required). You may need to enroll in these offers in order to activate them.
Standout benefits: The card doesn’t have a preset spending limit, unlike a traditional credit card.
Do you need an EIN to get a business credit card?
You don’t need an EIN to get a business credit card if you’re a freelancer, gig worker or other sole proprietor. You can just use your Social Security Number in this case.
Can you use business credit cards for personal expenses?
You shouldn’t use business credit cards for personal expenses, and some card issuers may even prohibit doing so. You can actually make your tax situation much more complicated this way since you’ll need to work through your statements closely to identify legitimate business expenses you can deduct on your taxes.
What’s the easiest business credit card to get approved for?
Some of the easiest business credit cards to get approved for may be cards with no annual fee and standard offerings, as well as cards that consider average credit and below. You likely won’t get premium perks with these cards but getting approved can help you get used to managing business credit, and you can upgrade to a more premium card later on.
Why trust CNBC Select?
AtCNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every business credit cardlist is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of small business and credit products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. Seeour methodologyfor more information on how we choose the best business credit cards.
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Our methodology
To determine the best small business credit cards for perks,CNBC Selectanalyzed business credit cards issued through FDIC-insured banks and NCUA-insured credit unions that are widely available in the U.S.
We compared each card on a range of features, including rewards (e.g., cash back, points and miles), annual fees, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APR and balance transfer fees and foreign transaction fees.
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.
Co-branded business cards, such as airline or hotel-specific cards, did not make our final list due to their often limited rewards systems and potential to restrict your travel redemption options to a specific brand.
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For rates and fees of the Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of the Business Platinum Card from American Express, click here.
Editorial Note: Opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Select editorial staff’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.
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