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Compare Business Credit Cards


Business Credit Cards

A good business credit card can help ensure a business runs smoothly.

Benefits can include improved cash flow and better financial control to individual bonuses like travel perks and member reward schemes.

Key financial advantages of business credit cards are:

  • They can maximise buying power for business supplies or expenses.
  • They can simplify a company’s administration of petty cash and expenses.
  • Up to 56 days interest free credit for the business provided the bills are paid in full.
  • The ease in which they can be used over the phone or internet without the need of raising company cheques for every purchase.
  • Preferential exchange rates for business travel abroad.
  • Some business credit card providers may offer trade discounts that are normally reserved for large corporations only.
  • Monthly statements that make it easier to track and identify business expenses, while some cards also offer extra company analysis such as VAT spending reports.

Supplementary business cards

Supplementary business cards can be provided for staff members, helping to simplify the process of administrating employee expenses.

Each cardholder is set their own personal spending limit (changeable at any time) and it is also possible to place limits on different types of spend. Any spending carried out on supplementary cards will usually count towards any reward schemes that come with the credit card.

Travel benefits

Frequent business travellers can benefit from a range of travel perks including:

  • Free worldwide travel
  • Medical insurance
  • Free air miles
  • Hotel discounts
  • Flight upgrades
  • Concierge services

Guarding against fraud

All credit card issuers work to protect their users against fraud.

Some business card issuers also offer Cardholder Misuse Insurance, to protect against the unlikely event of employee misuse, and purchase protection, whereby every purchase made is automatically covered against loss, damage or theft for up to 90 days.

Remember, once an employee has a business card they are given the authority to make decisions on company purchases and to authorise payments – making the business liable for any fraud committed as a result of an employee’s negligence. Therefore care must be taken on who should receive a business credit card within the company.

Reward schemes & discounts

A business credit card allows users to have access to discounts that are usually reserved for staff in large corporations.

Some cards are also linked to existing rewards schemes such as Air Miles, meaning that points acquired from any business spend can be added to others that may have been accrued elsewhere. Points can then be exchanged for luxury items such as fine wines or short breaks.

Choosing the right business credit card

When deciding on which business credit card to choose, it is important to understand what the main benefits are for the business.

If the business card is required for the lending facility, then a card with a low APR is a priority. Other charges that need to be taken into consideration include annual fees and late payment penalties, which will vary depending on the issuer.

Key factors to take into consideration:

  • Only accept a credit limit that the business can realistically afford. This can be done by calculating the average maximum monthly expenditure and set this as the credit limit.
  • Choose a business credit card where monthly and annual statements can be easily integrated into the business’s accounts.
  • Rewards packages and supplementary services are usually offered to businesses that pay back the balance in full each month.
  • Any default on repayments will result in the credit rating of the business being damaged.
  • Interest will significantly rise if the business opts to only pay the minimum balance.

 

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