You need every available advantage when it comes to running your business. As a flexible, value-added financial tool, a business credit card can give your company access to a wide range of benefits – not the least of which include reward and cash-back options to help support your bottom line.
Business Credit Card Benefits You Should Know About
With a score of perks and plusses to choose from, finding the right business credit card for your company won’t be difficult. And you can apply as a sole proprietor operating under your own name so long as you’re prepared to have your personal credit score checked.
As you begin your search for the very best business credit card, here are 5 of the very best reasons to use one.
1. Streamlined Spending
Business credit cards typically offer higher credit limits than most personal cards. That makes them ideal for optimizing your cash flow, and for:
- allowing you to pay for most or all of your everyday expenses with one card,
- giving you immediate access to funds for major purchases or new projects, and
- improving your ability to deal with unexpected costs
Some issuers will even make cards available to authorized personnel to further streamline your company spending – and they’ll provide liability insurance against employee misuse. Extended interest-free payment periods, meanwhile, are an especially attractive feature of select credit cards.
2. Travel Savings
If you or your employees travel for work, you can expect to be spoiled for choice when it comes to cards offering travel reward points, discounts, and upgrades. In addition to helping your business save money on hotels, flights, and rental cars, some cards provide bonuses like:
- access to travel lounges,
- emergency medical coverage,
- rental car damage and theft insurance, or
- insurance for trip delays, interruptions, and cancellations, baggage delays, loss, and theft, and hotel burglaries
Some card companies will even allow you to transfer their travel reward points to your own frequent flyer programs.
3. Purchase Perks
Reward points that can be used for business merchandise, dining, entertainment, and gift cards are another valuable benefit offered by a number of cards. Some go a step further and protect your new purchases and extended product warranties with automatic insurance coverage.
If collecting and redeeming points isn’t your thing, you may want to consider a cash-back credit card to help your business save money directly on everything from office supplies and cell phone fees, to internet charges and gas.
4. Better Bookkeeping
Using a business credit card for the bulk of your spending can make your bookkeeping easier and will give you better clarity into your company’s expenditures. Some card providers, in fact, make a variety of business and expense management tools available to cardholders.
If you run a seasonal business – or one that’s prone to intermittent slowdowns – the savings you earn during your busy periods in terms of points, discounts, or cash back benefits can prove useful for bridging your financial lulls.
5. Cost-Effective Credit
Business credit cards are widely recognized as one of the most effective ways to cover working capital and ongoing business expenses. And as a reliable source of credit that can help your company strike the right balance between cost and reward, you’ll typically find it easier to get approved for most business credit cards than you will for most small business loans.
In many cases, a good credit score – and the willingness to pay an annual fee – are all it takes for your company to start reaping the financial benefits of using a business credit card.
