Best Business Credit Cards

Final Verdict

Business owners want a credit card to make running their businesses easier. These cards offer an easy way to pay vendors while earning rewards and perks on that spending. The right card for your business varies based on how you spend and how much, the rewards and benefits that are important to you, and if you're willing to pay a fee for those features.

The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is our top choice for the best credit card and the best travel credit card. It earns bonus points on popular business categories and offers a high redemption value for travel. Although you have to spend $15,000 within three months to earn it, the welcome bonus of 100,000 points is one of the largest we've seen. It is worth up to $1,250 in travel through Chase or potentially more with its hotel and airline partners.

Compare The Best Business Credit Cards

Editorial Picks for Best Business Credit Cards

Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card

Best Overall, Best for Travel Rewards

The Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card is our best overall and the best business credit card for travel rewards because of its earning power and the value of its rewards. Businesses can earn 3x points on the first $150,000 they spend on travel and select categories each year, then the points can be used for cash back, to book travel at 1.25 cents a point, or to transfer to hotel and airline partners for a potentially higher value.

Read the full Ink Business Preferred Credit Card Review.

Marriott Bonvoy Business™American Express® Card

Best Business Hotel Card

Business owners looking for the best business hotel card will enjoy the benefits of this Marriott card. It includes automatic Silver Elite status and an annual free night worth up to 35,000 points, plus the ability to earn a second free night based on your spending.

Read the full Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card Review.

United℠ Business Card

Best Business Airline Card

The United Business Card offers valuable benefits for business travelers, such as priority boarding, free checked bags, and two complimentary airport lounge passes each year. You'll also receive 5,000 bonus miles every year that you renew the card. Also, earn $100 United® travel credit after 7 United flight purchases of $100 or more each anniversary year.

Read the full United Business Card Review.

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard

Best for American Airlines

Frequent fliers on American Airlines will benefit from free checked bags, priority boarding, and 25% discount on in-flight purchases. Big spenders can earn a MQD waiver for elite status and a Companion Certificate when they spend $30,000 each year.

Read the full CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Review.

Ink Business Cash℠ Credit Card

Best for Office Supply Purchases

The best credit card for office supply purchases is the Chase Ink Business Cash credit card. It earns 5% on the first $25,000 in combined purchases for office supplies, internet, cable, and phone services each year for a potential of $1,250 in cash back annually.

Read the full Ink Business Cash Credit Card Review.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

Best for Airport Lounge Access

The best business credit card for airport lounge access is the Amex Business Platinum. Between Amex Centurion Lounges and the complimentary Priority Pass membership, you'll have access to over 1,200 airport lounges around the world.

Read the full The Business Platinum Card from American Express Review.

Amazon Business Prime American Express Card

Best for Amazon Business / AWS Cloud Hosting

Businesses that spend regularly with Amazon or Whole Foods will benefit from this card's unlimited 5% rewards. It has no annual fee and new cardholders receive a $100 Amazon gift card upon approval.

Read the full Amazon Business Prime American Express Card Review.

Types of Business Credit Cards

Credit cards for small businesses are as varied in type as their consumer counterparts. In fact, many consumer credit cards have a business-card sibling, typically with similar features and rewards.

As with personal cards, the choices in business cards run the gamut from no-frills/no-fee options to rewards cards with complex tiered rewards based on travel, airline, issuer, or hotel loyalty programs.

Here's a quick primer on the main card types available to small business owners:

Business airline credit cards: These cards offer rewards—usually in miles—for regular card spending, along with bonus miles for purchases from their co-branded airline. Miles earned with the card are pooled with those earned by flying. The cards may also offer benefits such as early boarding, a free checked bag, or discounts on in-flight purchases.

Business hotel credit cards: Similar to their airline counterparts, these cards offer rewards—usually in points—for regular card spending, along with bonus miles for purchases from their co-branded hotel chain. Points earned with the card are pooled with those earned through hotel or resort stays.

Business general travel credit cards: Branded to card issuers, rather than airlines or hotels, these rewards cards offer points or miles from the issuer that can be redeemed for travel through the issuer's rewards portal. Some provide automatic statement credits for travel-related purchases.

Business cash back credit cards: These offer a fixed percentage of cash back on all purchases, or in certain categories like restaurants, travel, and office supplies. Or often both.

Business non-rewards credit cards: As with the simplest consumer credit cards, some business cards have few or no rewards, discounts, or benefits. Such cards provide small businesses with basic credit card functionality, generally for no annual fee.

Business secured credit cards: A few national card issuers offer secured business cards aimed at those with no credit history or who are seeking to repair damaged credit. Like their consumer counterparts, these cards require a security deposit that the issuer holds in order to extend a credit line of equal value, and can often be upgraded to a non-secured card after a history of on-time payments.

Business General Travel Credit Cards vs. Business Airline Credit Cards and Hotel Credit Cards

Deciding between a general travel rewards credit card or one allied to a specific airline or hotel chain is a common dilemma for small businesses. While some small business owners have preferred airlines and hotel chains, others have no particular brand loyalty, and instead seek out the lowest ticket and room prices on every trip.

Choose between general and co-branded travel cards based on your priorities and past behavior. If you already have a significant number of miles or points accumulated with an issuer, carrier, or hotel chain, you might favor a card that allows you to continue earning those. If you have no such legacy, and no affinities to particular airlines or hotels, you may prefer to pass on partner-specific perks and status in favor of earning the more flexible rewards of a general travel card.

Business Travel Credit Cards vs. Business Cash Back Credit Cards

The key difference between business travel credit cards and business cash back credit cards is the type of “currency” they earn.

Business travel cards earn miles or points that can be used to redeem for free travel through certain card issuer reward platforms or, in the case of co-branded cards, with specific airlines or hotels.

By contrast, business cash back cards earn a percentage rebate on purchases, paid in the form of statement credits, gift cards, or a check directed to the small business owner. (Some supposed cash back cards actually earn “points” that are then converted to statement credits, gift cards, or checks on a penny per point basis.)

The types also differ in their annual fees. As a rule, business travel cards (whether general travel, airline, or hotel) have fees, and most business cash back cards do not. One exercise to help decide between a travel card with an annual fee and a no-fee cash back card is to calculate whether your yearly spending will generate enough value to fully offset the travel card's annual fee.

If the rewards are sufficient, and the card's extras contribute additional value for you, the travel card may be the better choice. However, you might favor a no-fee cash-back card if you're uncomfortable with paying for a card. That is especially the case if the fee for the card is on the high side and its benefits aren't especially compatible with your travel preferences and style.

How to Compare Business Travel Credit Cards

As with assessing consumer travel cards against one another, it can be complex to compare the rewards and benefits of competing business travel credit cards. Here, to help simplify the task, is a rundown of the main attributes you should size up when deciding between business travel cards:

Annual membership fees: While several business travel credit cards charge no annual fee, those are the exception rather than the rule. When considering a card with a fee, it's helpful, naturally, if the rewards you expect to earn on a card over a year will fully offset the expense. But if it won't, consider how valuable—financially or in terms of comfort and convenience—the card's extras are to you. In other words, an annual fee shouldn’t necessarily be a deterrent to choosing a particular card. It should, however, be a key factor in your choice.

Rewards earning structure: Do the math based on your business spending patterns to see what you would likely earn each year relative to other types of cards in the category. Keep in mind, though, that the best-laid spending plans sometimes fall short, and there's a risk a card won't generate the rewards value you expected in a given year.

One-time bonus: With an airline or hotel card, determine what the bonus is worth, in either dollars or in free award flights or nights. You may also want to keep that value in mind when you consider the card's annual fee, since generous bonuses can help offset that cost, sometimes for years to come.

Foreign transaction fees: Most business travel rewards cards waive foreign transaction fees, which are usually 3% of the transaction value. However, some do not, which should be a major decision factor if your business travel often takes you outside the country.

Global acceptance: While Visa, Mastercard, and Discover are highly accepted at merchants around the world, American Express lags behind in its global footprint. However, the acceptance of all networks varies by country. If you're a frequent traveler to particular destinations, consult the acceptance maps on the networks' websites to confirm you'll be able to easily use the card at the places you visit.

Travel-related insurance: Business travel rewards cards can eliminate the need for employees to pay to insure various aspects of their trips. Important and useful insurance protections that many cards offer on a complimentary basis include coverage for trip cancellation/interruption, lost luggage or flight delays, and travel accidents. Most also offer rental-car insurance coverage, and select premium travel cards even offer coverage that's primary rather than secondary. (That is, it covers the cost of all damage to the car in a collision, rather than only expenses your own vehicle insurance won't reimburse.)

How to Choose the Best Business Travel Rewards Credit Card

Ask yourself the following questions before deciding which travel rewards card best suits your goals and spending:

• Can the spending requirements for the card's one-time bonuses be realistically met with expected business-related purchases?
• Are you loyal to a particular bank card issuer (like Chase, Citi, Capital One, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo) because of an existing financial relationship, such as a savings, checking, or loan account, whether business or personal?
• Are you loyal to a particular airline or hotel, and belong to their loyalty program? Have you a substantial number of points or miles in that account?
• Is it important for you to keep spending in order to reach or maintain elite status in an airline or hotel loyalty program?
• Do you plan or expect to travel to international destinations?
• How important are certain special benefits like airport lounge access or primary rental-car insurance?
• What's the maximum annual fee you're comfortable paying?

Methodology

We constantly monitor credit card offers from card-issuer websites and publicly available sources to find the best business credit cards for our readers. Each credit card is evaluated based on its fees, rewards, welcome bonuses, introductory offers, features, and benefits so that we can determine a winner for each category. Card issuers update their cards on a regular basis and, when that happens, we update our card listings, reviews, and recommendations so our readers have the most reliable information and advice.