Best Credit Card Offers For Businesses: August 2019

When you’re dedicating most of your waking hours to running your own business, sorting and evaluating the plethora of credit card offers that come your way isn’t going to be high on your list of priorities. With new cards and new welcome offers being introduced with dizzying frequency, keeping track of the best business credit card deals out there requires time and effort.

Well, calm your weary soul, for we at Merchant Maverick are here to take the hassle out of the credit card hunt. Let us show you the best business credit card offers out there for whatever it is you’re looking for. Need a great business credit card with a lengthy 0% APR period? The card with the best rewards program? The card that’s best for cash back?

Whatever you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered. Let’s sort the wheat from the chaff to find the credit card offers that best suit your business needs, whatever those needs may be.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

Company	Key Points	Next Steps
1. Chase Ink Business Cash	Best With No Annual Fee Required Credit: Good	Visit Site Read More
2. Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express	Best With 0% APR Required Credit: Good	Visit Site Read More
3. Chase Ink Business Preferred	Best Rewards Program Required Credit: Good	Visit Site Read More
4. Chase Ink Business Preferred	Best For Points Required Credit: Good	Visit Site Read More
5. American Express OPEN Business Platinum	Best For Travel Required Credit: Good	Visit Site Read More

Other Featured Options:

• Capital One Spark Cash Plus
  Key Points –
  • Best For Balance Transfers
  • Required Credit: Good

• Bank Of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Credit Card
  Key Points –
  • Best For Cash Back
  • Required Credit: Good

• Chase Ink Business Preferred
  Key Points –
  • Best Sign-Up Bonus Offer
  • Required Credit: Good

Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

Best No Annual Fee

Why It’s Our Pick

The Chase Ink Business Cash card is a remarkable value for a business credit card with no annual fee. You’ll earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 a year spent at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services. These categories align nicely with the sort of everyday spending done by the average business owner. Additionally, you’ll get 2% cash back on the first $25,000 per year spent at gas stations and restaurants, along with 1% cash back on everything else (and on all purchases in these categories past the $25K/year higher earning limit).

Many cards with such generous bonus earning potential carry an annual fee, leaving you to weigh the benefits of the card against the annual fee. With the Ink Business Cash, no such calculations are necessary, as there is no annual fee. You’ll also be the recipient of a $500 bonus if you spend at least $3,000 on purchases within your first three months of card ownership.

This bonus, along with the cash back you earn in the course of your spending, can be converted to Chase Ultimate Rewards points if you also have a card that earns Ultimate Rewards points such as the Ink Business Preferred card or the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. Do this, and your points will be worth slightly more than twice their cash back amount — a remarkable value.

Runner-Up

Looking for a great business credit card with no annual fee, but lack the 690+ credit score needed to qualify for the card? Consider the Capital One Spark Classic for Business instead. While you’ll be earning cash back at the unsexy rate of 1% on all purchases, the Spark Classic for Business has one attractive aspect most business credit cards lack: you can qualify for the card with a credit score of just 630.

While the card does carry a relatively high 25.24% variable APR on purchases, that’s still a better deal for you than the sort of high-interest loan marketed to business owners with fair credit. Just try to pay the balance in full each month.

Best 0% APR

Why It’s Our Pick

American Express Blue Business Plus currently carries the one of the most impressive introductory APRs offered by any business card in this troubled land: 0% for 12 months. Simply put, the Blue Business Plus gives you a nice long stretch of time in which to make business purchases without racking up any interest charges. For this, we must doff our caps to the suits at Amex.

Thankfully for you, that’s not the only benefit of the Blue Business Plus.

The card’s primary benefit is the 2x points you’ll be earning on your first $50,000 worth of purchases per year. Most cash back credit cards offer around 1.5 points per dollar, so you’ll be making out like a bandit on your first $50K in purchases each year. If you exceed $50K in annual purchases, the points earning rate reverts to a more pedestrian 1 point per dollar, so if your needs dictate that your annual spending will exceed the $50K annual limit for earning 2x points, you’ll want to consider either getting a different card or pairing this card with another rewards card.

Your Amex Blue Business Plus rewards points can be redeemed for travel, shopping, or a statement credit.

Runner-Up

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited is a solid business credit card with a 0% APR period of 12 months. That’s the same length of the Blue Business Plus, plus you’ll get an unlimited 1.5% cash back on all your purchases. While you can find cards with higher cash back rates, these higher rates are nearly always limited to certain spending categories and, just as importantly, limited to a certain amount of purchases per year — typically around $30K-$50K.

This means that if your annual spending greatly exceeds the cash back limits placed on other business cards, you’re likely to earn more cash back with the Ink Business Unlimited despite the lower cash back rate. What’s more, to qualify for this card, your credit only needs to be Good, not necessarily Excellent. Rejoice!

Best Rewards Program

Why It’s Our Pick

Chase Ink Business Preferred is a card with a robust rewards program. Using this card will earn you 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 per year spent on travel, shipping purchases, internet/cable/phone services, and advertising purchases made with social media and search engines (and 1 point per dollar on everything else). It’s a card meant to reward the business with a high volume of spending on many of the most common business spending categories, as the high-earning limit on spending of $150K/year vastly exceeds most such limits in the business rewards card space (typically $30-50K/year).

Another factor boosting the appeal of the Ink Business Preferred rewards program is the fact that if you redeem your points for travel via Chase Ultimate Rewards, your points will be worth 25% more than they would otherwise be worth. You can also transfer your points to certain other travel rewards programs (such as United MileagePlus and Marriott Rewards) on a 1:1 point basis.

Runner-Up

If you want a more flexible card with rewards points, the American Express Gold Card isn’t a bad bet. This card features a 4x point tier where you’ll net points on the two categories where your business spends the most each quarter. Your two category pair will be picked from this array of options:

• • • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
    • US purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
    • US purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
    • US purchases at gas stations
    • US purchases at restaurants
    • US purchases for shipping

Note that once you hit $150K in spending on the active categories in a calendar year, your earning rate will drop down to 1 point per dollar spent. All other purchases score 1 point per dollar. Like with the Chase’s Ultimate Rewards, the points you earn with the Gold Card will be worth 25% more when you book flights through Amex’s travel portal. However, its annual fee clocks in $200 more than the Chase Ink Business Preferred at $295 per year.

Best For Points

Why It’s Our Pick

Chase Ink Business Preferred comes out on top for this category as well. It’s not only because of the points-earning potential of the card (earning 3 points per dollar spent on the first $150,000 spent on the bonus spending categories per year will earn you a whopping 450,000 points annually, and from there you can earn even more points at the 1 pt/$1 level). It’s due to the fact that your points are worth 25% more than the standard value of 1 cent per point if you redeem them for travel. It’s also due to the fact that you can transfer your points to other travel rewards programs on a 1:1 point basis.

Runner-Up

The U.S. Bank Flexperks Business Travel Rewards card comes bearing a handy and versatile points-earning structure.

With the Flexperks Business Travel Rewards card, you’ll earn 2 points per dollar on whichever of the following three spending categories on which you’ve spent the most each month:

• • • Airlines
    • Office supply stores
    • Gas stations

You won’t need to choose your high-earning category each month or do anything else to earn your bonus points. It’s all automatic!

There is no limit to the number of double points you can earn on a monthly basis. What’s more, all spending on “most” cell phone service providers will earn you double points. This will not change from month-to-month.

The card carries an annual fee of $55, but if your annual spending exceeds $24,000, you’ll receive a statement credit covering the annual fee.

Best For Travel

Why It’s Our Pick

The American Express Business Platinum card isn’t a card for the business owner who travels only infrequently. But if you’re a heavy-duty business traveler interested in fancy luxuries (like getting to hang out in exclusive airport lounges), this is the card for you!

First off, this card is a charge card, meaning you can’t carry a balance from month to month — your entire balance comes due on your statement date. Furthermore, the card carries a $595 annual fee. This is sure to put off all but the most prolific business travelers. For the rest of you, here’s where the card’s value lies: You’ll earn a juicy 5 points to the dollar on flights and prepaid hotels purchased on Amex’s travel website, amextravel.com.

You’ll also earn 1.5 points per dollar on eligible purchases of $5,000 or more (up to 1 million additional points per year) and one point per dollar on all other eligible purchases. However, the value doesn’t stop there. Here’s what else you’ll get with the Amex Business Platinum:

• • • Get access to over 1,200 airport lounges worldwide via the American Express Global Lounge Collection
    • Receive a statement credit every 4 years after you apply for Global Entry ($100) or TSA PreCheck ($85)
    • Use Membership Rewards Pay with Points for a First or Business class flight with any airline available through Amex Travel and get 35% of the points back
    • Get $200 per year in statement credits for incidental fees with the qualifying airline of your choice
    • No foreign transaction fees

Not too shabby, eh?

Runner-Up

Want a travel-oriented business credit card without an exorbitant annual fee? The Bank of America Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard may have an irritatingly long name, but it provides a solid set of travel perks and benefits, and there’s no annual fee at all.

With the BofA Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard, you’ll earn 1.5 points for every $1 spent on all purchases with no limits to the amount you can earn. But wait! It gets better. Earn 3 points per dollar spent when you book your travel (car, hotel, airline) through the Bank of America Travel Center (powered by Expedia).

Here’s what else the Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard gets you:

• • • Redeem points for a statement credit to pay for flights, hotels, vacation packages, cruises, rental cars or baggage fees; option for cash back and gift cards
    • No blackout dates and no travel restrictions when booking your trip
    • Business Advantage Relationship Rewards clients get a 25% – 75% rewards bonus on the base earn of every purchase
    • No foreign transaction fee

When you enroll in the Business Advantage Relationships Rewards program to get that rewards bonus, you can earn up to 2.62 points to the dollar on your regular non-travel purchases if you play your cards right, which means all the more points you can redeem for statement credits to pay for your travel!

Best For Balance Transfers

Why It’s Our Pick

The Capital One Spark Cash for Business card charges no fees on balance transfers, and beyond that, it’s a great cash back card as well.

The beauty of Spark Cash for Business is the fact that you’ll earn an unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases — one of the only cards offering such a high flat cash back rate. If you want to avoid extra charges for balance transfers while earning 2% cash back on everything you buy, this card has your number. However, there is a $95 annual fee after the first year, and there’s no introductory 0% APR for balance transfers.

Runner-Up

If a 0% intro APR for balance transfers is more important to you than fee-free balance transfers, we again refer you to the Chase Ink Business Cash card, as its 12-month 0% APR period goes for balance transfers as well as purchases. Just remember that the card does charge fees for balance transfers — either $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater.

Best For Cash Back

Why It’s Our Pick

For this section, we wanted to highlight the Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard. For no annual fee, you’ll get 3% cash back on your first $50,000 per year in purchases at one of the following 6 categories:

• • • Gas stations
    • Office supply stores
    • Travel
    • TV/Telecom & wireless
    • Computer services
    • Business consulting services

What’s more, just as with the BofA Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard, Business Advantage Relationship Rewards clients get a 25% – 75% rewards bonus on the base earn of every purchase.

Runner-Up

The Capital One Spark Cash for Business merits another mention in the Cash Back category. Again, you’ll earn 2% cash back on all your purchases, and there’s no limit to what you can earn.

As for the $95 annual fee that kicks in after the first year, your first $4,750 in spending per year will offset this fee. After that, you’ll be rolling in cash back. If your business spending doesn’t reach this level, you’ll want a cash back card with no annual fee, naturally.

Best Sign-Up Bonus Offer

Why It’s Our Pick

We’ve gone over some of the reasons why we like the Chase Ink Business Preferred card so much. Here’s another reason: the card carries a sign-up bonus that is uniquely valuable for the industry. Sign up for the Ink Business Preferred and you’ll be in line to receive a bonus of 80,000 points if you spend at least $5,000 within the first three months of opening your account. This offer is worth about $800 under normal circumstances but is worth $1,000 if you redeem your points for travel via Chase Ultimate Rewards.

While you’ll have to balance out this uniquely valuable sign-up bonus with the fact that this card carries a $95 annual fee (not waived for the first year), the fact remains that few cards offer as generous of a bonus offer as the Ink Business Preferred — even if you subtract the annual fee from the bonus.

Runner-Up

The silver medal for the sign-up bonus category goes to the American Express Business Platinum charge card. The welcome offer is formidable: 50,000 points after you spend $10,000 and an extra 25,000 points after you spend an additional $10,000 on all qualifying purchases within the first three months. The business looking to spend a considerable sum within three months of getting the Business Platinum stands to earn 75,000 points — a $750 dollar value.

Now What?

We hope that this article has helped you find the business credit card that best suits your particular needs, whatever they may be. To learn more about the current business credit card scene, check out our post on the best business credit cards of 2018 or compare business credit cards.

A Last Look At Our Top Picks

1. Chase Ink Business Cash
   Key Points -
   • Best With No Annual Fee
   • Required Credit: Good
2. Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express
   Key Points -
   • Best With 0% APR
   • Required Credit: Good
3. Chase Ink Business Preferred
   Key Points -
   • Best Rewards Program
   • Required Credit: Good
4. Chase Ink Business Preferred
   Key Points -
   • Best For Points
   • Required Credit: Good
5. American Express OPEN Business Platinum
   Key Points -
   • Best For Travel
   • Required Credit: Good

Other Featured Options:

• Capital One Spark Cash Plus
  Key Points –
  • Best For Balance Transfers
  • Required Credit: Good

• Bank Of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Credit Card
  Key Points –
  • Best For Cash Back
  • Required Credit: Good

• Chase Ink Business Preferred
  Key Points –
  • Best Sign-Up Bonus Offer
  • Required Credit: Good