The Brex Card is a corporate credit card geared toward venture-backed startups. Brex makes it easy to order employee corporate cards, set spending limits, send reimbursements, and even require receipts and memos for employee purchases so you can easily track all of your expenses. Credit cards are a part of our daily lives — a convenient way to pay for essentials (and splurges) with a tap or a swipe. Likewise, if you run your own business, a business credit card can help you pay for expenses required to purchase supplies and run your day-to-day operations. Like personal credit cards, business cards offer the ability to earn points, miles or cash back on your spending and finance large purchases.
Ramp offers a free corporate card and finance management system for small businesses. While the terms “corporate card” and “business card” are sometimes used interchangeably, they refer to two distinct types of credit cards. ADVERTISER DISCLOSURE CreditCards.com is an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site, including, for example, the order in which they appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our proprietary website’s rules and the likelihood of applicants’ credit approval also impact how and where products appear on the site.
Corporate credit cards vs. small business credit cards
However, it carries a rather hefty $150 annual fee and doesn’t let you carry a monthly balance. We decided to highlight the Spark 1.5% Cash Select because it’s a more practical card for most small business owners and has no annual fee. Because corporate credit cards often don’t require a personal guarantee, they usually will not negatively or positively affect your credit. You should consider getting a corporate card if your business would take advantage of the unique benefits offered by corporate cards, such as expense management, spending rewards, and fraud protection.
Can I use a personal credit card to fund a business?
Business credit cards are usually opened by small business owners rather than owners of large companies with many employees. Most business card issuers report your debt and credit card usage to business credit reporting services, such as Dun & Bradstreet. Some of those issuers also report your business credit card activity to the major consumer credit bureaus, which is why handling your business card irresponsibly can potentially harm your personal credit score. Check your credit card agreement to find out who they report your debts and payments to and when. When you start to issue corporate cards to dozens (or even hundreds) of employees, tracking and managing employee spending can become difficult. These tools what is corporate credit card help your company grow and scale, making sure you don’t lose control of expenditures along the way.
These rewards are often credited back to the main company account, though some corporations allow employees to keep the points they earn from corporate card spending. A corporate credit card is tied to a corporate account, making the business entity, not the business owner, legally responsible for all charges made on the card. If your business is large enough to justify opening a corporate card, it may be worth doing so just for the sake of protecting yourself from personal financial liability. Alternatively, ABC could solicit or request proposals from all banks and financial services institutions, including XYZ and its competitors, for corporate credit card offerings. A competing bank may make a competitive offer for a corporate credit card because they ultimately hope to win ABC’s treasury management services or main operating account deposits.
- Each type of credit card has different credit score requirements, so you can find an option for all credit types.
- Depending on the type of corporate credit card, either the employee or the employer may be responsible for paying the credit card bill.
- A company may have to submit a federal tax ID and undergo an audit of its financials to qualify.
- With this card, you’ll find the main perk you’ll find is unlimited 1.5% cash back on all business purchases.
- Corporate cards do not require a personal guarantee, so it’s a good idea to make sure your business has built up a solid credit history before applying.
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Who is responsible for corporate credit card debt?
It’s important to know how this liability breaks down so that business owners can create effective policies and business employees can keep themselves informed and prepared before making any purchases on a corporate credit card. Corporate credit cards are credit cards issued to employees of established companies that let them charge business expenses—such as hotel stays and plane tickets—without having to use their own cards or cash. These cards, which are also known as “commercial credit cards,” can make it easier for employees (and employers) to manage expenses, and many offer perks such as frequent flier miles and access to airport lounges. Having a business credit card can help a small business if you choose the right card and use it properly. A business credit card allows you to build your business credit profile, offers rewards, such as travel perks or cash back to help your business grow, and offers terms your business can meet. Plus, a strong business credit score can help you qualify for small business loans.
The main drawback with this card is that it has a foreign transaction fee unlike some other cards on this list. A corporate card functions similarly to a charge card where you can’t carry a monthly balance, but you can earn rewards, make purchases, and manage employee spending. The main differences between them revolve around reward structure and card repayment structure. We’re blowing the chaff from this haystack to rule out the mediocre cards and bring you the business credit cards with the best rewards, APR, and benefit offerings for your small business. If your business earns millions of dollars in revenue each year, processes a high volume of transactions, or wants more control over employee spending, issuing corporate cards to employees may be the right move.