This concise guide outlines what factors you should look for when considering business credit cards for ongoing company uses. If you’re on the lookout for a good credit card for your business, you likely know that there are a lot of ways that you may want to proceed with it. How can you be sure that you find the resources you need? Are there options and credit card advantages that are going to make sense for you and your needs?
What to look for in business credit cards
When you start looking at business credit cards, you will find that there are a handful of factors that should stand out during your search. Here’s a quick look at some of the traits that we believe are most important.
Annual percentage rate (Interest)
The APR (Annual Percentage Rate) is how much interest on business credit cards you’re going to pay on your balance throughout the year. Companies are going to be straightforward with how much that equals per month (it may be a percentage or two off because of changing balances or trying to “even out” how much APR you’re paying).
Credit limit options
How much money are you going to be able to use? Some business credit cards have a set limit ($500, $1000, etc.). Others have a baseline that may be adjusted based on your credit score. This is going to differ if you’re looking at U.S. credit cards for immigrants or some other option where you are trying to get a card with little to no credit history, because you’re likely going to start off with a lower rate. Of course, some companies like Nova Credit will work with you or check out your non-US credit history so that they can get more information before putting together a credit limit for you.
Minimum payments
How much are you going to have to pay on a monthly basis? For many people, this is one of the biggest “barriers to entry” when it comes to determining what you want from a credit card. For some business credit cards, they have a set minimum payment. For other cards, the minimum payment correlates with how much you owe. It all depends, and they’ll let you know that from the beginning.
Payment options
How are you going to be able to pay your credit card in the first place? Nowadays, most companies let you do everything online, because they understand that this is the direction the world is going in. Other companies prefer you to send via the mail or the phone. American Express and other companies generally work hard to be flexible in how they accept payments, so you can typically find “all of the above” when you’re searching for cards.
Grace periods
We all have issues with money from time to time, and sometimes, we’ll need some sort of grace period so that we can get things sorted out. Not all business credit cards will offer a grace period, or they will offer you one only if you’ve been connected with the company for a certain amount of time. Typically, you should be able to ask to skip a payment or to delay the date at which you can pay, but you want to check in first to ensure that you do it correctly.
Card fees
Card companies generally do everything possible to save their customers time and money when it comes to keeping up with credit cards. But, in instances where you have special rewards or a higher credit limit, you may be required to pay some sort of yearly fee in order to use your business credit cards. Some companies may also require you to pay some sort of fee if you have rewards or some other special addition to your card.
Rewards options
Everyone wants to get something back for all of the money they spend, right? Rewards options are more common than ever and they come in all types. If you want flight points, you can get them. Hotel points, rebates, and the like are all on the table as well. Check out the rewards and see which ones are going to fit your lifestyle the best.
Conclusion
Find the options that work best for you and see how much of a difference that it can actually make in relation to the big picture. You can find a lot of details on the web and know that you’re doing the best you can with the credit cards you’re considering.
