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When a valuable tool becomes worn out or obsolete, it’s in your company’s best interest to upgrade it. And even more than most types of business equipment, you have a lot to gain by upgrading your small business credit card. The credit card industry is intensely competitive, and card issuers are constantly introducing new products with more generous rewards, more valuable benefits and even promotional financing offers.
Here are some signs that you need to upgrade your business credit card, and some suggestions for how to find the best business credit cards.
Your card’s rewards aren’t competitive any more.
Every year, credit card issuers release new products that offer even more valuable rewards than older cards had. If you’ve been using the same credit card for several years, then it might not still offer rewards that are competitive with more recent products.
If you are earning points that can be transferred to airline miles, you should consider the the . r, and you can transfer your rewards to miles with 16 different frequent flyer programs. There’s no annual fee for this card.
Your card’s benefits are lagging.
Not content to just compete on rewards, many small business credit cards are offering even more valuable benefits than previous products had. For example, the gives you a $200 annual air travel fee credit and elite status with Starwood, Marriott and Hilton hotels, which allows you to receive room upgrades, late checkouts and bonus points. This card also features 10 Gogo inflight wifi passes and complimentary Internet access through the Boingo hotspots. . There’s a annual fee for this card.
You need a lower interest rate.
When you received your small business credit card, you might have been primarily interested in its rewards and benefits. But if you now use your credit card to finance purchases, you should be focussed on a product that offers you the most competitive interest rates. For example, the offers new applicants an introductory APR of , followed by a standard APR of . There’s no annual fee for this card.
Bank of America® Platinum Plus® Mastercard® Business card
Also, the U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card offers new accounts 20 months of interest free financing on both new purchases and balance transfers, with a 3% balance transfer fee. When the promotional rate expires, the standard interest rate can be as low as 11.49% for applicants with the best credit history. There’s no annual fee for this card.
You want more account management features.
One of the primary reasons for having a small business credit card is to manage your company’s purchasing, and some small business credit cards do a better job than others. For example, Chase offers its Ink app for use with its Ink line of small business cards. This free app gives you the ability to tag purchases with customizable categories. You can also use this app to snap images of store receipts that can be tagged. American Express small business cards allow you to designate an account manager who will have full access to new employee cards, and set spending limits. Your account manager can track the amount each employee spends and even create simple graphs.
The bottom line.
When you take the time to see what features, rewards and benefits are available from the newest small business credit cards, you can decide if it’s time for a credit card upgrade.
This article was originally written on April 23, 2018 and updated on February 14, 2022.
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