Best Corporate Credit Card with Rewards
Business owners in fast-growing or well-established companies can often take advantage of some of the best business credit cards in the form of corporate cards. These cards often come with premium rewards and benefits.
With so many different credit cards available, it can be difficult to find the best one for your business needs. Here we’ll share the best corporate cards and the rewards they offer.
But first it’s important to understand the difference between corporate cards and small business credit cards:
Corporate cards typically refer to credit cards available to high growth/high spend businesses, or to businesses with significant revenues ($2 to $10 million+ annually). Qualification requirements are usually heavily geared toward the business, including business revenues.
Small business credit cards tend to be available to a wider range of small businesses. These cards are usually available to microbusinesses (think independent contractors) as well as businesses with up to a few hundred employees. Qualification requirements often include the owner’s personal credit and income from all sources (not just the business).
Given that small business credit cards are often available to businesses that are candidates for corporate cards, we’ll include some of the best of both here.
Types of Corporate Credit Card Rewards
Rewards programs usually fall into the following categories:
Cash back rewards offer a rebate of 1-5% on eligible purchases.Cash back can usually be awarded as a statement credit or in the form of a check or ACH deposit to a bank account.
Points are often tied to travel rewards and can be redeemed for flights, hotel rooms and other travel. However, many can also be redeemed for gift cards or other merchandise. Usually a point is worth one cent, though it can be worth more, depending on the redemption options and whether you use it strategically.
Cryptocurrency. Some cards are now offering the option to receive rewards as bitcoin, ethereum or other types of crypto.
Corporate and small business rewards programs can be more lucrative than those on personal credit cards as credit card issuers want to entice higher-spending customers to use their card over other ones they may have.
What to Look for in a Corporate Credit Card Rewards
When you’re comparing small business credit card offers with rewards you’ll want to evaluate the following factors:
Types of rewards. Again, most cards offer cash back or points. (A few give the cardholder the choice of each type of reward, or will allow points to be redeemed for cash back.) The key here is to make sure you choose the rewards most valuable to you. When in doubt, cash back is a popular redemption option because it’s flexible.
Types of spending required. Some rewards cards bonus cash back or bonus points for spending in specific spending categories; for example, office supplies or restaurants. If you’re chasing higher rewards for bonus categories you’ll want to make sure you understand what types of business purchases you plan to put on the card and make sure they align.
Welcome offers. Some cards offer higher reward rates in the first few months of account opening, or sign-up bonuses when you spend a certain amount within a specific time frame. These offers can be lucrative, but be sure to understand the overall reward rate after this offer expires.
Rewards caps. Some cards will cap rewards generally, or more often on specific types of purchases. Once you hit the cap in a calendar year, you will revert to the standard reward rate. That won’t be an issue for businesses that don’t spend a lot, but businesses with high spend will likely want to choose a card account offering unlimited rewards.
Annual Fee. Corporate cards may carry high annual fees of several hundred dollars. You’ll want to weigh the cost of the annual fee against the rewards you’ll earn. For businesses with high spend, it’s very likely you’ll break even quickly on the annual fee. However, for smaller businesses, this calculation is important.
Other costs. If your business makes frequent purchases outside the US, you’ll want a card with no foreign transaction fees. If you plan to carry a balance, interest rates matter. A card with a low introductory APR for purchases and/or balance transfers may be preferable, but be sure you know what the interest rate will be when the intro APR expires.
Other perks. Other perks may be important to your business, such as free employee cards with spending controls or virtual cards that control spending at various merchants. Travel rewards may include benefits valuable to business travelers such as car rental coverage, priority boarding on flights, free room upgrades, or free checked bags.
High credit limits. A high credit limit is another key benefit some businesses will want to look for. Having your card declined because you’ve reached an arbitrary credit limit can be detrimental to your business, whether it happens at an important business dinner or when you are trying to ramp up a successful online advertising campaign.
Qualification requirements. A card is only worthwhile if you qualify for it. Corporate cards tend to have more rigorous qualification requirements. You’ll almost certainly need an employer identification number (EIN) and most cards are only available to businesses that are registered as a business entity (not sole proprietors). Strong revenues are often required. Business credit history may be checked.
The credit card application will likely require a Social Security number, though that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a personal credit check. Small business credit cards (more so than corporate cards) are likely to check personal credit scores to determine creditworthiness, and when they do, excellent credit is often required. Corporate cards are less likely than small business cards to require a personal guarantee and many don’t report to the owner’s personal credit reports.
Startups or new businesses less than a year old will often have a more difficult time getting a true corporate card, though they may have no trouble getting a small business credit card.
7 Best Rewards Corporate Credit Cards
For those looking for a rewards credit card for their business, here are some of the best business credit cards and corporate cards to consider:
Brex
Brex offers 1x points on most qualifying purchases, but purchases in certain categories may earn bonus points as high as 8x.
Brex’s emphasis recently is on businesses that have received investment through a venture capital firm, accelerator, angel funding etc. You may only apply if your business is registered in the US as a corporation, LLC or LLP.
There is no annual fee.
Ramp
Designed as a card with expense management tools, it offers 1.5% unlimited cash back.
Ramp’s main selling point is expense management tools including the ability to tailor spending limits on a per-card basis. Receipt matching, rules management and savings insights are built in. Only businesses with a US EIN, at least $75,000 in a US business bank account, and organized as a corporation, limited liability company, or LP (including nonprofits) may apply.
There is no annual fee.
Divvy
Divvy has several versions of its small business and corporate cards, requiring either weekly, semi-monthly or monthly payments. That payment cycle will determine rewards levels. Rewards start at 1x points for all but the weekly payment cycle where rewards start at 1.5x points.
Restaurant spending goes up to 2x points (monthly payments), 4x (semi-monthly) or 7x (weekly). Other spending categories that can earn additional points are hotels and recurring software subscriptions.Points may be used for travel, gift cards, statement credits, cash back and more.
There is no annual fee.
American Express
To qualify for an American Express corporate credit card, your business should have at least $4 million in annual revenue. (Your business may or may not qualify at that level, depending on the number of employees and other factors.) If you don’t qualify for a corporate card you may need to choose an American Express card designed for small businesses such as The Business Platinum card, The American Express Business Gold Card, the Business Green Rewards Card, or the Blue Business Plus Card.
If your business is eligible, you may choose to have cardholders enroll in individual rewards, use a pooled Corporate Membership Rewards program where the company determines how rewards are used, or the Corporate Cashback® Program. Generally, you’ll earn one Membership Rewards point for every dollar or for every two dollars of eligible purchases charged, but it will vary by card and the program chosen by the business. The American Express Corporate Green Card comes with an option to earn 1% cash back on all eligible purchases in the form of a monthly statement credit on the company’s central account.
Annual fees range from $75 to $550.
Chase Ink Business Preferred
This small business credit card card earns an unlimited 1 point per dollar spent and bonus points totalling 3x points on shipping, social media, search engine advertising, travel, internet, cable, and phone services categories on the first $150,000 spent per calendar year. It also currently features a welcome offer of 100,000 bonus points once you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months. With this card, Ultimate Rewards Points are worth 25% more when you redeem them for travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Compare Chase Ink Business Preferred, Chase Ink Business Cash and Chase Ink Business Unlimited here.
The annual fee is $95.
Capital One Spark Miles For Business
This small business credit card offers a general rewards rate of 2x miles on business expenses charged to the card. But you can earn bonus miles of 5x miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel. It is currently offering a welcome bonus of 50,000 miles when you spend $4,500 in the first three months.
The annual fee is $0 for the first year then $95.
Dash.fi
Dash.fi offers 3% unlimited cash back for the first sixty days then 1.5% after that. As we’ll explain in a moment, it’s geared towards businesses that need high credit limits, which means cash rewards really add up when spending is high.
There is no annual fee.
Why Dash.fi has the Best Corporate Credit Card Rewards
Dash.fi offers a robust rewards program with no caps on the amount you can earn. Cash back rewards start at 3% unlimited cash back for the first 60 days, then 1.5% unlimited. It also offers an option to create a customized cash back rewards program.
If your business needs higher credit limits, this is a particularly attractive card as it’s designed with much higher than average card limits: 10– 20x higher. Increases can be approved in minutes, giving your business more flexibility when you need to increase your business spending immediately.
It also offers unlimited virtual cards with advanced spending controls, making it uniquely adaptable for businesses tracking multiple transactions across different merchants and ad networks.
