business credit card

[Burley]

Can anyone out there recommend a good business credit card?

[SecretarytoBraveDave]

Your banking institution should give you good rates if you have a good relationship. It is very possible to get 50K unsecured credit line/creditcard with competitive rates.

[Duane]

SBD is correct. I have a 50K business credit line through my local bank and it is at 6.25% right now. I haven't needed to use it yet, but if I ever need some cash I'll know what it will cost.

For the business I have almost everything taken out of the business checking account automatically and then use the debit card for local purchases. My accounting time is down to about 30 minutes a month for the mat.


If you need to borrow money then check into a business line of credit. If you want to use it for purchases then a debit card works great. If you will use the credit card and pay it off each month then any credit card will work.

If you decide to use a credit card get one that pays a cash back or travel miles. You will be surprised on how much you can earn a month.

If you are traveling then you will need a credit card for car rentals. Car rentals will not accept debit cards for rental payments.

Duane.

[petefritz]

I do not think a "business" credit card is necassary, any card you hold personally will work just fine. Get a couple, use one for business. I agree with Duane, make sure you get free gas, miles, cash back, something. Some business credit cards do not offer these perks, and some charge yearly fees. I have never had a business credit card and I charge everything to my cards I can. I also have gotton those cheap rates and used them for business purposes. Just keep track and good records, no law says a card has to be in your business name use it or take deductions on it.

[SecretarytoBraveDave]

Isn't it beneficial to have credit in the business name and payment history?

[Kari]

You do want to make sure that you find a card that gives you some type of reward. I have a business card (It came free when I set up my business account) but I put everything on my personal card. That way I rack up more miles. If you devide your purchases up on your business and personal card it will only take you longer to earn that free trip /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif But yes as Pete said you really need to make sure you keep good records.

Heck I even put my gas bill on the credit card - It just makes for one hell of a check I have to write at the end of the month. We are going to check to see if the water and electric will do the same. We are lucky in the fact that they do not charge us any extra fee to use the credit card.

[SecretarytoBraveDave]

But, if only using personal credit card doesn't that merely credit your personal credit history and not your business? Whether or not your personal credit is highly established don't you want the same rating for your business classification as well?

[Howard]

I may be wrong, but I don't think any of those "Business" credit cards are truly based on the business credit. When you fill out the application they always ask for the ssn of an officer or the person who's name goes on the card. Thus, while they have a business name on them in reality they are a personal card and the credit is in your name with the card issuer's ability to also go after the business for payment.

This was always the case with AmEx cards that anyone I know ever got from a major corp so I cannot imagine it would be otherwise for a small business.

[petefritz]

who cares about how much credit history I can rack up under my business name! My water, light, rent bills will be the history. We are in a cash business with littel inventory, and do not need to buy merchandise on extended terms, so really a credit history is not needed anyway. You buy parts with a credit card, not really much more here you need an "open account" for doing business.

[Burley]

Thank you to those of you who provided the input shown above!! Your thoughts and comments have helped me very much!! Have a great day!