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The Best Business Credit Card For Me
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After I incorporated my little side operation, my first order of business was to think about whether or not I wanted to get a business credit card and, if I wanted one, which one would be the best for my needs. I reviewed my options, which I’ll list and discuss below, but ultimately I didn’t think I really needed a business card because my operations require very little spending on my part and thus carrying a credit card that has an annual fee (most do because of the reporting options and extra cards you can get) simply didn’t make much sense to me. I currently do have a business credit card in my wallet and it’s the American Express Business Gold card but that’s because they offered $250 gift cards/free airline ticket to applicants (and the first year annual fee was waived). After the first year, I’m likely going to cancel it because I hardly use it.
So where would a business card make sense? I think that it makes the most sense when you need specialty reporting features such as how much you’ve spent in each category all neatly outlined. If you have hundreds or thousands of transactions a year, having them reported out in an easy to read fashion is easily worth the $50 or $100 annual fees because it could take you hours to sort through them. That time could be better spent on your business operations.
Here were the cards I looked at and what my thoughts were on each:
Discover Business Card – With all the reporting features and no annual fee (crucial!), I believe that this card is probably the best one for my business, if I ever decide that I need to get a card. It gives 5% cash back on office supplies, 2% on gasoline, and 1% on everything; making it a lot like your typical consumer card. There is also a no annual fee Discover Miles Business Card which has more of a travel focus with 2 miles per dollar on travel and gasoline with 1 mile per dollar on everything else (it also has 12,000 bonus miles). I think the regular Business card is by far and away the best of the bunch because it has no annual fee, a reward program, and is basically a consumer card with a business card title.
American Express Business Gold – They are arguably one of the bigger names in the business card landscape because so many companies already use American Express and because of the $250 promotion. The Business Gold card also opens up the door to American Express Gold Card Events and the AMEX Membership Rewards program but comes with a $125 annual fee. The biggest draw of this card is that you can take advantage of AMEX’s concierge type program but I don’t really need that sort of service so I can’t really appreciate it.
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I like the The TrueEarnings(SM) for Business from Costco and American Express, which offers
# True cash back- 5% for gas, 3% for eating out, 2% for traveling, 1% everywhere else, including at Costco
# No annual fee with your paid Costco Membership
American Express has been regularly lowering credit limits and cancelling accounts in good standing without any reason or notification to the card holders. They are then offering to reinstate the account for a fee.