Key Features of a Good Business Credit Card
Monday, February 18th, 2008By the time that you need a business credit card, you probably feel like you’ve got the whole credit card thing down pat. You know that you need to find a good interest rate, read the fine print of your terms and make your payments in a timely manner. You might even know how to seek out the best credit card rewards before making an application. However, consumer credit cards and business credit cards aren’t exactly the same thing. There are some features of a good business credit card that differ from the features of a standard credit card. Making sure that you are aware of those features can be the difference between having a good card and having a great card.
The first thing that you’ll want to make sure that you get from a business credit card is fraud protection. Your business is going to be in jeopardy if you become a victim of identity theft. This is a problem for consumer credit cards but it’s a disaster for a business owner. This is true for several reasons. First of all, a consumer can find a way to get more money; a business may not be able to do the same thing. Secondly, you’re at more risk with business finances because you’ve probably got all of your financial information online and may have more than one person getting access to that information. And finally, you’re not just risking your own finances but also putting the other people involved with your business at risk. A good business credit card will offer $0 fraud liability.
The second key feature of a good business credit card is that the interest rate doesn’t change if the balance carries over. There are many different kinds of business credit cards. Some businesses get trapped because they get a card with a low interest rate and then figure out later that the interest rate changes after balances are carried over for a month. If you’re not going to be paying off every balance in full at the end of the month, it’s critical that you make sure that you understand this feature of the business credit card. Get a card that doesn’t penalize you in any way if you carry a balance.
The final feature that you really need to make sure that your business credit card has is scalability. In other words, it needs to be able to grow as your business grows. The credit limit either needs to be high or needs to have the possibility of being extended. The rewards need to be able to change as your business practices and needs change. The best thing here is to work with a company that offers different levels of the same credit card (such as a gold and a platinum business card). This way, you can make sure that you’re using the right card for your business even when your business doesn’t stay exactly the same.
