The $1,000 cash bonus is here. Credit card companies are dangling big perks like this to small businesses to sign up. Is it worth it?

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Question: What’s the best small business credit card? I own a boutique clothing store and am constantly charging things, but I’m not sure that I’m getting the most bang for my buck. I’d like to be able to benefit personally or have my business benefit from large expenditures, but I don’t know which card can help me do that.

Answer: Like with personal credit cards, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer for which small business credit card is the best. The best one is the one that rewards you most for what your business already spends the most on. For example, if you spend a lot wining and dining clients, you might want a card with restaurant rewards. That said, most businesspeople don’t want to spend a ton of time thinking about credit card rewards, they just want a great return with minimal effort, says Matt Schulz, credit card expert at LendingTree. He recommends the following two cards, as “really good simple options” with cash-back rewards across all categories.

  • Capital One Spark Cash Plus, which offers unlimited 2% cash back everything, 5% back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, and an up to a $1,000 cash bonus ($500 once you spend $5,000 in the first 3 months, and $500 when spend $50,000 in the first 6 months of account opening)
  • Chase’s Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card, which offers 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make for your business, no annual fee and $900 cash back when you spend $6,000 within the first three months of opening your account.

Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com, says he suspects that a boutique clothing store would benefit more from cash back than travel rewards and for his part, he recommends:

  • American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, which lets you earn 2% cash back on eligible purchases up to $50,000 per calendar year, then 1%; as well as a $250 statement credit after you make $3,000 in purchases in your first 3 months. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Greg Karp, credit card expert at Nerdwallet, says if your spending is broad and doesn’t fit neatly into common bonus-rewards categories, go for a flat-rate card that gives you the same rewards no matter what you buy. “With business cards, you can generally expect better sign-up bonuses than with personal cards and the most rewarding cards are likely to carry an annual fee which is a tax-deductible business expense,” says Karp.

That said, If most of your business’ spending is at a specific retailer, consider looking into whether it offers a credit card. “If you spend a far larger amount on one particular type of purchase, such as office supplies, consider a card that gives extra rewards for those things,” says Schulz. Of course, if you’d rather have travel points or miles instead of cash back, look at cards that feature those.

There are lots of options out there for your business and if you think about how you spend and what you want from a card and then shop around for the best fit, you can have a real impact on your business’ bottom line, and that’s a big deal, says Schulz. And if you need a tie-breaker to help you decide which card is best for you, Karp recommends exploring what business tools the card offers, like the ability to track receipts or easily download transactions into bookkeeping software.


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