Best Credit Card in 2023
Let’s imagine you’re in Houston, Texas in the USA and are trying to buy business insurance from Allstate, but you don’t have the cash or other funding currently, you use credit cards. It’s safe to say that the world is gradually shifting away from using cash to make payments in favor of other means for the sake of convenience. One of the most used ways to purchase goods and pay for a service is the credit card, which is issued by financial institutions and allows for the borrowing of funds according to Finance – Rates.
You can find many types that exist, including business credit cards, which in turn are numerous, with some being better than others. So, which card can be thought of as the one that’s worthy of completely abandoning cash? Well, let’s discuss and look at the best cards out there and also understand what criteria they often have to meet and to be considered.
Importance of Business Credit Cards
While the basis of how credit cards work is mostly the same, there are multiple versions of them, each one having its characteristics. This piece is mainly going to speak about the business-specific variety, which is specific to business operations separate from any personal finances. Having one brings you the following benefits:
- They often have a higher credit limit
- They usually reward businesses based on their specifics
- They often provide an attractive signing bonus
- They allow your credit card to be separate from your business operations
Annual Fees and Interest Rates
Running a credit card, irrespective of type, will cost you something every year. This is what’s known as the annual fee and different cards have varying offers regarding it. The interest rates or APR (Annual Percentage Rate) attached to them that have to be paid after borrowing also vary between different cards. This is because every card had a different term or terms and conditions attached to it.
Credit Limit
This refers to the largest possible amount of credit that institutions are willing to extend to their clients. It’s often determined by your current credit score, income and your past transitions as it pertains to repayment. Because business expenses are generally more than personal ones, the limits are generally higher.
Credit Card Rewards and Benefits
Credit cards are generally quite beneficial outside the convenience of not carrying cash. One benefit comes in the form of return protection, which allows you to get a refund for goods or services regardless of whether return policies are present. Some people are swayed heavily by the rewards some cards have.
When you look closely, not every card offers the same thing in a standard way. So, it’s best to look at the following rewards and benefits and find the card that fits you by offering as many of them as possible:
- Cash back rewards based on parameters set by issuers
- Lack of an annual fee
- Lack of transaction fees when in foreign places as well as a wide array of traveling and luxury benefits
Business Credit Cards
With the above criteria in mind, we can get into which are the best business credit cards out there. Bear in mind that each of these cards is different and it’s all quite relative unless you’re looking for something that ticks all the boxes to some extent. Without further ado, let’s look at a few of the highly regarded cards below, what makes them so, as well as what to expect before they can be used:
Wells Fargo’s Business Elite Signature Card
This card requires you to have a good to excellent credit score and once given, you should know that the Interest Rates on the card is roughly 12%. It is designed to cater to the larger businesses out there, specifically those with millions of dollars worth of annual sales, hence the $125 annual fee, although year one is free.
While all this sounds rough, the rewards are more than makeup for it. These include a $1000 signing bonus, a maximum of 200 cards for employees sans cost, and multiple cash-back rewards.
American Express Business Platinum Card
It should come as no surprise that something American Express-related finds itself here, given that these cards are used in over 80 million places globally. The American Express platinum card is designed for the traveling business person. As such, it has an annual fee nearly six times higher than the previous card, while having Interest Rates that range between 19.49% and 27.49% sans intro period.
This also looks pretty rough, but traveling business people would do well with them, as the expenses cover the rewards. These include a litany of travel and spending-related rewards that come in the form of access as well as points.
The Amazon Business Prime American Express Card
This card is for any sort of business that spends anything on Amazon. It’s quite obvious via the name, that this card is only available to Amazon Prime members, which seems limiting. This is only compounded by the fact that the interest rates on these are similar to those of the platinum card.
Having said that, it comes with no annual fees as well as a welcome bonus that comes in the form of a $125 gift card. It also comes with several percentage cash-back rewards that may be used, when cash flow is currently tight.
Conclusion
The idea of a credit card has existed for almost a century and a half, and with many out there, narrowing down your search to the best ones that fit you is challenging. With a list of some cards worth considering here, you can narrow down your searches.
These, of course, depend on how good of a match you are with them and irrespective of what type of card you want. Business or otherwise, you may need to use the criteria to find the exact card you’re looking for. As for which of the listed examples is the best, it’s all pretty relative, although picking among these standouts is generally the way to go according to the Rates company.