Wednesday, June 3, 2009

5 Important Things About Business Credit Cards

Some business owners think that getting a business credit card is unnecessary and choose to stick with their personal credit cards as a means of financing their business needs. But is there really an advantage in using a business credit card? Below are five important things a business owner must know about business credit cards.

1. Separate your personal and business finances.
At the start, one may feel that it’s okay to combine both personal and business charges using personal credit cards. But as you incur more business expenses in your personal account, you’ll see that combining the two isn’t such a good idea.

First, it makes accounting tasks more confusing and second, it makes management of your personal and business funding a lot more difficult. On the contrary, using a business credit card enables you to separate your personal account from your business account which is a great ease as your business starts to grow.

2. Business credit cards help build your business credit.
Every business owner must establish his own business credit history as early as possible. A business credit card lets you do just that. Keeping your business credit in good shape is a good preparation when the time comes that you’ll need additional help in financing or expanding your business.

3. Take advantage of special privileges.
Some privileges provided by business credit card companies are only limited to business credit card holders. These privileges include discounts, special rates, gifts, insurance, additional credit cards for employees, business reward programs and other perks that can boost your business.

In fact, credit cards with reward programs allow its holders to earn more points more quickly than personal credit card holders. This is because business expenditures are expectedly much higher than personal expenses. When you own a business, you’ll be spending the same amount of money each month whether you get a business credit card or not. So why let this opportunity pass when you can spend and earn rewards for your business expenses at the same time? Choose the best reward program that works best for your type of business. For instance, you may choose to get a credit card for business with a Cash Back Program, Frequent Traveler Rewards, Gas Rewards Program, etc.

4. Better rates.
Some people have the false notion that business credit cards always come with high interest. On the contrary, you can find business credit card deals today that are even lower than what personal credit cards offer. Don’t forget that competition between credit card companies enables consumers to choose the best deals.

5. Boost your personal credit history at the same time.
Since you haven’t yet established a business credit, when you apply for a business credit card, the bank would be granting you approval based on your personal credit history. This means, if you can keep up a clean credit in both your personal and business credit card accounts, it will be a great boost in your overall credit status.

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