Between the many business cards out there, you may be wondering which one would earn you the highest rewards for your business. 

In this post, I’ll clarify which business card can best suit your business.

For a business that spends less than $50k a year

For a business that spends less than $50,000 a year, the American Express Blue Business Cash Card ($0) and the The Blue Business Plus Credit Card from American Express ($0) would make the best choices.

Both these cards earn 2 points on all purchases on up to $50,000 spent annually, and they each have no annual fee.

The only difference between the Blue Cash and the Blue Plus cards is that one earns points and the other earns cashback.

For a business that spends more than $50k a year

For a business that spends more than $50,000 a year, the Capital One Spark Cash Plus ($150) would be the best fit. With the Spark Cash Plus, you will earn unlimited 2% cashback on all purchases.

Some will claim that the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card ($0) is a better choice, even if it only earns unlimited 1.5 points on all purchases, because of its bonus value. With the Ink Unlimited, you can get a 2.25% value by using the points with the Sapphire Reserve to book travel for 1.5 cents per point. It all boils down to how much your business spends on travel. If your business spends enough on travel to cashout the full value of your points then go for the Ink Unlimited. But if not then you would rather just earn 2% cashback across the board with the Capital One Spark Cash Plus. 

For your info, the Spark Cash Plus can also be transferred to airlines if you have a card from Capital One that earns miles (that includes any Spark Miles card or any Venture card). So with the Spark Plus card you have  the flexibility of using it for either cashback or miles.

Chase also has the Chase Ink Business Premier card ($195), which earns 2.5% cashback per transaction on all purchases, up to $5,000. And 2% cashback on all purchases.

This card is by invitation only so you’ll have to ask in a branch if you can apply for the card. If eligible, then this card is a great choice. 

Another option that might work well for some is the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card ($0). It earns 1.5% cashback on all purchases plus you can earn another 75% on all purchases (a total of 2.62%) when you are a Bank Of America Business Platinum Honors member.

You become a Business Platinum Honors member when you have $100,000 or more in your Bank of America accounts. 

So if this card will work for you depends if you have $100k available to sit in your account, and if you swipe enough for the 75% additional reward points to make enough of a difference.

For each million dollars you swipe, you earn a difference of $6,000 (more than the Capital One Spark Cash Plus). If you swipe just a few hundred thousand dollars, then your reward difference would be just a few hundred dollars. So figuring out if the higher rewards are worth parking $100k in your Bank of America account depends on what dollar amount your extra cashback will end up being, compared to other investment opportunities (you can put the $100k into a Bank of America investment account as well, so you do not necessarily need to lose stock market opportunities).

Best corporate card

The Ramp Corporate Card ($0) is a great corporate card. It earns 1.5% cashback on all purchases, but you can negotiate for higher cashback if you spend a lot, sometimes getting to over 2% cashback.

The Ramp card has no personal guarantee and no personal credit is needed to apply for the card. Ramp does not check your personal credit when you apply for the card, they base it only on a scan they perform of your bank accounts (and other factors). They check your bank account for details such as cash flow.

You usually need a steady average of $75k in your business checking account in order to get approved. Also, your business needs to spend a min of $10,000 on credit cards to get approved for the card.

The card offers advanced bookkeeping technology to make it easy for you to keep track of your expenses. With the Ramp advanced software, you’re able to categorize transactions real-time, collect receipts as the transactions happen, set different controls on different cards, and more. 

Best business cards for different categories

Your business may be spending a lot on various other categories, not mentioned above. 

Here are the best business cards for different categories.

Best business card for gas

The American Express Business Gold Card ($375) earns 4 points on the 2 categories where you spend the most each billing period on up to $150,000 in spending annually, with gas being one of the categories. 

The points are valued at 1.0 – 1.3  cents per point.

Best business card for Amazon

The Amazon Business Prime American Express Card ($0) earns 5% cashback at Amazon business, AWS, Amazon.com, and Whole Foods Market, capped to the first $120,000 spent annually, making it the highest Amazon earner business card.

Best business card for office supplies

The Ink Business Cash Credit Card ($0) earns 5% cashback on up to $25,000 spent annually on office supply stores.

Best business card for phone and internet

The Ink Business Cash Credit Card ($0) also comes in as the highest for phone and internet fees. You can earn 5% cashback on up to $25,000 spent annually on internet, cable, and phone services.

Best business card for PPC marketing

The American Express Business Gold Card ($375) earns 4 points on the 2 categories where you spend the most each billing period on up to $150,000 in spending annually, with select media and advertising being one of the categories. 

The points are valued at 1.0 – 1.3  cents per point.

Best business card for shipping

The American Express Business Gold Card ($375) earns 4 points on the 2 categories where you spend the most each billing period on up to $150,000 in spending annually, with shipping being one of the categories. 

The points are valued at 1.0 – 1.3  cents per point.

Best business card for groceries

The top grocery earner is actually a personal card. The Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express ($95) earns 6% cashback at U.S. supermarkets on up to $6,000 per year in purchases.

For those that spend $25,000 annually on groceries, then the American Express Gold Card ($250) is the perfect grocery card. You earn 4 points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 spent annually.

For the top business card for groceries, we need to drop all the way down to the U.S. Bank Business Leverage Visa Signature Card ($95 – waived 1st year), which earns 2 points on net purchases made within your top two categories, including groceries. Which makes it no better than any of the 2% cashback cards mentioned above.

Best business card for car rentals

The best card for car rentals is the Chase Sapphire Reserve ($550), which earns 10 points on car rentals booked through the Chase Travel Portal, plus 3 points on all other travel. The points are valued at 1.0 – 1.5  cents per point.

For the best business card for car rentals, check out the Capital One Spark Cash Plus ($150) which earns 5% cashback on hotels and car rentals booked through Capital One Travel.

Best business card for restaurants

The American Express Business Gold Card ($375) earns 4 points on the 2 categories where you spend the most each billing period on up to $150,000 in spending annually, with U.S. restaurants as one of the categories. 

It is the highest earner business card for restaurants. 

So whatever your business spends the most on, choose a card that will in turn, give you the best rewards.