Applying for Business Credit Cards 10/4/2007

If you have taken on a position of responsibility and as part of your job description, you are required to be responsible for the use of and safety of your own business credit cards. In such a situation, it won’t be your individual credit rating that is taken into consideration; it will only be that of the company.

It was once very uncommon and still is infrequent for particular individuals to require business credit cards but with conferences involving frequent travel this is where any business credit cards will come in handy for those vital and sometimes unexpected circumstances.

Should a business credit card be required then it is very unlikely for you to need to undertake the process of applying for business credit cards, however, if this is a new tool which has never been implemented into the business before then your employer may ask of you to search for the best deals.

What do I look for in business credit cards?

This is again another good question. Searching for business credit cards is somewhat harder than that of applying for a personal credit card so where do you begin?

I would suggest starting with local high street banks / building societies because there are the most likely to offer preferential rates for businesses, similar to that of business loan rates.

• The interest rate. Will banks / lenders offer APR discounts for companies who take out several credit cards? With business credit cards, the majority of lenders may be somewhat flexible on their charges as several holders and potentially a large business will be involved
• Other benefits. What are the other benefits on offer with business credit cards? This should not influence your decision entirely despite it being great to obtain benefits, in most cases this won’t make much of a difference but if you could get extra “Flier” miles on everyday travel as this could result in free flights or even holidays.

These are the two main points you should remember when querying or applying for business credit cards and by searching around like you would do if the credit card is your own then this is going to be the most cost effective decision by selecting a lender which offers an attractive fixed rate amongst other benefits.

If there is anything you are unsure about when it comes to business credit cards then I would run this through with your boss to ensure you are getting a good deal. It would be much better to ask than just “go with the flow” and end up with the raw deal of offers when there are so many more choices available from lenders who are willing to be competitive when it comes to business credit cards.

No matter what they say, lenders can usually be flexible on their rates and this can benefit you also. If you find another lender in which the APR rate is lower than another lender may do what they can to match the previous offer. They want you to be one of their many loyal customers and they will almost certainly reward you handsomely for this. Searching for and selecting business credit cards may seem like a large hurdle but once you have jumped then so will the lenders.

Searching the market as hard as possible may take time but this is the way that many unknown companies with the best business credit cards offers available are located. It is more a case of trial and error than luck.