How to Choose a Business Credit Card in 6 Steps

Most entrepreneurs can benefit from business credit cards — whether they’re just starting out, a growing small business or already well established. However, selecting the right card depends not only on those business characteristics, but also an individual’s personal qualifications.

Follow these steps to choose a business credit card that best fits your needs.

You can get a business credit card without having a business. Freelancers, gig workers and others without an official corporate structure can all potentially qualify.

That’s because most small-business credit card issuers determine eligibility based on an applicant’s personal credit history. Factors like annual business revenue play more into deciding things like your available credit limit — not if you’ll get approved.

You will typically need excellent personal credit (usually a FICO score of 690 or higher) to qualify for most small-business cards, although there are some business credit cards for fair credit (FICO scores from 630 to 689).

If your score falls below that threshold, you’ll likely want to start with a secured card. These are often the easiest business credit cards to get, as their credit limit is tied to a cash deposit you provide. A secured card can help you build your personal credit so you can qualify for additional business card options in the future.

» MORE: Best business credit cards for bad credit

One of the biggest benefits of business credit cards is the ability to separate your company spending from your personal expenses. But you can do that with a dedicated consumer credit card as well.

There are some key differences between personal and business credit cards. You’ll want to be aware of these to determine which best meets your needs.

For instance, if your business is growing and you need to make a lot of purchases each month, business credit cards tend to have higher credit limits than personal options to support that. Most business cards also offer employee credit cards, which can make it easier to track individuals’ spending and reduce the need to reimburse them.

On the other hand, business credit cards typically require a personal guarantee — meaning you have to pay off that higher balance with your own funds if your business can’t. Card Act protections like limits on interest rate hikes also don’t apply to business credit cards. This makes it even more important to pay your bills on time.

Look over your books for the past six months, and identify your two or three biggest operating costs. This will provide a window into the type of business credit card that will best align with your spending.

Options include:

• Business gas credit cards.

• Credit cards for ad spend. 

• Hotel business credit cards.

Just starting out, or find your expenses don’t easily fall into specific buckets? Consider a cash-back business credit card that delivers a flat reward percentage on all purchases.

And if you know you have a big expenditure on the horizon, opting for a business card with a 0% intro APR period could offer some breathing room to pay it off interest free over time.

Aside from seeing where your company spends its money, picking the right rewards program also requires you to consider your business’s “lifestyle.”

To get started, ask yourself a few questions:

• Does my business require a lot of long-distance travel? If so, a travel business credit card that allows you to redeem rewards for flights and hotels is probably a good choice.

• Does my business keep me behind the wheel a lot? If so, a card that offers good rewards on gas might be just the ticket. If your business has a fleet of vehicles, a fuel card could be an even better fit. 

• Do I frequently need to entertain clients at bars or restaurants? If so, a card that offers a higher rewards rate on restaurant spending is probably in order.

• Does my business have a preferred financial institution? If so, card issuers like Bank of America and Chase may offer you elevated rewards rates or other relationship bonuses if you already bank with them.  

• Does my cash flow support a pay-in-full card? If so, a business charge card with no preset limit could give you the greatest spending power. But if you may need to carry a balance, pay attention to a card's ongoing interest rate.

Beyond interest charges, you’ll also want to think about a card's other costs. The biggest is often an annual fee. And while there are a number of business credit cards with no annual fee, don’t automatically disqualify those that have one.

Cards with annual fees usually have more extras, higher rewards rates and bigger signup bonuses. This can make forking over the fee worthwhile sometimes, especially since it’s potentially a deductible tax expense if you use your card solely for business purposes.

The key is to do the math. Compare your business’s annual spending and the rewards rates of the cards you’re considering to the cost of the fee. It’s a good way to open up more card options, or alternatively, eliminate a few.

If you’ve narrowed your picks down to just a couple of business cards, additional perks may pull one ahead of another.

For instance, if you’re spending a lot of time in airports, see if one card provides lounge access to make your trips more comfortable. Frequent international travelers may want to hone in on a business card with no foreign transaction fee as well.

Or if you’re trying to simplify your bookkeeping, look at whether the cards integrate with your accounting software. Ultimately, these might not be your top priorities in choosing a business credit card, but they could make it easier to arrive at your final decision.