The best cash-back business credit cards

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Whether your small business is a side gig (like running an Airbnb or reselling items online) or a million-dollar corporation, using one of the best cash-back business credit cards for your expenses makes sense. You can “redeem” cash for anything, whether it’s travel or reinvesting in your business. Many of us on the MMS team keep cash-back business cards in our wallets for this very reason.

Cash-back cards are a good complement to the best travel credit cards, especially if you have travel expenses not easily reimbursed by miles and points. And with hefty welcome bonuses (including bonuses from business credit cards with no annual fee) and categories that earn you more cash back for common business purchases, you’ll be racking up big rewards in no time.

We’ve picked apart the strengths (and drawbacks) of each of the cards on our list and placed our top choices into easy-to-understand categories. Here’s more about the best cash-back small business credit cards so you can decide which is best for you.

• Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card: Best overall
• Ink Business Preferred Credit Card: Best welcome offer (you’ll earn points that can be used for cash back)
• Ink Business Cash Credit Card: Best for bonus categories
• Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card: Best for staying under Chase’s 5/24 rule
• Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business: Best for starting out

Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card

Best overall

Bonus

With this card, you can earn a $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Benefits

Along with earning 1.5% cash back on every purchase, you’ll get perks like:

• Extended Warranty — Extends the eligible US manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year on eligible warranties of three years or less when you make the purchase with your card
• Purchase Protection — Covers eligible new purchases, made with your card, for 120 days from damage or theft up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account
• Rental car insurance — Primary insurance for theft or collision damage when you rent for business purposes, decline the rental company’s collision insurance and charge the entire rental to your card
• Free employee cards — With spending limits you set

Annual fee

This is a card with no annual fee.

Our take

This is the no-annual-fee, cash-back business credit card I recommend most because it offers a higher rate of return on every purchase, regardless of how much you spend per year. Most businesses have lots of large expenses that don’t fall neatly into narrowly defined bonus categories.

And just like with the Chase Ink Business Cash card, if you don’t want cash, you can pool the Chase Ultimate Rewards points you earn from the Business Unlimited card onto an eligible Chase credit card and then transfer them to Chase’s travel partners.

Ink Business Cash Credit Card

Best for bonus categories

Bonus

The Ink Business Cash credit card has an introductory $750 bonus cash back after you spend $7,500 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Benefits

The card also has excellent 5x and 2x bonus categories. You’ll earn:

• 5% cash back (5x Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1) on the first $25,000 you spend at office supply stores and on phone, internet and cable TV services
• 2% cash back (2x Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1) on the first $25,000 spent at gas stations and restaurants
• 1% cash back (1x Chase Ultimate Rewards point per $1) on all other purchases

So if you spend a lot on the card’s bonus categories, like office supply stores or at gas stations, you can really rack up the rewards.

Annual fee

None.

Our take

If you spend a lot in the bonus categories, the Chase Ink Business Cash can give you money back toward your bottom line. Like other Chase cards, it’s subject to the 5/24 rule, but because it’s a small-business card, it won’t count toward your 5/24 status when you open it. You can combine the points you earn with this card with other cards that earn Ultimate Rewards points, even personal cards.

Considering there’s no annual fee, the $500 welcome offer is extremely generous. If you decide to apply, check out our Chase Ink Cash approval tips.

Here’s our full review of the Ink Business Cash card.

Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card

Best for staying under Chase’s 5/24 rule

Bonus

You’ll earn a $300 statement credit after spending $3,000 within the first 90 days of account opening.

Benefits

The Bank of America Business Advantage card’s bonus categories are great because they include popular spending categories. With the card you’ll earn 3% cash back in the category of your choice: gas stations (default), office supply stores, travel, TV/telecom & wireless, computer services or business consulting services, 2% cash back on dining (for the first $50,000 in combined choice category/dining purchases each calendar year, 1% thereafter), and 1% cash back on all other purchases.

In addition, there are a few ways to redeem the rewards you earn. You can redeem your cash back as a deposit into your Bank of America checking or savings account, as a card statement credit or as a check mailed to you. And your cash rewards don’t expire.

Annual fee

This card has no annual fee.

Our take

With a lower minimum spending requirement than most of the other cards on this list, the Bank of America® Business Advantage Cash Rewards is a great choice. Also, applying won’t count against your Chase 5/24 status, so it’s an even better option for those in the miles & points hobby.

Capital One Spark Cash Select for Business

Best for starting out

Bonus

This card earns a $200 bonus after you spend $3,000 on purchases within the first three months.

Benefits

You’ll also get:

• 1.5% cash back on all purchases
• No foreign transaction fees
• Free employee cards

Annual fee

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Business card doesn’t have an annual fee. And it has no foreign transaction fees, so it’s a great card to use overseas.

Our take

This is also a good no-annual-fee credit card for folks who are over the Chase “5/24” limit and still want to earn 1.5% cash back on all their business purchases.

But, if you’re under the Chase 5/24 limit, I suggest applying for the Chase Ink Business Unlimited card instead, because the Chase Ink Business Unlimited has a bigger intro bonus for the same minimum spending requirement. And you’ll still get 1.5% cash back everywhere with no annual fee. Here’s our review of the Capital One Spark Cash Select card.

A business card that earns points that can be used for cash back

Chase Ink Business Preferred

Best welcome bonus

Bonus

You’ll earn 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. And while this isn’t a cash back card in the traditional sense, you can redeem the Ultimate Rewards points you earn for 1 cent a piece, meaning the welcome bonus is worth $1,000!

Benefits 

The card also comes with the following coverages:

• Cell phone Insurance – You get up to $1,000 per claim in cellphone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees listed on your monthly phone bill when you pay it with your credit card.
• Extended Warranty – When you buy stuff with your card, they add one extra year when the warranty is three years or less. The extended warranty protection is up to the amount charged to your card less shipping and handling fees, with a maximum of $10,000 and no more than $50,000 per calendar year. (Sorry, your business yacht is not covered.)
• Rental Car Insurance – Rental car insurance is primary when renting for business purposes and you decline the car rental agency’s CDW.
• Baggage Coverage – If your baggage is delayed for more than six hours, you could be reimbursed for emergency purchases of essential items (i.e. clothing, toiletries, cellphone charging cables and more). You can get up to $100 per day for a maximum of five days.
• Lost Luggage – This benefit covers the cost to repair or replace lost luggage and the personal items inside. You can be reimbursed up to $3,000 per person each trip with a limit of $500 for items such as jewelry and electronics. (So don’t pack your original Picasso.)
• Trip Delay Protection – If your trip is delayed for more than 12 hours (or requires an overnight stay), you could be reimbursed for up to $500 per ticket for reasonable expenses (meals, lodging, toiletries, medication and other personal use items).

In addition, you won’t have to worry about foreign transaction fees and it’s free to add employee cards to your account.

Herre’s more about the Ink Business Preferred’s benefits and perks.

Annual fee

The Chase Ink Business Preferred has a $95 annual fee.

Our take

You can’t go wrong with this card. If you cash out the intro bonus you’ll take home $1,000 minus the annual fee. Or you could move the points you earn to a Chase transfer partner for even more value. For example, your 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points can become 100,000 United Airlines miles or 100,000 Hyatt points.

How we chose the best cash-back business cards

We did the research, going through the fine print to pick apart the best deals. Most Million Mile Secrets team members have their own small businesses and currently hold many of the cards we’re talking about.

When you’re considering a card, pay attention to key factors like:

Welcome bonus

Banks entice folks to apply for their credit cards with headline-grabbing bonuses. A big welcome bonus can make a card a great deal but the intro bonus is not the only thing you should look at when applying for a card because you could be missing out on huge savings down the road.

Minimum spending requirements

You’ve gotta give a little to get a little. That attractive bonus isn’t going to automatically show up in your account. You’ll need to meet a minimum spending requirement within a certain timeframe to qualify for the intro bonus. Don’t spend more than you normally would just to meet a minimum spending requirement. So if you can’t comfortably meet a card’s minimum spending, hold off on applying until you can. I like to apply for new business credit cards just before I’ve got big expenses coming up, like quarterly taxes.

Cash-back earning rate

It’s important to know how much cash back you’ll be earning per dollar spent. You’ll also want to be aware of which categories earn extra bonus rewards so you can be sure you’re using the right card for every purchase.

Perks, quirks and fees

Cash-back business credit cards come in all sorts of flavors. Some have no annual fees, other cards have an annual fee. However, the cards with fees typically have valuable perks that can easily make the fee worth paying. Some cards come with extra insurance for certain activities, like renting a car. We’ll let you know all the hidden benefits of each card.

Do you qualify for a small-business card?

Think you don’t qualify for a small business credit card? Not so fast. You don’t need to own a coffee shop or be a founder of the latest tech start-up to earn lucrative rewards from small-business credit cards.

You can be a part-time freelancer or independent contractor and qualify. Even side gigs, like selling on Etsy or eBay, could be enough to qualify you. You just have to be able to show that you’re operating a for-profit venture.

You might not need to have an EIN (Employer Identification Number) because if you’re a sole proprietor, you can apply for a business card using your Social Security number as your business tax ID on the application. Often you can use your own name as the legal business name.

Even if you’re just starting your business, that’s OK. Most banks do not have minimum business income requirements for opening business credit cards. And you typically don’t need to have a pre-existing business banking relationship. So you can usually qualify for business credit cards even if you have your business checking and savings accounts with a different bank.

But to be eligible for the best cash-back business credit cards, you’ll likely need a credit score of over 700. If you’re not sure what your credit score is, you can check it for free on Bankrate. Banks will take more into consideration than just your credit score when reviewing your application. So even a high score won’t guarantee your approval.

Just remember, it’s important to pay off your balance in full every month, because you don’t want to be stuck paying hefty fees and interest.

Summary of the best cash back business credit cards

• Ink Business Unlimited Credit Card: Best overall
• Ink Business Cash Credit Card: Best for bonus categories
• Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business: Best for starting out

No matter what your business may be, you can get a cash-back business card that will reward you for the purchases you were going to make anyway. If you want to learn more about how to use credit cards for cheap travel or cash back rewards, please subscribe to our newsletter.