Entrepreneurs share 7 smart ways they use business credit cards

The smartest way to use a business credit card is to charge purchases your business plans to make anyway — including recurring expenses — then pay off the statement balance in full to avoid interest charges. Choose a card that earns rewards tailored to your business spending, and you can come out ahead.

In this guide, you’ll hear from seven business owners who share how they use their cards to their advantage. You’ll also get practical tips you can use to make the most of these cards in your business.

What can you use a business credit card for?

You can use a business credit card for nearly any legitimate business expense, from day-to-day operating costs to one-time purchases that help your company grow. Many cards also allow you to carry a balance using an underlying line of credit. 

While your card agreement likely requires you to use your card only for business purchases, most issuers don’t restrict what you charge.

Common uses of business credit cards include:

• Inventory and supplies
• Advertising and software subscriptions
• Business travel
• Equipment
• Fuel
• Vendor payments 
• Recurring expenses

You’ll find bookkeeping is a lot simpler if you separate your expenses and put business purchases on your business credit card and use your personal credit card for personal spending. 

Seven smart ways small business owners use their business credit cards

Credit cards top the list of types of financing used on a regular basis by small businesses, according to the Federal Reserve Small Business Credit Survey (2025), with 62% of employer firms and 52% of nonemployer firms reporting they regularly use them. 

Here’s how business owners use these cards, with insights you may want to apply to your own business. 

1. Travel rewards

“I put all my marketing ad spend from Facebook and Google on my business credit card and pay it off monthly. It’s helped me gain an extra 30 days of cash flow at no cost and was the driver for scaling my business quickly. The biggest advantage, though, is that I’ve racked up 500,000+ miles by switching from my operating account to a business credit card. I’ve used these points to fly my family round trip, first class, to Spain for free. I don’t pay for flights anymore!”
— Jeff Root, owner, Rootfin.com, an insurance comparison website

Using a business credit card to earn travel rewards can help your business accumulate significant rewards. Root’s shift from an operating account to a rewards credit card turned routine ad spend into more than 500,000 miles. 

That’s the payoff of putting predictable recurring spend on the right travel rewards credit card. Some travel cards work best if you consistently fly one airline and want perks like priority boarding or free checked bags. Others offer flexible rewards that transfer to multiple airline or hotel partners, which tend to work better if your travel isn’t tied to one brand. Choose based on how — and how often — your business travels. 

2. Fraud protection

“Anytime I’m dealing with vendors outside the U.S., I find it’s critical to use our business credit card to pay them. It’s nearly impossible for a small business to go after someone for an international claim if they get taken advantage of, so using our card for foreign transactions gives us protection to dispute the payment and protect our cash on hand.”

— Seth Kravitz, CEO, Phlearn, an online Photoshop and Lightroom training company

Business credit cards can provide fraud protection that other payment methods don’t. If your card is used fraudulently, your liability for unauthorized use is limited to the first $50 of charges. Most card issuers offer zero liability protection on top of that. (Note that card issuers may negotiate different liability limits for businesses with more than ten cards issued to employees.) 

Business debit cards don’t carry all of the same protections under federal law, which is one reason why a credit card may be a safer alternative. 

3. Finance large purchases

“When we were starting one of my previous businesses, we needed specific third-party analytics tools that we simply didn’t have the cash to purchase at the time. But we also didn’t feel we could move forward and be competitive without them. We took a leap of faith, put the software on our business credit card, and fortunately it paid off many times over. Using the available credit to acquire something we genuinely needed to grow turned out to be one of the smartest early investments we made in the business.”

— Mark Huntley, founder, LLM Authority Index, an AI search visibility and citation intelligence platform

Using a business credit card strategically can help businesses finance purchases over time. Some business credit cards offer 0% intro APRs for several months. 

Outside of low-rate intro offers, business credit card APRs currently range from 16.74% to 29.99%, which makes them more expensive than bank loans but cheaper than other small business financing options that often carry much higher rates. Before you charge a large purchase, compare costs. 

4. Save on travel 

“Our team members travel often to pitch clients and attend meetings. Our business credit card is smart for my business, as it not only saves us money on travel and rental car insurance, but also racks up miles for free flights and discounted lodging options.” 

– Peter Valcarce, Chairman & Founder, Arena LLC., a communication consulting company

You can use a business credit card with travel perks — such as travel insurance or collision damage waiver coverage when you rent a car — to save money when you or your employees travel. Read the fine print for any card you’re considering so you know exactly who is covered (employees will likely need to be cardholders) and what’s covered before you rely on it. 

5. Fund your startup

"We spend thousands of dollars a month running online ads and paying for them with our business credit card. When we were first starting out, we needed the credit card because we didn't have the funds to purchase the ads right away, so it was a way for us to initially get off the ground. But now we enjoy being able to cash in on all the reward points. We go on company retreats all the time, and much of the expenses are paid for due to credit card perks. These points keep adding up because we are constantly spending on the card."

— Sean Pour, co-founder, SellMax, a nationwide car-buying service

Many business credit cards are available to brand-new businesses that qualify, and can offer a flexible source of startup capital. Card issuers typically review the owner’s personal credit, which is why a startup with no business credit history may qualify. And if your business isn’t yet making money, that may not be a hurdle, either, as many will allow you to apply based on household income. 

6. Save on important expenses

"Hands down, the best small business purchase we made on a credit card was hiring a developer to create our forum. The forum has proved very valuable since launch, because it has given our audience a platform to speak with one another, post pictures of their pets (bearded dragons, leopard geckos, etc.), and ask critical questions on how to take great care of their pets. We're seeing an instant impact on user engagement, which has increased our repeat sales.

"Because our credit card offers 2% cash back on all purchases, we look at all credit card purchases as if they have a 2% discount. The forum was about $15,000, which made it obvious that we'd want to use the credit card to pay for the service; it yielded a $300 cash-back return. This may not seem significant compared to the cost of the forum; however, over the course of a year, 2% cash back on all business expenses can cover a significant portion of someone's salary or other business expenses."

—Jeff Neal, operations manager, The Critter Depot, an online seller of insects and supplies for reptiles

Cash-back credit cards can offer a discount on both small and large purchases. Some cards offer flat cash back across most types of spending, while others offer higher rates in specific categories. Review your spending to figure out which card makes sense based on your purchase patterns. You may even want to get more than one card — a card with a lucrative welcome bonus can earn you significant cash back or rewards on major purchases.

7. Provide employee perks

“I charged my remote employees’ home offices on my credit card. I made sure they received top-of-the-line desks, ergonomic chairs, and brand new laptops for them to do their jobs efficiently. I immediately saw performance improvements in my remote employees — I’m not kidding! 

“I later found that some of my remote employees had previously been working on their couches with their laptops on their lap. And not only did these employees’ efficiency improve once they had a real home office setup, but morale improved as well.  

“And as an added boost, I used a business credit card that gave me travel rewards for my purchase: win-win!”

—Logan Allec, CPA, founder, Money Done Right, a financial information website

Business credit cards can help businesses invest in their workforce. Some businesses share miles or travel perks with specific employees. Others, like Money Done Right's Allec, use their cards to make purchases that directly benefit the team. Any of these approaches can support employee satisfaction and productivity, and most issuers let you add employee cards with individual spending limits so you can keep control of the account. 

Business credit card tips

Here are some top strategies for getting the most value out of business credit cards:

• Put recurring expenses on the card to earn rewards on money you’re already spending.
• Set up autopay for the statement balance to avoid interest (for cards with a grace period) and to avoid a late payment that often results in a late fee. 
• Add employee cards with spending controls so your team can get what they need while minimizing the risk of spending on unapproved purchases.
• If you use a rewards card, review category bonuses annually against your actual spending to make sure you’re using a card that maximizes rewards. 

If your business operates under a formal business entity such as an LLC or S corp, it’s especially important to use a separate card for business purchases to avoid jeopardizing the protection that entity provides. 

What are common mistakes to avoid?

Business credit cards work much like personal cards. They can help or hurt your business finances, depending on how you use them. Avoid these common mistakes:

• Mixing personal and business spending. Keep business and personal spending separate. Learn why it’s important to keep personal and business credit separate. 
• Carrying a balance after an intro APR offer ends. Once the promotional rate expires, interest can be expensive and hurt profitability and cash flow. 
• Missing payments. If your payment is late, you may be charged a late fee. And unlike personal credit cards, business cards can raise interest rates immediately after a late payment. The new higher rate may be assessed on the outstanding balance as well as new purchases. 
• Letting your credit limit influence your spending. Having credit available doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to use it. High credit limits can make it easy to overspend.

How business credit card use affects your credit

Using a credit card can impact your business or personal credit. How it affects each depends on the type of card, and the issuer’s policies. 

Personal credit cards

These cards almost always report to all three major consumer credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. According to Fed research, 19% of nonemployer firms regularly use or carry a balance on a consumer card. This activity will likely affect personal credit scores — whether that’s helpful or not depends on whether the account is paid on time, and whether high balances are reported to the credit bureaus. Credit card balances impact utilization, which is a major factor in many credit scoring models. 

Business credit cards

Business credit cards may report activity to business credit bureaus, such as Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), Experian Business, or Equifax Business. They may report to the Small Business Financial Exchange (SBFE), which in turn makes that information available through business credit bureaus. On-time payments may help build a business credit rating.

Most business credit cards don’t report to personal credit bureaus unless you default, but a few do, so make sure you understand the reporting policies for the cards you use. 

Frequently asked questions