What type of rewards can you expect from business credit cards?

It is only natural that your business wants to find ways to maximise spending and get more value from every operational expense. It’s this mindset that can make a business credit card seem so appealing, as they incentivise putting costs on plastic by offering lucrative rewards programs.

Not all business rewards credit cards are created equal however. It’s important to understand the various rewards structures and programs to determine which one aligns best with how you spend money to sustain and grow operations. Here’s an overview of what you can expect.

Why choose a business credit card reward program?

While personal credit cards may provide modest cashback or purchase points, business credit cards typically take it up a level with offerings tailored specifically to entrepreneurial needs. By using these cards for everything from inventory purchases to travel expenditures, you can earn bonus payouts that impact your bottom line.

Unlike consumer cards, business rewards programs understand the spending patterns and financial needs of companies. They tend to provide accelerated earnings on common expense categories, have higher annual limits and redemption options like cash back or travel credits. With the right card, you can turn routine operational spending into an action that gives you something back.

Different types of business credit card rewards

Let’s take a look at some of the options you tend to find on the market when choosing a business credit card. 

Cashback rewards 

Earning cashback on spending is one of the most straightforward and flexible rewards programs for businesses. The premise is simple: charge expenses to your credit card, and you’ll receive a percentage of that spending back in the form of cash rewards.

Premium cashback business credit cards like the Funding Circle Cashback card take it a step further by offering accelerated earning rates and high accrual caps. 

For example, our Cashback card provides 

• A stellar 2% cashback rate on all purchases for the first 6 months, up to £2,000 cashback.
• Even after that lucrative introductory period, the card provides unlimited 1% cashback with no cap.

For many businesses, keeping it simple with a cashback card makes sense, especially if they’re spending regularly on travel, software subscriptions, inventory and other business expenses. Spending regularly on the card can see these percentages accumulate into healthy payouts over time.

You can find out more about our Cashback card with its 2% cashback, 42 days interest-free payments and credit limit up to £250,000 here.

Travel rewards 

If your business involves regular travel expenses for client meetings, site visits, conferences and the like, a travel rewards credit card may be a valuable option. 

These cards earn points or miles that can be redeemed for flights, hotel stays, car rentals or even experiences and merchandise. You’ll earn elevated rewards rates for charges like airfare, hotel stays, rental cars, rideshares, parking, gas and more.

The most rewarding travel cards even provide annual travel credits, airport lounge access, elite hotel statuses and other perks that make life on the road more comfortable.

While travel rewards are great for offsetting expenses, the potential downside is that points can lose value over time due to program devaluations and blackout dates. There are also confusing tricks like knowing when to transfer points to airline or hotel partners. Still, some business owners who travel extensively find travel rewards cards worthwhile.

0% intro APR periods 

Rewards aren’t the only appealing aspect of business credit cards. Many offer an introductory 0% APR period on purchases, balance transfers or even both for well over a year in some cases.

During this window, you can carry balances from month-to-month without incurring interest charges. This can provide much-needed financing flexibility for big-ticket investments, large inventory orders or getting through a temporary cash flow crunch without paying hefty interest fees.

Just be sure to have a payoff plan before the intro APR period ends and interest kicks in at the ongoing rate.

Purchase and travel protections 

Beyond rewards and financing offers, business credit cards typically extend a variety of protections covering your spending and travel mishaps.

Purchase protection provides coverage against theft, damage or situations where you need to return an item beyond the standard window. Travel protections include baggage delay or loss of insurance, trip cancellation, delay reimbursements, rental car insurance, roadside assistance and more.

Having these built-in safeguards adds convenience, saves money and provides peace of mind when issues inevitably arise. For many, it beats paying costly insurance fees from other vendors.

Welcome bonuses 

To incentivise new accounts, many premium business credit cards offer lucrative welcome bonuses for meeting minimum spending requirements during your first few months of card membership. These can potentially be worth hundreds of pounds in cash or tens of thousands of points or miles.

For example, our Cashback card offers 2% on all cashback purchased for the first 6 months. Others may offer aspects like a certain number of air miles after meeting tiered minimum spending requirements.

While you shouldn’t chase bonuses if the overall card doesn’t align with your business spending habits, these offers can yield substantial immediate value if you were planning on making large investments or expenditures anyway.

Building business credit 

Finally, one often overlooked benefit of using business credit cards is that you’re also building a credit profile and history for your company entity. This helps strengthen your business’ creditworthiness for future borrowing or other financing needs.

By demonstrating responsible habits like timely payments and credit utilisation ratios over time, your business credit score will steadily build. This can help you secure attractive financing rates and terms for essential growth investments down the road.

Summing up: Choosing a business credit card reward program

There’s no one-size-fits-all best business rewards credit card since the ‘ideal’ option depends largely on your aspects like spending profile, travel habits and bonus category. But you can expect to find ample opportunities to profit from the likes of cashback, points and miles.

Just be responsible when leveraging rewards in the context of a solid financial blueprint aimed at generating a return on investment. As long as you have that mindset, embracing business credit card rewards is an easy way to start truly getting paid for sustaining and growing operations.

Learn more about Funding Circle’s Cashback business credit card and how it can help your business with everyday expenses and more.

28/08/24: While we want to help as much as we can, the information found here is provided solely for informational purposes and should not be considered financial or legal advice. To the extent permitted by law, Funding Circle does not accept any liability for any loss or damage which may arise directly or indirectly from the use of, or reliance on, the information contained here. If you have any questions, please speak to your professional adviser or seek independent legal advice.