Credit card services for small businesses have gained a lot of importance because of a sudden increase in the number of people operating small businesses from their homes. According to a recent study, there are about forty one million such businesses in operation and two new businesses begin every minute. Credit card service providers are trying to cash in on this opportunity. They know that the biggest problem the new small businesses are facing is access to capital. Credit card services for small businesses are a very useful tool for solving the problem of the cash crunch.
The two main brands providing credit card services to small businesses are MasterCard and Visa Business Card. Visa Business Card provides the credit lines up to fifty thousand dollars while the limit for MasterCard is one hundred thousand dollars. For expense monitoring and tax deduction identification, both companies provide quarterly or annual reports of expenses without any charge. Visa card allows you to rack up the points, just like frequent flier miles in aviation industry, and obtain discounts at several retail stores.
Eligibility Criteria
If the number of employees is less than a hundred or the revenues are not more than $10,000,000, you are eligible for getting these credit cards. As individual banks also provide these cards, it will be useful to do some research and get the best possible deal with minimum interest rates and no annual fee at all.
How To Choose
You have just started running a small business. However, you should obtain a credit card service for small businesses that keeps the pace with you, when you start growing. So, before you choose a credit card service, you should look for following points -
1. What are the regular rates of interest after the introductory APR offer?
2. What is the annual charge?
3. How much is the line of credit in the beginning and is it possible to increase later?
4. Maximum number of credit cards that an account can have.
5. Does something like airline mile points exist there?
6. What about a cash rebate program?
7. Is there any kind of understanding with the leading retailers so that you can get discount on the purchases of office equipment using business cards?
8. Is an online facility available?
9. Is it possible to delay the payment for purchases of a big amount?
10. Will you get quarterly and yearly reports?
11. Is this information transferable to the existing accounting software of the company?
12. Is it possible to have a summary in the format of my liking?
Additional Help
There is professional help available online to aid you in getting business credit cards for your small business.
David Gass is President of Business Credit Services, Inc. His company publishes a free weekly e-newsletter on Small Business Consulting at their web site smallbusinessconsultingdotcom