The 9 Best Credit Cards for Entrepreneurs and Startups [2020]

Entrepreneurs are in prime position to take advantage of credit card rewards. Many entrepreneurs spend lots of money on categories like travel, advertising, and telecommunications, which means they can quickly rack up a ton of bonus points. In addition, entrepreneurs often have to travel and points can be used to scale down the cost of airfare, hotels, and other small business expenses.

Here are some of the top options if you’re in search of the best credit card for entrepreneurs and startups.

Best Credit Cards for Entrepreneurs and Startups

Tip: Use WalletFlo for all your credit card needs. It’s free and will help you optimize your rewards and savings!

1. The Chase Ink Business Preferred

One of the best business credit cards for advertising and travel. 

Best Credit Card for Entrepreneurs

The Chase Ink Business Preferred is one of the best business credit cards for travel and advertising and thus it’s absolutely perfect for entrepreneurs.

The Ink Preferred comes with one of the most valuable sign-up bonuses at 100,000 Ultimate Rewards after spending $15,000 in the first 3 months!

The Ink Preferred earns 3X on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on:

  • Travel
  • Shipping purchases
  • Internet, cable and phone services
  • Advertising purchases with social media sites and search engines

These categories are important to many startups, especially travel and advertising purchases. If you’ve been pouring funds into social media advertising campaigns with no bonus rewards, then you should seriously consider this card. 3X on all of those categories will have you earning rewards in a hurry.

You can then transfer those points (called Ultimate Rewards) to several Chase transfer partners. If your startup company requires you to travel around the US you are set because you can transfer points to United Airlines and Southwest at a 1:1 ratio. You can also transfer your points to British Airways, which you can then use to book flights on oneworld partner American Airlines (often for much cheaper award prices).

And then you’re probably going to need to cover hotel stays. The Chase Ink Preferred can transfer points to the best hotel loyalty programs including Hyatt, Marriott, and IHG. I personally recommend transferring points to Hyatt for the most value.

The Chase Ink Preferred also comes with two additional perks that are very noteworthy. You’ll get primary rental car insurance when traveling on business so you won’t have to worry about paying extra for coverage (and this can save your monthly premium from rising).

The second perk is that when you use your Chase Ink Preferred to pay your cell phone bill, you’ll get cell phone insurance. You’ll be covered up to $600 per claim in cell phone protection against covered theft or damage for you and your employees listed on your monthly cell phone bill.

This card is subject to the 5/24 rule.

Get around in United first class.

2. The Chase Ink Business Cash

One of the best small business credit cards with no annual fee. 

The Chase Ink Business Cash is the little brother of the Ink Preferred. This card comes with no annual fee but still packs a heavy punch with a sign-up bonus worth $750 after you spend $7,500 in the first three months.

It also comes with benefits like primary rental car coverage and fantastic bonus categories which include:

5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year on:

  • Office supply stores
  • Internet, cable and phone services

2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year on:

  • At gas stations
  • At restaurants

Which version of the Ink is better for you depends on the spending habits of your startup. If you’re heavy into online marketing, it’s really hard to turn down the 3X of the Ink Preferred. However, the 5% back from office supply stores can come in handy, especially if you utilize gift cards. And if you’re going to be paying for internet, cable, and phone services you might as well get 5% back on those bills.

The major drawback to the Ink Cash is that you can’t transfer your points earned to travel partners, unless you have a premium Chase card like the Ink Preferred or non-business credit cards like the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

But if you have no desire to utilize the travel perks, then just getting cash back on these categories will probably be good enough for you.

You’ll need a premium card to unlock hotel redemptions.

3. Amex Blue Business Plus

Great for everyday spend and a 0% APR intro period.

The Amex Blue Business Plus is a great card many new start ups. The card earns 2X Membership Rewards back on all purchases up to $50,000 per year and comes with no annual fee.

What I think makes it the best for small businesses is that it also comes with a 0% intro APR period for 12 months. Many new start ups need to make large purchases or at least a lot of purchases to get their business off the ground. With this card you can make one of those large purchases and just pay off that balance while not getting burned on interest.

Since the Amex Blue Business Plus is a credit card and the Business Gold Card is a charge card you can actually apply for both of these at the same time. Together, the two would make a lucrative duo that would provide you with all-around great bonus earning potential since you would pick up 2X on all purchases and up to 4X on select bonus categories. You can read more about the Amex application rules here.

There have been welcome offers for this card at 25,000 before but those offers have been pretty rare and usually disappear really quickly. Because of the 2X Membership Rewards on every single purchase, the Business Blue Plus is worth it even when it doesn’t have a welcome bonus.

Amex has some very valuable business credit cards.

4. American Express Business Gold

The American Express Business Gold is the newly revamped Gold card from American Express. It stands out with its bonus earning potential, which covers a lot of categories that businesses will need to make purchases in.

With this card, you earn 4X Membership Rewards points on the 2 categories where your business spent the most each billing cycle from the list below:

  • Airfare purchased directly from airlines
  • U.S. purchases for advertising in select media (online, TV, radio)
  • U.S. purchases made directly from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
  • U.S. purchases at gas stations
  • U.S. purchases at restaurants
  • U.S. purchases for shipping

4X points applies to the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year then earn 1 point per dollar.

Here are a couple of the additional features of the card:

  • Get 25% points back, after you book a flight using Pay with Points (there is a limitation on your rebate as you will only be able to receive up to 250,000 bonus points per calendar year).
  • $295 Annual Fee

The big thing to note about this card is that earns Membership Rewards and not just straight cash back. This means that your points will be better used on some of the Amex travel partners like Delta, ANA, Aeroplan, or others.

Another feature to note about this card is that it is a charge card and not a traditional credit card. This means that the balance must be paid off each month and that you don’t have a set credit limit (although that doesn’t mean that it’s unlimited). This is why it’s a great business card for those who need high credit limits.

You can use Amex Membership Rewards to fly Emirates first class.

5. The Business Platinum Card from American Express

Great for frequent flyers and high spenders.

The Business Platinum Card from American Express comes with various welcome offers and sometimes offers as much as 75,000 plus points, depending on the offer. 

But in addition to the welcome bonus, this card comes with some solid perks.

  • 5X Membership Rewards® points on flights and eligible hotels on amextravel.com
  • 1.5 points per dollar on each eligible purchase of $5,000 or more (that’s an extra half point per dollar). Up to 1 million additional points per year
  • $200 airline credit
  • Centurion Lounge access
  • Priority Pass airport lounge access
  • Book any First or Business Class flight and get 35% of those Membership Rewards® points back later, up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year.
  • You can receive one Global Entry ($100) statement credit or one TSA Pre✓® ($85) statement credit every 4.5 years for TSA Pre-Check and every four years for Global Entry

The Business Platinum Card from American Express is another one of the great high limit business credit cards. It’s a charge card like the Business Gold card but it comes with additional bonus spending categories. It earns a very strong 5X on airfare via Amextravel.com so if you’re going to be doing a fair amount of flying, this can be very lucrative.

The card also comes with a $200 airline credit that you receive each calendar year. By using those credits twice, you can knock down the effective annual fee to only $150. The 35% rebate on points is great since it allows you to book certain flights at 1.54 cents per point which is very good.

The Business Platinum Card will give you hotel elite status including: Marriott Gold Status and Hilton Honors Gold statusHilton Gold is still a very solid mid-tier hotel elite status, which will get you free breakfasts, upgrades, late check-out and sometimes even executive lounge access.

And finally, this card provides you and two guests with Amex Centurion Lounge access, which are some very nice lounges popping up around the country. (This card also gets you Priority Pass which will get you give you access to lounges all around the world.)

6. The Chase Ink Unlimited

Great credit card for everyday spend.  

The Chase Ink Business Unlimited is the newest Chase card that just came out. It’s a hot credit card given all of the perks it comes with, which include the following:

  • $750 sign-up bonus after you spend $7,500 in the first three months
  • 1.5% cash back on all purchases
  • 0% intro APR for 12 months from account opening on purchases.
  • No annual fee!
  • Subject to 5/24
  • Primary rental car coverage

It’s rare to see a card with no annual fee and a high $500 sign-up bonus. And it’s really rare to see a card with no annual fee and primary rental car coverage (when traveling on business). If those two features weren’t enough, the card earns 1.5% cash back on every purchase and comes with a 0% APR period of 12 months. So again, if you need to do some upfront spending to get your start-up in motion, you’ve got yet another option to go with.

And if you have a premium Chase card like a Sapphire Reserve or Sapphire Preferred, you can transfer the Ultimate Rewards earned on this card out to Chase travel partners which makes that 1.5% back equate to a return that could be much higher with the right redemption.

Tip: Use the free app WalletFlo to help you travel the world for free by finding the best travel credit cards and promotions!

7. Capital One Spark Cash for Business Credit Card

A great 2% cash back business card. 

The Capital One Spark Cash for Business Credit Card is a very simple cash back credit card that earns 2% back on all purchases. This is ideal for an entrepreneur who just needs a simplified rewards system. With this card you don’t have to worry about special bonus categories and all of those complicated award systems.

8. Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Credit Card

A fantastic option to cut down your travel expenses.

The Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Credit Card is probably one of the most-prized credit cards right now. That’s because Chase recently prevented applicants from picking up two personal Southwest credit cards which made obtaining the Southwest Companion Pass more difficult. But with this business card’s all-time high 60,000 point sign-up bonus after you spend $3,000 in the first three months you can earn the Companion Pass quick.

What is the Companion Pass?

It allows a companion to fly for free with you for up to two years. So if you are a duo starting up a business this can be an extremely cost-efficient way to get about the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean (and soon Hawaii).

Since Southwest has such an expansive point-to-point network, I’d check the Southwest route map to see if they fly to cities where you would be flying in and out of. If that’s the case then the Southwest Rapid Rewards Business Credit Card could make a lot of sense for your business.

9. United Explorer Business Card

Nice benefits for those who will be flying United.

  • 2 miles per $1 spent on purchases at restaurants, gas stations, and office supply stores
  • 2 miles per $1 spent on tickets purchased from United
  • Free Checked Bag
  • Two United Club one-time passes
  • Priority boarding
  • Miles Don’t Expire
  • MileagePlus Premier members and traveling on an award ticket can receive Premier Upgrades
  • No foreign transaction fees
  • $99 annual fee (waived)

The United MileagePlus Explorer Business Card is a solid option because it comes with a solid sign-up bonus of 60,000 bonus miles and the annual fee is waived for the first year. The extra points on restaurants, gas stations, and office supply stores a nice plus, too.

If you think you’ll be flying out of United hubs like I do then you’ll probably appreciate having the perks from this card which also offer United Lounge Club access. These United lounges are improving at a lot of airports and they are (slowly) becoming some of the nicest lounges in the US.

It’s also nice getting priority boarding and a free checked bag. The free checked bag could provide your start up with some decent savings if you’re going to be flying United.

United Club at IAH.

Credit Cards for Entrepreneurs and Startups FAQ

What is the best credit card for a start-up?

The best credit card for your start up is the one that suits your needs the best. For example, if you spend a lot of money on advertising then you want to consider the Chase Ink Business Preferred. If you need a 0% APR financing then you would want to look at a card like the Amex Blue Business Plus.

What is a good no annual fee credit card for start-up?

A good no annual fee credit card could be the Chase Ink Business Cash. You can get 0% APR and also earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases each account anniversary year on: Office supply stores, Internet, cable and phone services.

How can I get a high credit limit as a start up?

A great way to extend your credit limit is to apply for a charge card such as the Business Platinum Card from American Express. You can pre-pay your credit card bill and effectively increase your spending power which will allow you to put large purchases on your card and are valuable rewards.

What is a good airline card for a start-up?

The Business Platinum Card from American Express is a great airline card for a start up because you earn valuable points that can be transferred to different airline programs and you can also redeem your points for flights at a nice bonus rate.

What is a good 0% APR credit card for start ups?

It’s quite easy to get 0% APR for 12 months and a great card to do that with is the Chase Ink Business Cash. If you want to earn 1.5% cash back on all of your purchases then consider going with the Ink Business Unlimited.

What is the best business card for Facebook and Instagram ads?

A great business credit card for Facebook and Instagram ads is the Chase Ink Business Preferred. You can earn 3X on up to $150,000 spent on ads each year.

Do I need a credit card for my start up?

Yes, you should get a credit card for your start up as soon as possible. As soon as you have obtained an in for your entity, you should be able to apply for a credit card. This will help you avoid commingling funds which is not a good idea when you are starting a business, especially a start up that likely has investors.

Final word

The best credit card for your entrepreneurial journey is going to be a card that suits your spending needs. If you are heavy on spending with social media advertising and even do a moderate amount of travel the Chase Ink Preferred is a terrific option. However, if you constantly spend money on specific business categories or need a high limit business credit card then the Amex charge cards could be best.

My advice is to breakdown or project what your spending and travel needs will be over the course of a year, and you’ll quickly start to see which small business credit card is best for you.

You might also want to see my tips for getting approved for business credit cards.