Finding an awesome virtual assistant, switching your email service provider, scanning your receipts, keeping up with social media… Let’s face it, as a small business owner, you have puh-lenty on your plate without having to scour the Internet trying to find the best small business credit card.

That’s why we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. First, we thought about what small business owners need most in a credit card, and came up with the following criteria:

  • Flexible spending: You have business expenses that need to be taken care of today, not three months from now. You need a card that offers you a generous credit line for emergencies and the regular costs of running your business.
  • Rewards: A good small business credit card should have a stellar rewards program that offers you points every time you spend.
  • Perks: In addition to rewards, we wanted to see additional perks such as the ability to secure credit cards for your employees, 0% introductory APR, no annual fees, etc.

Next, we sifted through hundreds of small business credit cards in order to weed out the duds and present you with the studs. After a lot of blood, sweat, and tears (okay, there wasn’t any blood), here are our top four candidates for the best small business credit cards out there:

AmEx SimplyCash

Our favorite thing about AmEx SimplyCash for small business? You get 3% cash back on the category of your choice from a list of select categories. You can choose the category that works best for your business to ensure you maximize your cash back. Categories you can choose from include U.S. restaurants, U.S. gas stations and shipping in the U.S.

Want even more cash back? Lucky for you, SimplyCash also gives you 5% cash back at U.S. office supplies stores and on wireless telephone services through U.S. service providers.

Another great perk is that you’re automatically entitled to 24/7 service and support through dedicated business consultants to help you solve the specific problems your business is facing. You’ll also receive other great benefits, like access to purchase protection, extended warranty and more.

You might be wondering, “How could it get any better?” Well, on top of all of that, SimplyCash has no annual fee and 0% APR for nine months. Pretty awesome, right?

Terms and restrictions apply.

AmEx Blue for Business

There are serious benefits to using an AmEx Blue for Business card. Stay with AmEx Blue for a year and receive an “anniversary bonus” in the form of extra rewards points, which will be the equivalent of 30% of qualified purchases.

AmEx Blue gives you the flexibility to distribute your points to your employees, clients, or any other area of your business that needs a little TLC.

AmEx Blue for Business also offers an introductory rate of 0% APR for 9 months (like SimplyCash). After this period, Blue for Business offers an APR of 11.24% – 19.24% variable.

Terms and restrictions apply.

Chase Ink Cash Business Card

This card gives you $200 cash back when you spend $3,000 in the first 3 months after opening the card. It’s not as high as AmEx SimplyCash, but Chase Ink Chase offers 0% introductory APR for 12 months, regardless of your credit score. After that, you’re looking at a 13.24% APR that will vary with the prime rate.

So what about rewards? This card will give you 5% cash back on the first $25,000 you spend on office supplies and office utilities like internet, cable and phone services.

You’ll also get 2% cash back on restaurant purchases and gas (up to $25,000). Once you’ve spent $25,000 in these areas, you’ll continue to receive 1% cash back, and all other purchases in other categories will also receive 1% cash back.

Because the introductory APR and ongoing interest rate are not based on credit worthiness, this could be a great business card choice for small business owners with less than perfect credit.

Terms and restrictions apply.

Capital One Spark Cash for Business

What if you don’t want to worry about what you’re spending based on categories like office supplies, gas and so on?

Then Capital One Spark Cash is the small business credit card for you. This is a great introductory card for new business owners. It doesn’t offer the big introductory cash back bonuses of the other cards ($100 vs. $250), but it doesn’t require you spend as much either ($1,000 in the first 3 months instead of $3,000).

The best feature of this card is its “rewards across the board” promise. Instead of earning 5% cash back on some purchases and 1% on others, you simply earn 2% cash back on all purchases, all the time. There are no spending limits, either – the 2% reward stays in place no matter how much you spend, and what you spend it on.

There are two drawbacks to this card when compared with the others: no 0% introductory rate (you’ll pay between 13.9% and 20.9% based on your credit), and there is an annual fee of $59 (although it’s waived during the first year).

Terms and restrictions apply.

Our Recommendation

Choosing the best card for your small business is a personal choice, and depends a lot on the type of small business you’re running, how much you spend each month, and what types of rewards program would benefit you most.

After reviewing the top four cards, we think AmEx SimplyCash is the best small business credit card for the majority of small business owners.

This card gives you the opportunity to earn the most cash back short-term and long-term. It also gives you 9 months with 0% APR, a low long-term interest rate after the first year, and great business-related perks through the OPEN savings network.

Do you use a credit card for small business? Which one? What do you like/dislike most about it?

*This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser’s affiliate programs.

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