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Business Credit Cards Vs. Personal Credit Card – a Look at the Pros and Cons

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 04:30:16 +0000

Pros and Cons of Business Credit Cards and Personal Credit Cards

In recent years, Americans have readily embraced the practice of ecommerce and cashless transactions. The advent of Paypal, Click2Pay and almost every kind of credit card imaginable has made paper money almost irrelevant.

Cash, in fact, has become the exception rather than the norm. Very rarely do you see people with thick stacks of money inside their pockets, and if you do, it most often is a cause for alarm. In fact, store clerks and tellers have been trained to alert authorities whenever they encounter customers who pay for expensive purchases with cash. But I digress. Going back to the subject of credit cards – that wondrous contraption which allows you to shop with just one easy swipe – its widespread popularity has prompted banks to make this work to the advantage of business owners or the corporate industry.

And why not? Considering the countless financial transactions that a small to medium business makes, running out of petty cash for major or secondary supplies procurement, bills payments, or a host of other business expenses is a common experience. A good number of these entrepreneurs have initially tried using their personal credit cards to cover these expenses, but more and more have been shifting to business credit cards for different reasons.

Would You Choose a Personal or Business Credit Card?

What sets a personal credit card apart from a business credit card, and why is one being compared to the other?

In terms of credit limit, personal credit cards have a lower credit line, while the latter can have a credit limit of up to $50,000. Also, a month-end repayment is compulsory for a personal card, while a business credit card allows you to pay just a smaller minimum amount.

In both cases however, interest rates increase for the remaining unpaid amount which is added onto next month’s card bill.

Let’s Weigh the Advantages

A business credit card, when simply used for important business transactions, can offer a wealth of advantages that would benefit the whole company.

First of all, business transactions of all sorts can arise anytime, and in times like these, the business credit card is the answer to every businessman’s prayers.

A business credit card can help a company overcome challenging financial trials. This paves an easier way to facilitate expansion.

Personal credit cards and business credit cards must be distinguished from another by more features. Business credit cards are much stricter in conducting character reference tests – and require a host of other relevant documentation to be submitted before the actual application processing occurs.

What will happen if you both you use your personal and business credit cards? Simple, you have just made yourself credit card payment overload bait. Unless otherwise specified, you may find telemarketers calling you for different debt consolidation or debt settlement contracts. Worse, you may actually run across some who carry the same Hershey’s Kisses wrappers you have been holding onto for so long.

By: Klye Anderson

Small Business Credit Cards in Today’s Recession

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:45:21 +0000

Today’s recession has had an impact on personal and business credit cards. Over the past 1-2 years many any people are receiving letters from their credit card lenders informing them of an increase in interest rates or a decrease in the credit limit.

Small business credit cards can be an additional source of financial income. They also help in keeping other lines of credit open. Using this type of credit card can ensure that suppliers are paid on time while giving the business an interest-free period (float) in order to obtain enough money to pay off the credit card debt. As the recession has begun to deepen, businesses have found that obtaining credit cards for their business has become much more difficult.

The worst thing a new business owner can do is to use their own personal credit card to finance their business purchases. This makes it very difficult to separate business and personal finances, but also makes the individual responsible for the debt of the business. Not a good thing!

Some businesses are using business even credit cards to pay their tax bill, which is tempting as it avoids any fines for late payment. There is however a fee for doing so. Usually, this fee is significantly lower than the penalty would be for not paying taxes on time.

There are still plenty of opportunities out there for small businesses who have good credit record to take advantage of their business’ credit cards. Even though lenders are stricter in their acceptance criteria than in previous years, you should not give up. Before applying for credit make sure that you meet all the requirements for acceptance. Every time your credit is check, the credit score goes down. As a result, only apply for cards when you feel confident that you will be accepted.

By: Ron Lerman

Credit Cards for Small Business

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:43:41 +0000

When you decide to start a small business, you find out pretty quickly that it takes more than skills and dedication in your respective area of work. Besides being good at what you want to do, you also need to known your accounting and financing issues, no matter how annoying and boring these may be. And the credit card problem for small businesses needs careful handling, just like that of a regular, personal credit card.

Choosing the right type of credit card is vital for the success of a small business. Even if you don’t have access to a corporate credit card, a small business card can be a major tool on the path to success. When you apply for a small business credit card, lenders will analyze your request from a variety of points of views. While their evaluation of the risk may vary according to various local factors, they will all take into account the “five Cs”: capital, capacity to make the payments, collateral, conditions and character.

Capital, meaning your personal investment in the business, outlines not only the size of the business, but also how much risk you are willing to take. Balance risks carefully – too much means you will be rated reckless, too little, and the lenders may think you are not serious about this. The capacity to repay the loan is, of course, critical for the lender and will be carefully analyzed. The collateral or the guarantees will show that you have a backup plan for returning the loan, in case things go wrong. The conditions represent the general situation in your geographical area and your respective line of business – mostly things that you cannot control (but you can make them look better in carefully planned business plan). Last but not least, character is the impression you make on the lenders – how trustworthy and business-oriented you appear to them.

If you take all these into account, your application is more likely to be successful right from the start. Of course, you also need to consider, carefully, which type of business card suits your needs.

Many small businesses rely on cash flow to pay for suppliers or contractors, because they need to purchase materials and services before their own clients pay up. You need to calculate the difference between the date when you purchase the materials and the date when the clients pay you back. If this is shorter than 30 days, go for a card that doesn’t charge you interest for the respective period. If it is two, three months or longer, go for a low interest card.

Also, you should think of how often you will have to travel for business-related purposes, and how a special type of credit card can help you with this, or how you will handle unprepared emergency situations that hustle small businesses constantly.

Some of the offers for credit cards for small business include Blue for Business Card – no annual fee, 0% intro APR for the first 9 months, credit line of up to $50,000 or Blue Cash for Business Credit Card – up to 5% cash rebate, no annual fee, 0% APR for up to 15 months. Advanta Platinum with Rewards, featuring cash back bonus, offers 0% intro APR for balance transfers, up to 50,000 credit line and various types of rewards for the things you buy most often (gas, office supplies and so on), bonus miles or cash back.

The CitiBusiness card has 0% APR for purchases for the first 6 months, no annual fee, a generous credit line and additional cards for the employees, with a credit limit set by you. The Platinum Business Credit Card from American Express has no annual fee and 0% APR for the first nine months on purchases and balance transfers.

Other options include Business Green Rewards Cash – no fees for the first year and no pre-set spending limit, and the Business Cash Rebate from OPEN: the Small Business Network, with up to 5% cash rebate, no annual fee, 0% APR for the first six months, no limit for cash back and no minimum spending requirements.

By: Jeremy Zongker

Business Credit Cards and Business Debt – A Dangerous Combination

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:38:28 +0000

Does your business rely on credit cards for working capital? A recent study conducted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shows that almost 60% of small businesses relied on credit cards to provide funding for operation during their first year. The study concluded that reliance on credit cards to finance the early years increased the likelihood that a business would be in the 50% of startups that failed within 4 years.

Amazingly even a debt as small as $1000 made a significant difference in a company’s ability to survive past the 5 year mark. The pattern for credit card use show an increase in debt over the first 5 years of operation. It is those companies that start to pay down that debt by the end of their 4th year or so that are the ones to succeed. The extra burden of paying off the credit debt is often too much for some young companies who might otherwise have succeeded.

The increased use of credit cards for small businesses is a result of the ease in which cards were obtained even up to 2 years ago. They are easier to get than business loans or lines of credit… Of course there are many other factors that impact a business’ ability to make in these tough economic times, but the use of credit, even in small amounts, early on seem to take their toll.

Unfortunately, the new laws that recently went into effect for personal credit cards do not impact the business credit card industry. This report reinforces the need for the same kind of reforms for the users of business credit as there are now for personal credit. As I mentioned in a previous Ezine article from June, if you use your personal cards for business and have more than a $25,000 limit with a high balance, your personal card may be viewed as a business card and exempt from the personal credit card laws.

Are you still using wither personal or business credit cards for your business? Are you able to pay them off or are you running an increasingly large balance each month? Keep yourself out of that 50% who go under by making a conscious effort to decrease you dependence on credit cards for things you can pay cash for. Work to decrease those balances and make sure you don’t lose your shirt!

By: Linda Adams

Business Credit Cards Guide

admin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:10:00 +0000

Business credit cards are a helping hand for those entrepreneurs who are running their own businesses. A business credit card not only acts as a line of credit but can also help to provide you enough control in managing your companys finances and cash. When business credit cards were first introduced it was mainly aimed towards corporate executives. However, this trend has changed and nowadays even small business owners can acquire business credit cards fairly easily. Business credit cards have become a versatile tool which allows business owners to utilize effectively over time as their business needs change.

A majority of the business credit cards come with a wide range of features including cash advances, cash rewards, airline miles, one-call emergency service, and insurance coverage. The features included in a business credit card vary from one card provider to the other, but most of the credit card companies offer an attractive introductory rate for the first few months from the date of opening your account. After that initial period the customer will be required to pay a higher ongoing APR and the card also might require an annual membership fee.

One of the major advantages of a business credit card is that it provides a significant increase in financial control. The cards allow you to simplify and manage your business expenses well, eliminating the need to use a personal credit card for business expenses. Another most important feature of a business credit card is that small business owners can make use of these little pieces of plastic to provide financing or emergency “bridge loans” for their business when stuck in cash flow shortages. And even thought it is not explicitly stated in the business card features, business owners have made use of business credit cards for start-up funding as well.

Nowadays, there are myriad small and medium sized companies which make use of business credit cards as an efficient financing tool. There is a wide variety of credit card issuers that offer business credit cards with various schemes and features. Because of the many opportunities available, it is highly recommended to thoroughly contrast and compare business credit cards to select the ideal card best suited to your specific business needs.

Tips for Choosing a Business Credit Card

Before you apply for a credit limit on a business credit, make an estimate of your monthly business expenses and your history of repayment. Make sure that you apply for a credit limit that you know is within the bounds of your expense limitations, but equally important, will also take into account the growing needs of your business.

If you have several employees working under you, you need to determine how many cards your business may need and which employees will require cards for business expenses. Obviously, before you issue cards to any employees make absolutely sure that they are trustworthy.

Also, make sure that during this process that you determine your business requirements for ancillary services. That is, if you or your employee has to travel regularly for business needs, then it is a good idea to find out those business credit card issuers who offer free air miles, travel insurance, and hotel discounts.

Be careful about the introductory interest rates offered by business credit card issuers. Most of these offers are designed to entice new customers and after an initial period of six months to one year, the interest rates will increase substantially. So when comparing business credit cards, one of the most important things to check is the regular interest rate versus the introductory APR and which card compares favorably in that regard.

So if you are planning to start a new business venture, try to utilize the entire suite of benefits that a business credit card offers that can fund, track and reward your business activities.

By: Robert Alan

New Business, New Credit Card

admin — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:12:17 +0000

So you’ve decided upon the idea and thought long and hard about the name – now it’s time to get your new business up and running. You may have an amount of capital from investors, which needs putting into a business account. It’s also now time to seriously consider applying for a business credit card that can compliment that initial capital investment.

Many new business owners are unsure as to why they might need a business credit card. Surely it’s just as easy to put any funds into a personal account and run the business from there? Unfortunately, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Separating personal and business finances should be a priority for all new business owners. Not only will it minimise the amount of paperwork necessary during accounting periods, but it will also look far more professional to the Inland Revenue Service when it comes to submitting accounts. Business credit cards also offer spending reports, allowing you to identify spending habits – an advantage which most personal credit cards do not offer. Having separate accounts makes finances easier to manage and also makes it far simpler when it comes to things like declaring expenses – something that the majority of employees have to do at some point. In addition, you can request further credit cards for employees; a facility that is not possible with a personal credit card. These cards can have spending limits attached to them and transactions can be tracked online to ensure that all employee spending is necessary and within the set limits. In addition, the business owner can see exactly what has been spent, even if an employee forgets to submit the appropriate receipts.

A business credit card also allows a new business to qualify for particular deals and discounts that are designed with companies in mind. These can include perks such as reward schemes on certain products and services or offers on Airmiles or travel insurance. These benefits can be particularly advantageous to small and medium-sized businesses if the card is selected with the perks in mind. For example, a business whose employees travel a lot might choose a card where travel insurance is discounted.

The security offered to a new business through a business credit card is also a very important factor. These cards offer protection against fraud, theft and there are even capabilities that offer protection against employee misuse. Card security can give the new business owner far more peace of mind and prevent unnecessary expenditure in the event of the ever-present threat of Internet fraud or ID theft.

The most vital aspect of a business credit card for a new business is the credit itself. Credit can be used for a variety of reasons, not least of which is managing the company’s finances during times of restricted cash flow. As the credit does not touch the business’s cash account, supplies can still be bought and services paid for whilst you’re waiting for customer balances to be settled. Of course, the APR and monthly repayments have to be considered, but there are plenty of introductory offers out there to suit even the most lowly of beginnings and these are often matched by cheap rates once the introductory offers have expired. Using credit also helps to build up a company’s credit rating and opens the door for further business credit and greater sets of benefits and perks.

It may appear easier to simply trust your company finances to your personal credit card, but the advantages of a business credit card specifically designed for your business needs are obvious. Business credit cards are designed specifically to deal with the stresses and strains demanded by a company. A personal credit card is not. Finding the right business credit card for you is a process of elimination, comparing and contrasting the deals on offer in the marketplace. With over 500 business credit cards available, comparison websites are an extremely useful resource to help you make the right decision and provide your company with a practical, useful and valuable asset.

By: Hannah Callen

Business Credit Card Applications

admin — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:37:13 +0000

If you’re thinking about starting up a new business, that’s great! You’re going to want to get your business plan running, and if you don’t have enough money, you’re going to want to get a line of credit as well. Just like a personal credit card, you’re not going to want to spend more than what you can afford, because you’re just looking for disaster!

So, if you’re looking to apply for a business credit card, I’m going to show you what you should look out for, when you’re looking for the perfect small business credit card.

Look at the rewards – The main thing that I look for when it comes to business credit are the rewards. Since I don’t spend that much and I love getting something for what I spend, I love getting rewarded for using my card. I’ll exchange my points for things such as airline tickets, hotels, and gift cards. It’s well worth it.

The fees – If you’re going to use this card a lot, you’re going to want to find a card that has no fees. A card with higher fees may be worth it if you use it a lot, but when I say use it a lot, I’m talking six figures a year. Those reward based cards are great, but can hurt you in the fee department. I recommend a fee-free card, but it’s up to you.

When it comes to applying, this is all I recommend. I know it sounds simple, but that’s about it. There are cards out there. Go out there, and apply to see what you can get!

By: Tom Tessin

Personal Debt Can Disappear When You Set up a New Business

admin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:10:37 +0000

I teach students how to set up a new business name on paper
and then move their personal debt into the business name.

This will dramatically improve your personal credit score and
help you make money as a real estate investor.

It’s as simple as using my system to set up a new business
name and then use my list of companies that offer new business
lines of credit.

Then when you start receiving these business credit cards
and lines of credit you can transfer a personal credit card
balance onto your new business card. And make that debt
you owe disappear from your credit report!

———————–

Of course you will still have to repay it. But the power of this technique is that your credit score will go up when this personal debt gets transferred out of your name and into the name of a new business.

And you will keep your personal credit score high when you
continue to go out and get business lines of credit to use for
your real estate investing activities.

———————-

Setting up new business lines of credit is the most important
thing you can do to PROTECT yourself as a real estate investor.

Because these business credit cards and lines of credit allow
you to draw cash from them to keep as a reserve when you
are buying, rehabbing, or just holding rental property.

You MUST make sure you keep adequate cash reserves for
the unexpected issues that ALWAYS come up when you own
real estate.

And the best way to get cash reserves without using all your
own personal money is to follow my program -

HOW TO BEAT THE SYSTEM in real estate investing.

I can show you how to quickly get a new business line of
credit no matter what your credit score is.

And this new business line of credit gives you cash for anything you’re doing in your real estate investing activities.

See how to get $20,000 cash for real estate investing, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. This program helps all my students get a new business line of credit regardless of their personal credit score.

And this program also teaches you exactly how to find the
BEST FORECLOSURE DEALS.

The program is called HOW TO BEAT THE SYSTEM in real estate
investing. And it includes -

1. Unlimited free live tele-coaching.

2. A money system to get business credit.

3. A foreclosure system to have someone else find you the
best deals.

4. Software that will analyze your deals.

5. Bonus material with insider secrets on what to look for in
a profitable deal.

By: Thomas Kish