If your business wants to access the cost savings that purchasing over the internet can provide; needs to maintain cash flow and supplies while waiting for creditor payments; or needs to give employees access to company funds for purchases, a small business credit card is the ideal solution. Here we examine what features and benefits a financial services advisor recommends for different types of businesses.
Financial consultancies in Hong Kong recommend that you ignore low introductory offers when you are looking for a business credit card. They often have higher fees and charges, as well as interest rates, when the introductory period has ended.
The cost and disruption to the business involved in changing credit cards time and again means that introductory offers are less worthwhile than more conservative, long term credit card offers. Business consultancy services also recommend that you read the small print of any credit card contract.
Trusting company representatives have sometimes run into trouble when they have found something unexpected in a credit card contract.
While it helps to read the fine print yourself, it is doubly useful to have another pair of eyes from your office go over the contract also.
The most fail-safe way you have to make sure that the terms and conditions of a credit card do not conflict with your business needs is to have a financial services representative from a business consultancy go over the contract for you. The initial cost may save you thousands in the longer term.
Look out for the special bonuses companies sometimes offer, say financial services experts in Hong Kong. Some card companies partner with office-specific firms to offer you savings on shipping, stationery, or computer related costs.
If you have a specific area of your business that consistently adds more to your bills than others, it is worth finding out if there is a credit card option that can help.
Some of the differences between personal credit cards and business credit cards, that Hong Kong financial services will advise you of, include the fact that debts are incurred in the name of the company, rather than in any specific person's name.
This means that anything an employee spends on a credit card which he is authorized to use, is the legal responsibility of the company to pay for.
However, check with your business consultancy service about placing restrictions on what can be paid for with credit cards. You may be able to limit purchases to business items like fuel for vehicles and office supplies, or impose a spending limit.
Also ask your financial services advisor whether a charge card or a credit card is best for your business. Charge cards generally require the balance to be paid in full at the end of the invoicing period, while credit cards allow a business to maintain a debt balance, but then charge interest on the unpaid portion.
Small Business Rewards Credit Cards
The benefits of small business credit cards can be summed up fairly quickly: 1) They help you to avoid 'co-mingling' - by keeping your business and personal transactions as separate entities, you reduce the risk of potential tax and money-management difficulties, effectively halving your workload when it comes to sorting out personal and company finances. A box full of mixed receipts is helpful to no-one. 2) Loyalty reward schemes offer a vast range of services and deals that can be used effectively to save your company money. Try and look for credit card offers that include deals on things that are relevant to your company's operation - it might be travel insurance, air miles or even stationary. 3) You can track your employees' spending. Many small business credit cards can be authorised with preset spending limits on them, meaning that your business need never exceed the limits of its credit agreement and incur unnecessary penalties.
This is good news for those just starting out, as many ventures rely on credit cards to set the business wheels in motion. In the past, individuals often had no other course of action to pursue, other than to use their own personal credit cards. Not only does the proliferation of cards for small businesses reduce the risk of any negative credit impacting on the director or owner of a small business, but it also makes the practical side far easier to manage; no more sifting through boxes of receipts that could be for business or personal purposes, rather than knowing exactly which is which? Business credit cards can certainly make life a lot easier in that respect.
Loyalty reward schemes are there to reward responsible customers. If you have planned ahead and worked out how much your business can reasonably afford to borrow and will be able to pay off your balance in full and on time, then you can certainly take advantage of the rewards and perks that are available. Depending on your business, you might want to look at deals on mobile phones, hotel discounts, car rental, internet services or discounts on certain office products. The list is almost endless and, by using your card responsibly, these rewards can be extremely beneficial.
So, you can see that even within the same credit card company, different credit cards offer different schemes for different customers; the trick is to do your homework in advance and have an idea about the facilities that you would like to see on your small business credit card. Of course, this is just an example, but investigating the various denominations of credit cards available in other companies will yield similar results. Most of the big banks have deals available for small, mid-range and corporate-sized businesses, with reward schemes pertinent to their needs.
Small business credit cards are the most popular in the business credit card world and have several specific advantages over consumer plastic in that they allow you to keep your business and personal expenses separate. They allow you to begin to establish a credit history for your business which is important for its future, growth, expansion and future credit prospects. They often have trade discounts and low interest rates. With the variety of cards and associated deals out there, there is sure to be a small business credit card to suit the needs of your organisation. Since credit card companies now firmly have their sights set on the small business, the range of incentives is only likely to increase - meaning greater benefits for those who are prepared to manage their business credit card wisely and responsibly.
Both Gregory Smyth & Simon Maxwell are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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