By Debra Gelbart
When you think of a business using credit cards, you may envision a company that has dozens of employees and millions of dollars in annual revenue. In reality, the right business credit card can be an advantage for a wide range of entrepreneurs and operations – from the solo entrepreneur to a large enterprise.
“Our business cards are appropriate for the college student working part-time as a graphic designer who wants to keep her business expenses separate from her personal expenses, all the way to a medium-sized enterprise with hundreds of employees and tens of millions of dollars in annual revenue,” explains Ian Stewart, vice president and Credit Card Product manager for Zions Bancorporation in Salt Lake City, the parent company of CB&T. “In fact, the majority of CB&T’s business credit card customers are smaller businesses with an annual revenue of less than $250,000.”
A CB&T business customer can opt for any of three different business credit cards, each designed with specific benefits and advantages. One is a cash back card called Amazing Cash and is “a good fit for practical-minded people and is our most popular card,” Stewart says.
A second option, called Amazing Rewards, comes with reward points. “This one appeals to customers who might want to fund something special. They’re not just adding cash back to the company’s bottom line; they’re opting for a reward with perhaps a more emotional tie,” says Stewart.
For those focused on the bottom line, the third option, called Amazing Rate, carries the lowest interest rate CB&T offers.
Clear advantages
All of the CB&T business credit cards feature spending tracking, budget, and cost-allocation tools, so a business owner can have an itemized and categorized list of expenses for tax purposes and to create future budgets, Stewart explains. This also allows the business owner / manager to delegate employees to make purchases on behalf of the business.
“This can offer a lot of convenience and efficiency and lets you stay in control of your spending,” Stewart said, adding that credit limits for business cards are based on business revenue, not on personal income.
Cash back rewards and rewards points tied to business credit cards are geared toward company-focused expenses such as office supplies, capital purchases, wireless networks, internet and business travel. There is no annual fee and cards can carry a balance from month to month.
“Business credit cards increase spending power to allow a growing business to invest in that growth, and give the business owner the opportunity to establish a strong credit profile, which gives you even more flexibility to borrow and invest in the business,” says Stewart.
Business credit cards also offer protections against fraud, unauthorized spending by employees, and against unexpected cash flow challenges.
Commercial credit cards help large businesses
For larger businesses where at least 20 separate purchasers in the business each need a company credit card, CB&T offers a more robust option, the commercial credit card. These cards are directed toward long-established businesses that no longer need revolving credit and perhaps spend more than $500,000 annually. Balances on these cards are required to be paid in full each month, said Jared Nicholson, senior vice president and division manager of Commercial Card Products and Services for Zions Bancorporation.
“One of the biggest differences between business and commercial credit cards “is that commercial cards aren’t used as a financing tool,” said Nicholson. “Instead, they’re intended as a utility for streamlined payment processing.”
What does this mean for the business? Commercial credit cards are equipped with a card management system that facilitates changing credit limits in real time, and the ability to quickly order additional cards. Card users are able to capture receipt images and code transactions right from their mobile device. And the cards include sophisticated reporting tools. In addition to listing transactions for the month, commercial credit cards can also identify specific transaction characteristics for auditing purposes.
“Commercial cards are designed to be really scalable for the largest enterprises,” Nicholson said. “And they offer systems focusing on automating payables and integrating cards into the payables process, as well as adding on more sophisticated auditing capabilities to detect employee misuse or abuse and even fraud.”
CB&T also offers a consortium commercial credit cards geared toward clients in the public sector—health care, nonprofit, municipalities and schools, for example.
“These clients may not have a lot of annual spending (that can be paid with a credit card) but they may need sophisticated audit and reconciliation capabilities,” he said. “Consortium customers also pool their spend with all other customers in consortium.. “As a result, they can get a higher cash back rate than what they may be able to earn on their own.”
Curious about which credit card product is ideal for your business? Contact your CB&T banker.
This content was originally published in our award-winning magazine In Your Corner. See Issue 13 here: In Your Corner Magazine | Spring 2023