Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Business credit cards bring benefit to your business

By David Simons

If your business finances are all over the place you may want to simplify things for yourself and take out a business credit card. Not only are all transactions made from one account but also it is easy to manage and you can view them whenever you need to. Also business credit cards come with many other features that can help your business. Some of the features are common, and you will recognise them from personal cards, whereas other are more tailored to business needs. If you have never thought about cards for your business then it is well worth doing so as they can be an invaluable business tool.

Many cards come with features that will be of value depending on the type of company that you run. For example, some cards offer free Airmiles or other travel related perks, such as travel insurance. Travel offers of this sort will obviously be helpful if your employees need to do a lot of travelling for work-related reasons. Other cards provide discounts on good and services that your company may use. One card, for example, offers discounts on car and van hire with a major UK hire company. Once again, the value of these discounts depends on the sector you are in and your day-to-day activities. There are even a number of cards that allow you to create a discount package yourself with the help of a financial consultant.

Most business credit card accounts allow you to have more than one card on the account. This allows you to give more than one employee a card and can be a good idea as it allows you to keep track of your expenditures more easily. Also each card can be given a different credit limit so that you allocate cards and purchasing responsibilities dependant on job role. To ensure that none of your staff go astray with a card all cards can be covered by a form of employee misuse insurance.

Ultimately these cards work out cheaper and safer for day-to-day employee expenses. As each employee can be given their own card there is no need to worry about petty cash or setting up credit accounts with stores. This means that a lot of time is saved and petty cash can't go missing or be stolen. Plastic transactions are accepted practically everywhere so there will be no problem with using a card. Another alternative would be a chequebook but often cheques are more expensive as they incur handling charges and admin costs. Cheques also take time to clear, whereas card transactions are pretty much instantaneous.

Finally, there are a whole host of benefits specific to individual cards. Financial advisors recommend looking at your business requirements in order to select the card best suited to your business. Some cards offer free Airmiles, travel insurance or other travel related benefits, which can be great if employees need to do a lot of travelling as part of their business life. Other cards offer discounts on goods and services that you may use, such as car and van rental. A few cards even allow you to select your own benefits package with the help of a special business financial consultant.

Aside from all of the features specifically designed for businesses there are also a number of features that you may be familiar with. For instance, most business credit cards come with a 0% balance transfer offer that is usually in the region of a year. Most cards also have 0% on cash purchases for around three months. Card APR's are very competitive, at around 15.9%. Once you have your business card you will have access to a financial advisor who can be an extremely helpful business ally. Cards are protected against fraud as you would expect and accounts are also constantly monitored for any signs of fraudulent activity. In fact, once you have your business credit cards you may wonder how you ever managed without them!

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