Compare Credit Cards
- Airmiles credit cards
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- Black credit cards
- Business credit cards
- Cash back credit cards
- Credit builder credit cards
- Low interest rate credit cards
- Luxury credit cards
- Overseas credit cards
- Prepaid credit cards
- Purchases credit cards
- Rewards credit cards
- Under 18’s credit cards
- Worthy causes credit cards
Credit cards by issuer
Credit Card News
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10th May, 2012
Credit cards or loans – which is better? -
3rd May, 2012
Are your credit card details for sale to the highest bidder? -
20th April, 2012
Never look a gift card in the mouth… -
6th April, 2012
Want an Easter break? Where can you get the best value for money?
Business Credit Cards
The best business credit cards work the same way as personal credit cards, but the card offers tend to be framed to appeal to business owners, senior managers and the self-employed. As ever, compare your spending profile to the key terms and benefits to see if the cards will work for you.
If you’re new to business credit cards, take a look at the informative Guide below our comparison table.
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Capital One Business Credit Card | 5% cash back in 1st 3 months + unlimited cash back of 1.25% on all future spending | No fee | 16.9% |
Great cashback offer Identity Theft Assistance Great retail discounts Free fraud and Identity Theft Assistance
Strictly for those with perfect credit history No balance transfer or purchases deal |
Virgin Atlantic American Express Black Credit Card | 0% on B transfers for 6 mths, 6,000 Virgin bonus Flying Club miles on 1st purchase | 2% | 47.2% APR |
Now with dual Amex & Visa cards 6000 free Flying Club miles on 1st purchase Double miles - Virgin Hols & Virgin Atlantic Annual fee No transfers from MBNA or Virgin cards |
CashPlus Gold Prepaid MasterCard Credit Card | Top prepaid card, cash-back & comes with Euro card | Prepaid | Prepaid |
CashBuilder feature to build credit rating Purchase Protection Cash back and rewards Shop online |
Barclaycard Platinum Balance Transfer Credit Card (22 mth) | 0% on balance transfers for 22 months & purchases for 3 months | 2.9% | 17.9% APR |
Long 0% on balance transfers offer Fair interest rates after 0% period Paperless statements No transfers from other Barclaycards No money transfer facility |
CaxtonFX Currency Credit Card | No overseas surcharges, no ATM fees, ideal for business travellers | Prepaid | Prepaid |
Virtually free to run For overseas spending only No overseas spending surcharges No overseas ATM cash charges No purchase protection Min load £100, $200 or €150 |
Barclaycard Platinum Simplicity Low Interest Credit Card | 7.9% on on all purchases & balance transfers | NONE | 7.9% APR |
Low interest rates on all types of balances Barclaycard Freedom Rewards Lowest cash advance interest rate Competitive overall charging structure No transfers from other Barclaycards |
American Express Platinum Charge Card | 40,000 bonus points on spend of £1500 in 1st 3 months | Charge Card | Charge Card |
Charge card, so no interest to pay No pre-set spending limit Comprehensive rewards program Travel and personal protection insurance Annual fee |
British Airways American Express Credit Card | 3,000 bonus Avios on spend of £500+ in 1st 3 months | 3% | 19.9% APR |
1 Avios per £ spent Companion ticket on spend over £20k p.a. £75,000 travel accident benefit High APR |
HSBC Credit Card | 0% for 23 months on balance transfers & up to 8% discount on holidays through HSBC travel service | 3.3% min £5 | 17.9% APR |
0% for 23 months on balance transfers 0% for 3 months on new purchases Up to 8% discount on holidays Global assistance package No transfers from other HSBC cards Only available to HSBC account customersBusiness Credit Card Guide
Like most financial products, there are pro’s and con’s with business credit cards.
A number of well respected card card houses package cards to appeal to business managers, but as always, somewhere along the line someone has to pay for these additional perks. Make sure it’s not you by understanding the products and matching the right card to your situation!
We’ll help to steer you through the maze; look for where the charges bite, compare the charging structure with your situation and see if a business credit card will actually make you better off, or just become another unwelcome business cost in its own right.
As always, don’t use a business credit card to borrow money, this is particularly important with corporate cards as the interest rates tend to be higher than personal cards. Clear balances every month before the due date to minimise charges.
There are business credit cards for all types and sizes of business, and the benefits packages tend to be tailored to suit your business profile.
The good news
- If you’re a company with several people on the road, a group business credit card scheme can significantly simplify your accounting and improve your control of expenses. Each employee gets a card, with an agreed credit limit and at the end of the month when the bill arrives the credit card company provides a breakdown of expenditure by card and by type of expenditure.
This makes it easy for the company’s accounts department to reconcile and track expenses. Some cards even offer direct download of the monthly statement into your accounting software.
- Business credit card issuers normally provide online account access allowing expenditure to be monitored against budget in almost real time. Some card issuers will even allow employers to set each employees credit limit, and control/permissions over things like cash advances.
- Some business credit card issuers offer direct connection to advanced procurement systems like Ariba, Concur etc.
- Business credit cards make it easy for employers and employees alike to separate business and personal expenditure.
- If you’re a small business or sole trader, a business credit card can help you maximise your cash flow by settling supplier invoices with your business card. If you settle on the right day, you could get an extra 40 – 50 days credit.
- Most business credit cards offer free travel insurance, assistance and travel accident cover. Some offer roadside assistance. If you aren’t already paying for this for your staff, or it enables you to cancel other existing cover, this can be a useful perk.
- Business credit cards often offer discounts from retailers that target or are applicable to businesses.
- Like personal cards, business cards carry eye-watering overseas transaction surcharges, if you want the cheapest way to make purchases or pay for services abroad, take a look at overseas credit cards.
- Most corporate or business credit card schemes include insurance for misuse of the card by a wayward employee.
The ‘GOTCHERS’ and the not so-good news!
- Business credit cards very rarely offer the kind of introductory perks you see on the quality personal cards. There are no interest free balance transfer periods or spending rewards on corporate business cards.
Interest rates are also less competitive than personal cards, and this makes it all the more important that any balances are cleared on time.
- If you’re issuing an employee or member of staff with a business credit card, understand the implications of unexplained or unauthorised items or amounts appearing on the bill. If the card is in the company name, the company is liable even if the card has been misused. (Most corporate cards do carry insurance against this).
- If the credit card you’re considering is a true business credit card, to be issued in the name of your company, you won’t be protected by the Consumer Credit Act 1974 in the same way as you are with personal credit cards.
- You also won’t see the Representative APR quoted in line with the new Consumer Credit Directive (CCD) rules. If the card is a true credit card you should still have basic purchase protection but this will be for the company and not the employee if the card is issued to the company.
- Business credit cards were everywhere before the credit crunch, now there’s less of them around and they’re harder to get. Unless your business is more than 3 years old and has an impeccable credit record you may not be accepted.
If you’re after a true business credit card (i.e. it has the business or company name above your name on the card) then you should check out:-
Barclaycard Business Credit Cards
Lloyds Banking Group Business Card
If you don’t have a 3 year business track record, or just want a good credit card to isolate your business expenditure, don’t despair; there are plenty of other options. Some of the Business Credit Cards we compare above aren’t actually company or corporate card products. They’re personal cards but because of their benefits package they’re appropriate for small businesses and sole traders as well. Here are our full range of cashback credit cards, and rewards credit cards.
If you want to really extend your cash flow, and you’re in the market for a personal card for use within your business, consider a purchases credit card.
In fact if you’re a small business, many personal credit cards have benefits that make them very attractive if you use them for business expenditure, particularly if you travel a lot on business or you’re able to purchase raw materials or stock from suppliers by credit card. (Use business cards to buy tickets whilst your here, but to save money on charges use overseas credit cards once your abroad).
There are even some that you can get if you’ve got no or a poor credit history, check out the cards listed as ‘Prepaid’ above. These offer the same benefits as mainstream credit cards like purchase protection, rewards, secure online ordering and access to online statements. However because they don’t offer a real line of credit, they’re available to everyone. Here’s a full list of our prepaid credit cards.
