Corporate credit cards are similar to business credit cards but have a few key differences. Small business cards are typically designed for smaller businesses or sole proprietorships and usually require a personal guarantee and personal credit check.
However, corporate cards typically don't require a personal guarantee and instead often have other requirements such as revenue minimums or are only available to U.S. registered business entities (LLCs, corporations, etc.).
Corporate cards are designed to help business managers manage spending for a large number of employees and some offer rewards as well. Below, CNBC Select details the best corporate cards with a range of benefits. (See our methodology for information on how we chose the best corporate credit cards).
Best for travel spending
Brex Card
Rewards
Earn rewards and cash back on everything you spend, like 7x on rideshare, 2x on recurring software, and access exclusive events and over $400K in software discounts.
Welcome bonus
10,000 points when you spend $3,000 on your Brex card within three months of your Brex business account being opened.
Annual fee
No annual fee
Intro APR
Brex does not charge interest
Regular APR
Brex does not charge interest
Balance transfer fee
N/A
Foreign transaction fee
No foreign transaction fees, free ACH and wires worldwide, global acceptance on the Mastercard network
Credit needed
No personal guarantee or credit check. Only companies organized and registered in the United States may apply for a Brex account. See Platform Agreement for business criteria.
Pros
- No annual fee
- No foreign transaction fee
Cons
- You'll have to pay off the balance daily or monthly
*Offer available to new Brex Card customers only.
Brex Mastercard® issued by Emigrant Bank, Member FDIC. Brex Cash provided by Brex Treasury LLC, member FINRA and SIPC. Brex Treasury is not a bank; Brex Cash is not a bank account. Testimonials may not represent experiences of all clients. Terms apply, visit brex.com. Information about the Brex Card has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
Who's this for? Brex is a fintech company that offers financial services to corporations, including the Brex Card, which offers an exceptional return for many different bonus spending categories.
Standout benefits: The Brex Card is available to Brex business account members (a cash management account). Eligible businesses can earn generous rewards in useful bonus categories like rideshare, Brex travel, restaurants, eligible Apple purchases through the Brex rewards portal, recurring software and additional categories depending on your primary industry. The Brex Card is a charge card that must be paid off monthly or daily. If you opt for daily payments, your company may earn additional rewards in certain categories.
Best for cash back
Ramp Business Card
Rewards
Earn up to 1.5% cash back on all purchases
Welcome bonus
Get a $1,000 Ramp card upon approval. Limit one per new customer. No minimum spend required.
Annual fee
No annual fee
Intro APR
Ramp does not charge interest
Regular APR
Ramp does not charge interest
Balance transfer fee
N/A
Credit needed
No personal guarantee or credit check.
Pros
- Strong cash-back rate
- Unlimited physical and virtual cards
- No annual fee
Cons
- Need at least $25,000 in a U.S. business bank account to qualify
- Must pay statement in full each period
Who's this for? The Ramp Business Card is worth considering if your company wants to earn straightforward, yet valuable cash-back rewards.
Standout benefits: The Ramp Business Card can boost your company's bottom line with up to 1.5% cash back on all purchases. This card has no annual fee and a long list of partner deals, which can save you even more money. Ramp members enjoy discounts with UPS, OpenAI, Stripe, Amazon Web Services, QuickBooks Workforce, Indeed and more. You can even transfer Ramp rewards to various airline and hotel loyalty programs.
Best for travel perks
The American Express Corporate Platinum Card® grants corporate employees airport lounge access, hotel elite status and other valuable perks.
- Access to 1,400+ airport lounges including Amex Centurion Lounges
- Up to $399 in annual statement credit offers
- Up to $150 statement credit each year when you have Corporate Platinum and personal Amex Platinum Cards
- The rewards you earn aren't transferrable
- Low rewards rate for purchases
- No welcome bonus
Who's this for? The American Express Corporate Platinum Card® offers some of the same valuable benefits as other versions of the American Express Platinum Card® but with some key differences.
Standout benefits: Corporate employees on the go will appreciate this card's travel benefits, and the crown jewel of what this card offers is its airport lounge access. Cardholders can access over 1,400 airport lounges through the American Express Global Lounge Collection, including Amex Centurion lounges, *Delta Sky Clubs, Priority Pass lounges (enrollment required), Plaza Premium lounges, Escape lounges and Lufthansa lounges.
*With Delta Sky Club Access, Card Members will receive 10 Visits to the Delta Sky Club to be used from February 1 until January 31 of the next calendar year and can unlock Unlimited Delta Sky Club Access by spending $75,000 in eligible purchases on their Card in a calendar year.
Best for mid-sized corporations
U.S. Bank Commercial Rewards Card
Rewards
Companies can choose rewards as follows: Qualify for 1% cash back after spending $150,000 per quarter or earn 1x+ points. Terms apply.
Welcome bonus
None
Annual fee
$0
Intro APR
N/A
Regular APR
N/A
Balance transfer fee
N/A
Revenue requirements
$10 to $150 million annually
Terms apply.
Pros
- Flexibility in what type of rewards you earn
- No annual fee
Cons
- Quarterly spending requirement to qualify for some rewards
Who's this for? The U.S. Bank Commercial Rewards Card provides mid-sized corporations flexibility in how they earn rewards.
Standout benefits: With a U.S. Bank Commercial Rewards Card, companies can choose what type of rewards they earn. If you opt to earn a rebate, you will receive a 1% cash rebate after reaching $150,000 in quarterly spending. With the rewards option, the company earns 5X points on car rentals, 4X points on lodging, 3X points on airlines and 1X points on all other purchases.
More on our best corporate credit cards
Brex Card
The Brex Card has extremely generous spending categories, which are even more valuable than they appear because you can transfer Brex points to partner travel programs.
Rewards
Brex Exclusive rewards (monthly payments):
- 7X points on rideshare
- 4X points on Brex travel rewards
- 3X points at restaurants
- 3X points on eligible Apple purchases through the Brex rewards portal
- 2X points on recurring software
- 1X points on all other purchases
By opting for daily payments (instead of monthly) you can earn an additional 1X points in select categories. Life sciences companies don't earn bonus rewards on software, rideshare or restaurant purchases. Instead, they earn additional points on lab supplies and life sciences conference tickets.
Brex also has a custom rewards program that's available to companies with 50 or more Brex users who also will meet minimum spending requirements. You'll have to speak with Brex to see if your company qualifies.
Learn more about all reward multipliers and options here.
Welcome bonus
Earn 30,000 points after spending $3,500, or 50,000 points after spending $9,000 in the first 30 days.
Annual fee
$0 (paid plans available)
Notable perks
The Brex Card is a World Elite Mastercard® and includes Mastercard ID Theft Protection (activation required), MasterRental Insurance (rental car damage and theft coverage) and Mastercard Luxury Hotel Program (free daily breakfast for two guests, room upgrades when available, etc.).
The card also unlocks discounts for a long list of software services and business products such as TurboTax, Microsoft 365, QuickBooks® and Salesforce Essentials. Brex account holders also receive 5% back on Microsoft advertising purchases on up to $10,000 in annual spending per card.
You can use Brex rewards for a long list of redemptions, including gift cards, travel, cryptocurrency, cash back, and more. One of the best ways to use Brex points is to transfer points to one of its partner airline loyalty programs, including:
- Air France/KLM (Flying Blue)
- Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer
- Emirates Skywards
- Avianca LifeMiles
- Aeromexico Club Premier
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
You can transfer points to any cardholder associated with the Brex account.
Ramp Business Card
Ramp is a financial technology company that issues the Ramp Business Card and provides expense management and other services to U.S.-based corporations.
Rewards
Up to 1.5% cash back on all purchases
Welcome bonus
Get a $1,000 Ramp card upon approval. Limit one per new customer. No minimum spend required.
Annual fee
$0 (paid subscriptions available)
Notable perks
Ramp is a fintech company that offers businesses a variety of tools to manage and automate their finances, including bill payments, expense reimbursement and corporate cards. To qualify for Ramp, your company will need at least $25,000 in a U.S. business bank account, be a business registered in the U.S. and the majority of its operations and spending should be in the U.S.
You can earn up to 1.5% cash back, but that rate isn't guaranteed and is determined based on factors such as company size and industry.
The Ramp card's Visa Signature Business benefits include:
- Rental car collision insurance (primary coverage)
- Purchase security
- Extended warranty protection
- Travel and emergency assistance services
Ramp users have access to a massive amount of deals and discounts on business-related products, services and software. Some of these deals include (at the time of writing):
- QuickBooks discounts
- Up to $5,000 in Amazon Web Services credits
- Up to $2,500 in OpenAI credits
- UPS discounts
- 50% off Amazon Business Prime
- And many more
In addition to straight cash back or gift cards, you can transfer Ramp rewards to airline and hotel partners. The transfer ratio is 1.5:1 for all of the partners, except where noted:
- Air France/KLM Flying Blue
- Cathay Pacific Cathay
- British Airways Executive Club
- Emirates Skywards (2:1)
- Etihad Guest
- EVA Air Infinity MileageLands
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- TAP Air Portugal Miles&Go
- Wyndham Rewards
While Ramp's transfer ratio isn't great, having the option to transfer to hotel and airline programs can help you increase the value of your rewards. Account administrators can transfer points to the loyalty accounts of employees, which makes this a great way for companies to reward their staff.
The American Express Corporate Platinum Card®
The American Express Corporate Platinum Card® provides cardholders with a robust list of travel perks and elite-status benefits.
Rewards
- 1X points on all purchases
- 5% Uber Cash on Uber rides and Uber Eats orders (enrollment required)
Welcome bonus
None
Annual fee
$550 (see rates and fees)
Notable perks
Employees with a personal Amex card, in addition to an Amex corporate card, can qualify for a Personal Card Annual Credit. To be eligible, you must have the same type of personal and corporate card (e.g., Gold or Platinum). Cardholders with both a personal and corporate Platinum card receive an annual statement credit of $150.
Other perks include:
- Up to $199 in CLEAR Plus credit
- Up to $200 in airline fee credit per calendar year (airline selection required)
- Cell phone protection
- Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit
- Hilton Honors Gold status (enrollment required)
- Marriott Bonvoy Gold status (enrollment required)
- Roadside assistance
- Trip delay insurance
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
- Baggage insurance
- Global Assist Hotline
- The American Express Global Lounge Collection (enrollment required)
- Fine Hotels and Resorts program
- Rental car status perks
Corporate Amex Platinum cards can be linked to either an individual or a corporate rewards program, each card can be enrolled in one program at a time. With the corporate rewards program, designated account administrators can manage and redeem rewards. American Express' corporate rewards program allows redemptions for gift cards, statement credits, travel and merchandise. As an employee, you may be able to link your corporate card to an existing individual Membership Rewards account and redeem the rewards as you like. However, not all Amex corporate cards are eligible for enrollment in an individual rewards account, so you'll need to contact your program administrator to find out your options.
U.S. Bank Commercial Rewards Card
The U.S. Bank Commercial Rewards Card is available to corporations with an annual revenue between $10 million and $150 million.
Rewards
A company can choose how it earns rewards:
- 1% rebate after spending at least $150,000 in quarterly spending
Or earn:
- 5X points on car rentals
- 4X points on lodging
- 3X points on airlines
- 1X points on all other purchases
Welcome bonus
None
Annual fee
$0
Notable perks
With a U.S. Bank Commercial Card account, your company will have access to more than just the ability to earn rewards. This card also has several tools and features designed to simplify expense management and corporate travel. It offers integration with popular accounting software, including QuickBooks Online, NetSuite, and more. When employees book through the travel platform, it automatically tracks the receipts. You can also set card limits or merchant category restrictions to align with company policies.
FAQs
How do corporate cards differ from small business cards?
The key differences between corporate and small-business cards are how you qualify and the type of business the card is designed for. Small business cards usually require a personal guarantee and personal credit check, whereas corporate cards do not. Corporate cards typically require the business to have a specific legal structure, minimum revenue or cash holdings or a certain minimum number of employees.
Is it hard to get a corporate credit card?
Corporate credit cards aren't necessarily hard to get, but your business typically needs to be larger than a small business with just a couple of employees. To qualify for a corporate card, you could need 15+ employees, a minimum of six figures in annual expenses or a large sum of money in the bank.
Does a corporate credit card hurt your credit score?
If your employer issues you a corporate credit card, it won't affect your personal credit score. Corporate card activity isn't tied to your personal credit report.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every credit card article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of credit card products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best corporate credit cards.
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Our methodology
To determine which credit cards are best for corporations, CNBC Select analyzed corporate cards based on a range of features. We compared rewards (e.g., cash back, points and miles), annual fees, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APR and balance transfer fees and foreign transaction fees. We also considered additional perks, protections and other features available to corporations.
We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.
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Information about the U.S. Bank Commercial Rewards Card has been collected independently by CNBC Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer prior to publication.
