What Are Some of the Bonus Categories for Business Credit Cards?

To remain competitive, credit card companies offer incentives to entice business owners. Bonus categories give you perks that make spending your company’s hard-earned revenue a bit more agreeable.

When you use this type of business card, you can spend in bonus categories including business travel, gasoline, and restaurants to earn points and cash back bonuses. These spending advantages can help you grow your business and free up working capital.

Bonus Categories for Business Credit Cards

Having a solid understanding of your spending habits and company goals will help you find the right business card with bonus categories that will work for you.

Though bonus category spending can vary depending on the card issuer, you’ve signed up with. Each business card company uses its own criteria for transactions to be considered eligible. Here’s a look at some of the bonus categories for business credit cards.

Travel Bonus Categories 

Travel is one of the most popular credit card rewards categories. If your company relies on travel to do business, this bonus category can be lucrative. However, the definition of travel expenses will vary between business card companies. 

Examples of credit card companies and expenditures they allow under travel expenses include:

• Barclays — Barclays defines travel broadly and includes hotels, motels, airlines, timeshares, car rentals, limos, taxis, buses, trains, ferries, travel agencies, discount travel sites, and campgrounds. 
• Chase — There are a lot of chances for business travelers to score double points on travel for nearly anything when you use their Sapphire Preferred Card. Their definition of qualified travel merchants includes hotels, motels, airlines, timeshares, car rentals, limousines, taxis, buses, trains, toll bridges, parking lots, and garages.
• Capital One — According to Capital One, hotels, airlines, timeshares, car rental car companies, limo services, taxis, bus lines, cruise lines, and travel agencies are considered travel purchases.

Office Supply Retail Store Bonus Categories

Using the right business credit card for office supplies can earn your company thousands of dollars in cash-back or hundreds of thousands of extra points each year. 

There are a lot of solid options that cover a variety of needs. Here are some cards that may benefit your company as you restock on office supplies. 

• Chase — Chase defines this type of retailer as stores specializing in selling various office supplies (i.e., Office Depot and Staples). Chase Ink Business Cash card gives you the ability to earn 5% cash back rewards for office supply purchases. 
• American Express — The Amex Business Platinum card is excellent for business owners purchasing directly from U.S. office supply stores. They can earn up to five times their Membership Rewards points. Other retailers that sell office supplies are excluded.
• Bank of America — The Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards card carries no annual fee and provides 3% cash back for company owners who use it at office supply stores.

Internet, Phone, and Cable Bonus Categories

For some business owners, internet, phone, and cable make up the most significant part of your expenses each month. If this is you, it may be helpful to find a card that can reward those specific bonus categories.

• Chase — Chase defines this credit card category as including cable, satellite TV, radio cellular wireless data, internet, your landline phone bill . However, equipment purchases are not included in this bonus category. The Chase Ink Preferred Card lets cardholders earn three times their points on every dollar spent in this category.
• Bank of America — Your firm could earn preferred rewards with Bank of America if it has Platinum Honors Tier and spends a lot on computer services or telecommunications. Earn up to 5.25% with the Business Advantage Cash Rewards Card if you choose the telecom category. 
• American Express Card — Pay your internet, cable, and phone services with your Amex Blue Business Cash Card and have 2% cash back applied directly to your business’s bottom line.

Gas Station Bonus Categories

If your company has drivers on the road a lot, using your business card for refueling is an excellent way to save your company money. Yet, signing up for a specific fuel card and limiting yourself to a particular gas company to earn cash back or extra rewards is unnecessary. 

Business credit cards allow you to earn bonus points in this category outside of your preferred gas station. Generally speaking, card issuers only offer bonus rewards for gas purchases at U.S. pump stations whose primary business is selling gasoline. You won’t receive extra rewards at warehouse stores or supermarkets that sell gas.

Here are some cards that offer extra rewards on gas purchase:

• American Express — The Blue Cash Preferred Card from Amex offers you 3% cash back at gas stations in the United States.
• Citi — The Citi Premier Card offers three times points on all gas purchases. 
• U.S. Bank — The U.S. Bank Business Cash Rewards World Elite Mastercard is a good choice for business gas cards. There is no annual fee, and it offers 3% cash back at any gas station on fuel purchases of $200 or less.

Bonus Categories at Restaurants

A lot of credit card lenders offer bonus rewards for business spending at any restaurant located in the U.S. (some worldwide) — and this includes fast food, but not convenience stores.

Depending on how the merchant processes your purchase, you may or may not receive additional rewards if the eating establishment is situated within a hotel, theme park, casino, sports stadium, or other business. The reason is your dining purchase could be processed as if you made it at the casino rather than the restaurant.

• American Express — The American Express Gold Card lets you collect four times your points at any restaurant worldwide and four times your points at supermarkets in the U.S.
• Citi — Citi defines restaurants as lounges, cafes, bars, and fast-food restaurants. Citi’s Prestige card offers five Citi ThankYou points for every dollar spent at a restaurant.

Chase — Chase’s restaurant definition is any merchant whose central business is eat-in or sit-down dining, including fine dining and fast-food establishments. The Chase Sapphire Reserve card gives business owners three times their points.

Choose the Revenued Business Card

Bonus categories offered by commercial credit card companies are perfect for maximizing profit on business-related items you purchase anyway. Yet your business or personal credit score will need to be good or better to qualify for cards offering extra rewards — often 80 to 100 for business scores and 700-740 or higher for personal scores.

If you need business funding and have bad credit, consider applying for the Revenued Business Card. If you have an operational history of at least six months and monthly sales of $10,000, you can qualify, even if you have subprime credit. Get the Revenued Card by completing our online form or call us at +1 (877) 662-3489.