Top 5 Best Business Credit Cards Australia for 2024 – ( business credit cards instant approval Australia)

If you’re a business owner in Australia, leveraging business credit cards in 2024 will be crucial in helping you grow and scale your small business. Now, if misused, credit card debt can sync your business. Still, if used correctly, you can leverage business credit cards strategically so that they can benefit and help you gain access to the capital that you need to continue to grow your business.

On top of that, they come with great sign-up bonuses that can reward you with free travel or provide cash straight back into your business. So, we will go over my definitive guide on business credit cards. We’ll start talking about the benefits of the best business first credit cards for startups and the requirements to sign up, and then we’ll talk about some of the small business credit cards on the Australian market that you can sign up for.

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6 Benefits of Using Business Credit Cards || Why Should You Use Business Credit Card for Startup

Whether you’re a solopreneur or run a big team, you understand the importance of having low-interest-rate business credit cards. Every time you’re not rotating through different cards and taking advantage of getting all these points, every entrepreneur misses out on so much money. Who doesn’t love free travel, free cash back, and many other perks?

• higher credit limits
• Boost your business credit ratings
• Separate business credit
• Control employee spending
• Business perks
• Tracking business expenses

What is a Business Credit Card?

Business credit is like a credit card cheat code that entrepreneurs and business owners have discovered, allowing them to earn tens of thousands of dollars worth of free credit card points or cash back. However, these credit cards are also one of the most misunderstood and underestimated parts of the game because you don’t need this massive corporation with hundreds of employees to qualify.

How Does a Business Credit Card Works?

With your credit profile, you only have one, or you only have one social security number. With business credit, you also have business credit profiles for as many businesses as possible; there is no limit to how many you can obtain. One of my favorite things about actual business credit is your credit utilization; the more you use your credit, the higher your balances and the lower your scores.

With business credit, if you have a business credit card and you max that out, maybe you need to temporarily do that while you’re waiting on a payment from a vendor from a client; cash flow needs are low that month, and you have to continue to pay payroll while you’re waiting on money to come back.

One of the most impactful, powerful things about credit cards for business is that if you max out a personal credit card, your scores go way down. If you max out a business credit card, it doesn’t affect your credit score as long as you pay on time. Only one or two banks presently report your business credit utilization to your credit profile.

Common Types of Business Credit Cards Australia

There are three types of business credit cards in Australia, and they all have their features and benefits.

Rewards or Cashback Business credit cards: Best for points, travel, and cash back.

Low-rate Business Credit cards: Best for low balance transfer rates.

Frequent flyer business credit card: Best for International Businesses.

What are the Requirements to Actually Sign Up for One?

In Australia, the requirements to sign up and get approved for a business credit card are significantly stricter than in other parts of the world. If you are a newer or smaller business, you could need some help getting approved for one. Now, generally, there are three broad categories you need to meet to get approved for a business credit card. 

• Firstly, you’ll need a valid ABN or an Australian business number, and typically, they will require you to have been in operation for more than 12 months.
• Secondly, your business must have a minimum annual revenue turnover each year. How much depends on which card you’re signing up for. Obviously, the minimum requirement will be higher with the more high-end cards. 
• Lastly, you might have to register for GST, which you will already have if your business is turning over $75,000 a year.

Only some are lost if you meet those requirements. Business credit cards are still out there, targeted at new businesses just starting out. However, just like beginner credit cards, those credit cards typically come with few features and additional benefits. There’ll be a credit card you can use to put your expenses on for your business.

How to Get a Business Credit Card?

You have your C-Corps, which are the big companies we all think about. You have S-Corps, which tend to be used by contractors and even YouTubers to mitigate risk. LLCs are another option along with partnerships, and one of the most common ones you need to realize is a sole proprietorship. Any of these are eligible for business cards of most US issuers.

There will be some solely focused on C-Corps and larger ones, but for the most part, many of the main ones will be eligible for everyone. Let’s double-click on SoProp because that is a lot of people. If you are applying for a card, all you need to do is use your first and last names as the business names, and you’re good to go. If your name is John Doe, then use John Doe for the business name. 

If they ask for a business ID or EIN, you can usually use your SSN and social media. There are some exceptions if you are dealing with specific banks or in some states, but for most big ones, you should be fine. We will reevaluate this part, though, because I think a bit more expansion is needed.

Do You Need a Business Credit Card?

For example, if you’re doing roll-ups or if you are, let’s say, flipping properties, it doesn’t really matter. For normal businesses, especially SoProps, it doesn’t really matter. If you are a SoProp, I generally recommend a lot of Chase cards because there are many no-annual-fee options, and they have pretty good bonuses. The CIC, Chase Inc. Cash, and Chase Inc.

Unlimited CIUs are an easy example of this. There are also many other sound cards outside of Chase, but if you are someone from the main channel, the main AskSebi one, you are interested in intra-bonuses, which have pretty solid ones. If you are someone at 424, you generally can get Inc. cards, and it doesn’t affect 524. So, if you’re currently at 424, you could add the Inc. Cash right now, and then, let’s say, in two months at the Inc. 

Unlimited, and you’re still at 424 because they look at 524 to make that decision, but it does not add to your 524 status. That is pretty. How many people add an extra 150 to 300K ultimate reward points? On a side note, if you want to learn about cards, we have links in the description box below. Ensure the cards make sense and the links are competitive; both are considerable ways to support the channel. 1-2 Years of Business The cool thing about a SOPROP is that you could have been working on it last year.

Running through a few fast examples, if you were selling stuff, you already had one sell a few years ago, but you stopped for a bit. If you’re doing web design, perhaps you were looking for clients at that point or improving your skills. For many things, you do have to do a lot of research before jumping into it—generally, at least $5 to $10,000 in projected income. 

Some cards might expect more, but for the most part, that’s a good starting point. A big reason for this is that they’re also looking at your income to make that decision, so there is flexibility.

Here are Some of The Best Business Credit Cards in Australia

Business credit cards, depending on the size of your business and how much revenue you’re generating, can come with significantly higher lines of credit when compared to a personal credit card, which you can use to put all of your business expenses on. What comes with putting all of your business expenses on your credit card is that it helps you accumulate reward points significantly faster than you otherwise could, allowing you to the travel benefits with credit cards that much quicker and essentially travel around the world for free.

1. American Express Explorer Business Credit Card

Their rewards card program is the best on the market and the most flexible regarding redeeming it for partner airline points. I’ve had the American Express Explorer credit card for several years now, so it only makes sense that the business version of the card is also on this list. As a signup bonus, they’re offering 75,000 membership reward points after spending $3000 in three months.

If we compare that to the personal version of this credit card, that signup bonus only provides us with 50,000 membership reward points while also requiring us to spend more money, $4000 in the first three months. As I said, business credit cards typically come with more excellent signup bonuses. Now, at an earn rate of 0.05 cents per point, the 75,000 membership reward points will be equivalent to $375.00 cash straight back into your business. 

You’ll be earning two membership reward points per dollar that you spend on all business transactions, and if you have employees you need to provide cards, you can provide up to 99 cards at no additional cost. The card comes with an annual fee of $149, but that’s a small price to pay for all the benefits you’re getting with this card. 

Eligibility for this card requires a minimum annual turnover of $75,000 and a valid ABN registered for GST. So, if you’re a small to medium business that wants a solid business credit card that does it all and rewards you for putting your business expenses on it, then this is a solid choice.

2. American Express Qantas Business Rewards Card

This card comes with features as big as the breadth of my need to say that name. If you focus on accumulating Qantas frequent flyer points, this card will reward you generously for making business transactions on it. The first thing to note about this card is that it is a charge card, meaning it doesn’t come with any pre-set spending limit.

Still, it does mean that you need to pay off the balance every month, which isn’t a big deal because you should be doing that anyway. With this card, you’ll receive 150,000 Qantas frequent flyer points after spending $3000 in the first two months as a signup bonus right now.  

Now, as a higher-end business credit card, this does come with a higher annual fee of $450. Still, a secret tip for me is that the annual payments from your credit cards are actually tax deductible for your business business as long as the credit card is used for business purposes only. The card also comes with a generous earn rate of 1.25 Qantas points per dollar spent on all business purchases, and you even have the option to boost the amount of points that you earn on specific categories like fuel and technology. 

And to top it all off, as the cherry on top, you’ll also receive 10% off all eligible Qantas flights. If you’re a business owner who travels frequently and wants to stay within the Qantas ecosystem, this card is the best choice.

3. American Express Gold Card

The next card on the list is the American Express Gold Card. The Gold Card is also a charge card, so the same principles apply to it as the previous card. The gold card currently has a signup bonus of 75,000 membership reward points after spending $1000 on eligible purchases, so it is a shallow spending requirement to get that bonus, which is always great.

However, if you want to get additional cards for your employees, it costs $119 per card. This credit card is geared towards solo entrepreneurs or businesses where you’re the only one handling transactions on a day-to-day basis. One of the additional benefits of this credit card is that each year, you’ll receive $275 credits that you can spend with Dell to purchase new technology or hardware for your business.

I’ll admit it: American Express credit cards will only be for some as great as they are. There are still some limitations with them, with not all businesses accepting them as payment due to the VIA transaction fees. So, if you need a regular Visa or a MasterCard, the next two will be for you.

4. ANZ Business Black Credit Card

Now, if you’re in the market for a business credit card that isn’t from American Express, has no annual fee, and still provides you with tremendous rewards, you’ll want to check out this card as a signup bonus; you’ll receive 100,000 nab Qantas Rewards Signature Card points when you spend $6000 in the first three months.

The reward points can be redeemed for $400.00 in cash or transferred to four partner airlines, including the nab Qantas version, Agent Miled, and Chris Flyer miles. This nab Qantas credit card offers excellent flexibility, and the annual fee is $0.00 for the first year before reverting to $300.00 in subsequent years.

5. NAB Rewards Business Signature Card

NAB has always focused on the small business segment, so it makes sense that they have a business credit card on the list today. As a sign-up bonus, they’re offering 100,000 NAB reward points after spending $4000 in the first two months. NAB rewards platinum card allows you to redeem your points to either Virgin or Singapore’s Chris Flyer program. Out of everything that we’ve discussed so far, this is the least flexible.

But one thing this card has that all other cards don’t is that payments made using this card to the ATO will still earn you nab business credit card reward points at the same rate as all other business purchases, which is a great feature. Typically, credit cards, when you make payments to government bodies like the ATO, will give you reduced earning rates or won’t give you any at all. The card has an annual fee of $175, which costs you each additional card.

Business Credit Card Predictions 2024

Capital One

They will only do a little here because they had a landmark in 2023. They launched a Spark Travel Elite card back in 2022, and in the fall of 2023, they rebranded it and officially launched it as the Venture X business. This is their flagship line and an exciting card already, so I don’t see them rocking the boat. I hope that they make the intro bonus more approachable for smaller businesses. Right now, the spending numbers are very high. Or they can tranche it so that half the intro bonus is reasonable, and the other half is more significant spending.

Moving over to Citi, I don’t see much going on either

A big reason for this is macro-based and related to the company’s situation. First, they’re apparently doing a pretty big reorganization. This is their most significant reorganization in decades, costing them over a billion dollars. When you’re firing people and cutting costs, you’re last focused on launching a new venture. If they launch something, it may be because a partner is pushing them to, and it may be American Airlines. On the personal side, they revamped the Citi American Airlines executive card, and it’s interesting.

They could easily copy-paste copy-paste this for the business end, and it makes sense. If Citi doesn’t do it, then maybe Barclays does, but more on them in a second. Factor in that Delta has super premium cards, MX Delta Reserve and Delta Reserve Business, both personal and business cards. It’s the same with United, which has the Chase United Club and United Club Business. It seems reasonable and makes sense. 

A factor against Citi is that they play less in the business card space than many other banks. For example, right now, Citi only has two business cards. Citi Advantage Platinum Select Business and Costco Business. This is in contrast to Chase, which has ten business cards.

Heading over to Wells Fargo

It should be an interesting year because they are launching a bunch of new cards. On the personal end, they are launching new cards, and the cards will have transfer partners. On the business end, we do know that a new card is coming, but we have even fewer details than on the personal side.

For business cards, I do see something more akin to the Chase Ink Preferred and maybe something with an annual fee, but nothing too crazy. It would be an excellent catch-all card but more focused on business. Hate it or love it, the Wells Fargo Propel is a beautiful catch-all card with 3x back for many categories. There are also many popular ones, like restaurants, travel, gas, and transit. On our end, more competition is always better because it forces everyone else to up their game.

Moving over to Chase, there are a few moving parts

The intro bonuses are elevated on their no-annual-fee Inc. cards, both the Chase Inc. Cash and the Chase Inc. Unlimited. You’re getting 900 back after spending 6,000 in the first three months. Doing the math, that’s a 15% return on spending. This is a reminder that cash back here is technically Ultimate Reward points, which have more upside. You can merge it with other cards, like the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Chase Inc. Cash is a great catch-all and one-and-done option if you want one business card. It offers 1.5% cash back on everything and 1.5x Ultimate Reward points on everything. Chase Inc. Cash is more of a specialist card but a good option for any setup.

It might also be attractive for gas since you earn points, and gas tends to be a more complex category. It is the last call for these elevated offers. Initially, you want to pace yourself, and then, towards the middle, you want to evaluate your performance. You’re turning on your thrusters and sprinting toward the back half, especially the ends. 

Elevated offers that end in January are the tail end of that sprint. (Pretty much that extra little bit once they cross the finish line. In terms of new cards, one thing that is probably wishful thinking is a premium Ink card. They have the Chase Ink Premiere at a $1.95 annual fee, but it feels different. I hope Chase launches this card because it would be a game-changer. Sadly, it is not likely for 2024 because everything in the pipeline was around financial services for at least the end of last year. They have something called the JP Morgan Spark, but that’s investment management.

Barclays

Barclays is weird because it’s taken a city stance and stepped back from cards. It still has cards, but it’s not aggressively adding them. If you are newer to this space, you might need to realize they were more significant players. In 2019, it stopped taking new applicants for its Rival Plus card.

On the one hand, I hope something is coming, but on the other hand, we probably would have heard something in the rumor mill. Barclays does have three business cards instead of just two from Citi. American Airlines is pushing pretty aggressively on the program side, so if Citi doesn’t want to launch something, then it’s Barclays. 

Again, American Airlines is the only of the Big Three airlines that still needs a super premium business card. In many ways, Bank of America is in the same boat. They have many cards they can copy-paste over, and it makes sense. On the personal side, they have a lesser-known super premium travel card. The Bank of America Premium Rewards Elite card has a $5.50 annual fee, and you also get many credits to help you offset this. It could be more competitive, but it’s easy to copy-paste. 

They keep emphasizing this because they do that with their other cards. On the personal side, you have the Customized Cash Rewards card. You have the Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards card on the business side. For example, Unlimited Cash Rewards and Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards. Travel Rewards, Business Advantage, Travel Rewards.

American Express

They’re also pretty aggressive about updates. For example, the Business Gold just got updated in October 2023. Another one is the Business Platinum, updated two years ago, so it probably will be another year or two before another update. I see the Delta cards staying the same since they’ve been consistent on the personal side.

A lot of changes on the business card side follow personal card changes. I don’t see the BBP and the BBC, the Blue Business Plus and Cash, changing because they’re mainstay cards. However, I think two cards are ripe for change—one big one is the Hilton Business card. On the personal side, they did a massive revamp in 2023, with the Business card being the main holdout. 

For the Hilton Business, they will copy-paste the Surpass over because that’s what it was before. They will add more nights you can earn if you spend a ton of money. One that I hope they launch, but it is probably wishful thinking, is the Hilton Aspire business card. It makes sense to me because the Hilton Aspire is a great card, and a lot of business owners would benefit from it. They might already have the personal card, but they can write off the annual fee for the business card. 

They added many high spend thresholds for their cards, and many business owners spent a ton of money. Could they not have a business Aspire card where you get free nights for hitting 90k, 120k, or 150k in spend? If they want people to use their cards actively, that’s a great way. At the same time, I understand that the normal Hilton Aspire is a loss leader. 

My question, though, is whether they could recoup that on the business side if they are getting a lot of interchange fees back. In fact, it’s worked well for Delta, and I assume that the Delta Reserve business plays a big role. Delta makes about $7 billion in revenue from American Express, from fees, sales and miles, and brand fees. 

This is about half the revenue that they generate from flying. Delta co-branded card spending is nearly 1% of the US GDP. Hilton revamped its cards to incentivize personal spending. They will likely do that on the business side, and the Hilton Aspire business is a game changer. One that I’m surprised has yet to be updated is the business green. It is common in its current state. 

It needs to do more and doesn’t copy the same playbook as other American Express cards. They could bump the annual fee from $95 to $150 or $195 and get away with it by adding many credits. Right now, you’re paying $95 for no credits. That’s the same playbook for the business gold, which went from $295 to $375, but now with more credits. Even their counterpart on the personal side had a similar metamorphosis. 

They went from a card that needed to be more competitive to something useful and with good multipliers. The annual fee was $95 before, with no credits. Now, it’s $55 more at $150, but you have two credits. If American Express doesn’t update it, they’re dropping the ball.