Business credit cards operate in a similar way to personal credit cards. Charge cards can be used to provide short-term credit facilities to employees, for example to manage travel and expenses. In both cases businesses might have multiple cards linked to one account.
Applying
Applying for a business credit or charge card is normally done face to face, by telephone or online. A credit limit will be agreed at the point of application and will be subject to regular review by the bank.
Maintenance
The business must keep within its agreed credit limit.
With credit cards – at the very least – the minimum monthly payments must be met, as failure to do so may lead to withdrawal of the facility and/or affect the business’s credit rating. A business can avoid any interest charges by paying off the full outstanding credit card balance each month. If it does not do this, it will incur interest charges on the outstanding balance.
With charge cards the full balance is paid each month. If the account is well-managed, then the bank will be more likely to agree to an increased credit limit at a later date, should this be required.
