9 Best Credit Cards for Employee Spending Limits (March 2024)

If your business is growing, you’ll want to consider some of the best credit cards with employee spending limits sooner or later. Allowing your employees to have a credit card for business purchases can take a lot of time and pressure off your plate. They can make necessary purchases without exceeding certain limitations according to your business’s cash flow.

Choosing a card that allows you to set a custom credit limit for each employee can help you maintain your business budget and avoid problems with overspending or fraud. Being able to earn more rewards (and meet your welcome bonus quicker) while obtaining the materials and services your business needs is also a plus.

To help you narrow down your options, here are nine of the best credit cards with employee spending limits.

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Granting your employee the privilege of using a business credit card is a big step. That said, setting employee controls and safeguards is also crucial. The business credit card options below allow you to monitor your employees’ spending and set custom limits depending on their role and spending needs.

Capital One has a few business cards well worth considering. The Capital One Spark Cash for Business waives the annual fee the first year, allowing you the chance to try the card out. This card also gives you and your employees unlimited cash back on all purchases and a generous welcome bonus when you and your employees spend a certain amount within the first three months. The process for setting different spending limits for employees is straightforward.

As with any good business credit card, you’ll be able to stay up to date with your purchases since you can find merchant information, including the company address, logo, phone number, and map when it’s available. If you have monthly subscriptions for business services, you’ll also be able to see a list of these transactions all in one place so you can carefully monitor your business expenses.

Another benefit is that you can track spending from employee cards and see transactions from when they post.

The Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card offers employee credit cards at no additional cost. While unlimited is in this card’s name, it does not refer to the spending limit but rather to the cash back you can earn. Cardholders (employees and the primary cardholder) can earn unlimited cash back that can be used for travel, a statement credit, gift cards, and more.

Personalize the experience for cardholders by setting the type of purchases they can make and the specific spending limits they have on the card. For example, if you have a team member in marketing, he or she may need to spend more on materials than someone in operations.

Use your Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card to set a specific card limit for them and earn rewards based on their purchases. This card also has no annual fee and standard benefits like fraud protection, purchase protection, and personalized account alerts.

The Capital One Spark Cash Select for Good Credit is an excellent alternative to the Capital One Spark for Business card because it has no annual fee.

You’ll get free employee cards, custom spending limits, and the ability to assign an account manager to a card to make purchases and payments. You can also review transactions and resolve any other problems with your employee’s spending and card usage.

The Capital One Spark Miles for Business is a great option for anyone whose business involves a bit of traveling. Employee cards are free, and you can set spending limits per card while seeing transactions as they post.

You may have employees who need different levels of access to the business credit card, and you can set this up through Capital One as well. Employees can either be authorized users or card managers. Authorized users can make purchases on behalf of the business, monitor their card activity, and track their spending. However, they can’t view overall account details.

Account managers have more access and can manage authorized users, monitor account financial details, and even make payments on your behalf.

The Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card is another option if you’re looking for cards with employee spending limits. Adding employee cards is free, and you can set limits on how much each person can spend each month. That way, they don’t have access to your total credit limit.

To set a different credit limit for employees, you’ll need to contact the cardmember service department. This card also comes with flexible rewards opportunities, and your employees’ spend can contribute to your overall reward amount.

While there is an annual fee that’s often waived for the first year, the benefits (including bonus points for spending and no foreign transaction fees) of using this card for your business far outweigh the annual cost.

The Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card is another business card that lets you customize your employee’s spending limit. This card comes with cash flow management tools like automatic payment transfers and the option to download business transactions into your QuickBooks software system.

You’ll be able to keep track of your team’s balance and account activity anytime. The Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards credit card from Bank of America also comes with fraud monitoring that will block patterns of suspected fraudulent activity.

The Ink Business Cash® Credit Card by Chase is a rewards card that is one of the best credit cards with employee spending limits. You can add employee credit cards to your account for free and set custom spending limits. Card users also get fraud protection and zero liability, which means you won’t be held responsible for unauthorized charges made with your card.

Purchase protection is another benefit that you may find helpful as a business owner. Whether you or your employees make a purchase for the business, you’ll be covered for 120 days against damage or theft of the item. Finally, this card’s extended warranty can come in handy if you’re buying essential supplies or materials to operate your business.

When you think of American Express, you may think of credit cards with no spending limit. However, the Blue Business Cash™ Card has flexible spending limit options and many features that business owners can take advantage of. Once you’re approved, adding employee cards to your account is easy, and you can track their spending regularly while also receiving alerts and summary reports.

This card allows you to assign an account manager to manage your business card account and set employee spending limits. You can connect your card to QuickBooks so business purchases are categorized automatically. For added transparency, consider using the American Express business app and allowing employees to add receipts for purchases made.

The The Business Platinum Card® is great for businesses that involve lots of travel. Like the Blue Business Cash™ Card, you can add employee cards and track their expenses.

The alert feature can help you monitor their spending to ensure they stay within their purchase limits. Or, if you’d rather assign an account manager from your team to handle this responsibility, you can set up your account so they have access to these privileges as well.

This card allows you to pay vendors using Bill.com, so this can be another task you assign an employee to manage with their business credit card.

Employee credit cards work just like any other credit or charge card and can be used to make purchases, often up to a certain limit. The card is usually widely accepted for in-store and online purchases, whether it’s a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express.

The business owner is then responsible for paying the bill from his or her bank account when the statement comes out. Since employee business cards work just like any other credit or charge card for purchases, employees often can’t see the business owner’s sensitive account information. They can’t set any controls or make account changes.

Business owners will need a solid credit history and a good credit score to qualify for a business credit card.

A credit card spending limit refers to how much you can spend on the card during a monthly billing cycle. Business credit cards are similar to personal credit cards in that cardholders can have a credit limit that specifies how much they can spend each billing cycle before maxing the card out.

Using business credit cards can be a great way to build your business credit score, maximize your rewards, and even meet your welcome bonus quicker. At the same time, it’s important to be mindful of your spending and set clear limits for employees who receive their own cards.

While your business credit card may have a high spending limit, you may not want to use it every month if you can’t afford to make payments on the bill.

If you don’t want an employee to spend the entire limit with a business credit card, you can set up custom spending limits for each card. These restrictions can often limit a transaction to a specific dollar amount and spending category, among other factors.

That means if you’d like someone to go to Best Buy and buy a printer for the business, you may be able to limit their spend to $300. Always keep your overall spending limit in mind when managing your business credit card(s), as well as what you’d be okay with your employees spending each month.

Most issuers that offer a small business credit card allow you to set spending limits. This includes Chase, American Express, and Capital One.

When researching card issuers that allow you to set different spending limits for employee cards, pay close attention to the card detail information. You may have to make a few extra clicks to read the card terms, but if it’s a business card, it should boldly advertise this feature.

Another thing you’ll want to consider is how to go about adding employee cards and setting spending limits. Does the card issuer make this a relatively easy process that you can do online or over the phone? Do they provide spending monitoring tools and alerts via an app? What types of things can you limit regarding employee spending (whether it’s setting daily spending limits or vendor purchasing limits)?

Since most card issuers allow you to set spending limits, you’ll want to hone in on the specific customizations that each card offers and consider how user-friendly the card is to manage.

Yes and no. Employee cardholders do not have the same benefits or usage privileges as the primary cardholder. However, a few benefits are often shared among the primary cardholder and authorized users.

For example, if your business credit card comes with purchase protection and liability protection, this coverage will likely extend to your employee’s card as well.

Cash back and rewards points for every eligible purchase usually extend to your employee credit cards too, meaning all spending on employee cards can increase the rewards points total for the primary cardholder.

Some employee cards may not come with spend monitoring features, so team members won’t see specific account data or any monitoring tools you have set up. Depending on your business credit card, you may have the option to assign an account manager who can review employee’s card statements and make higher-level expense management decisions on your behalf.

Any type of business can qualify for a business credit card. However, you’ll need to meet some important requirements and share your Federal Tax ID or your Social Security number to obtain the card. You can generally get a business card whether you’re a:

• Corporation
• Partnership
• Nonprofit
• LLC
• Government-owned business
• Sole proprietorship

If you’re looking to build business credit, it’s better to go with your federal tax ID so you can create a separate business credit score and credit history. You’ll also need to report your annual revenue and estimated monthly spend on the card.

While there are no hard rules for how much your business should be making, companies with larger revenues are more likely to get approved. This doesn’t mean that small businesses run by sole proprietors can’t get business credit cards because they can.

Another thing to consider is that your personal credit score may come into play, especially if you don’t have established business credit. As with a personal credit card, your personal credit score and credit history may be a factor when applying for a business card.

Whether you’re a photographer, food delivery driver, or a consultancy or freelancer, you can likely apply for and receive a business credit card without any problems.

If you’re a small business owner looking for a business credit card, plenty of great options are available to you, depending on the credit card company. The first question you should ask yourself is, “What are you looking for in a business credit card?” followed by “How much do you wish to spend each month?”

You also may want to pay attention to the card’s interest rate if you can’t pay the bill off each month.

As a small business owner, you likely have a tighter budget than that of a large corporation. So, you may want to consider a business credit card with no annual fee, like the Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card by Chase. With this card, you can earn unlimited cashback and also obtain an employee card for free for each team member.

This card also comes with a lower introductory APR during the first year. This can help you make the most of this card and get used to using it with your employees without paying high interest fees.

The free purchase protection, fraud protection, and expense monitoring tools that come with this card are helpful for a small business looking to limit costly liabilities that could cripple the company’s finances. When trying to find the best small business credit card, be sure to compare all the options available to you and carefully weigh the pros and cons.

No matter who is an authorized spender, your company is responsible for paying all purchases. This is probably the most significant risk to business owners.

Business credit cards for employees may take some responsibility off your plate and help you earn rewards for every eligible purchase. But you also need to make sure you set a spending limit and pay your bill on time from your business bank account. This is where business cards with reward programs come in handy since many of them allow you to redeem rewards as a statement credit and lower your bill.

Still, if an employee spends too much on a credit card, you are responsible for paying the bill. If an employee makes a mistake and overspends on a purchase for the company or buys themselves gift cards with the credit card, they are not liable. Instead, the company or business owner is fully responsible for the balance of business credit cards.

Choosing credit cards with employee spending limits can help prevent this from happening. The only time the business is not responsible for a credit card balance is when it involves legitimate fraud. For example, if your business credit card is stolen, the credit card company’s liability protection can be used to cover you.

No, they are actually two different things. A corporate credit card is tied to a corporate account and is more difficult for businesses to obtain. A company usually has to have a significant annual revenue (in the millions) to qualify for a corporate credit card.

Another main difference is that the business owner or primary cardholder is liable for all purchases with a business credit card, whether they are business expenses or not. With a corporate card, the company is liable. There is also usually a corporate credit card policy outlining how employees can use the card to keep their spending in compliance.

Larger businesses with several employees who may need a credit card should consider a corporate card. Otherwise, using a business credit card works just as well.

The best credit cards with employee spending limits are what you want to consider if you’re looking to get a new credit card for your business. As your company grows, you may want to add an employee card, so it’s essential to know your options and how you can go about doing this.

Having customizable spending limits and other monitoring tools at your fingertips can make the process run much more smoothly overall. If you’re ready to take the next step, apply for one of the cards on our list and start using it for your business expenses.