Corporate Credit Cards vs. Business Credit Cards: Key Differences
Written By
Denise Trabucco
Vice President, Commercial Card Sales at Banc of California
The terms business credit card and corporate card are often used interchangeably, but as a business owner, it’s critical to understand some key differences.
Business cards are often geared toward entrepreneurs and smaller teams, while corporate or commercial cards are structured for larger organizations with higher spending volumes and more administrative needs. Understanding these distinctions can help you choose the right tool for your business. Let’s take a closer look.
What Is a Business Credit Card?
Business credit cards are typically used by business owners to manage expenses, improve cash flow and simplify day-to-day operations. While they work similarly to personal credit cards, they’re intended specifically for business use and often come with features tailored to the needs of smaller operations. These cards are typically paid in full each period, but at times can have the option to extend terms (interest rates apply). Business cards often have fraud and travel benefits with the card features, and may offer cash-back rewards. There may be no minimum monthly spend or card requirement.
Business credit cards are commonly used by established and growing businesses, as well as startups with a small number of employees. They allow you to separate business and personal spending, which simplifies bookkeeping and tax preparation. Many providers also offer tools to help track expenses, monitor employee spending, generate reporting for spend insights and auditing, and integrate with accounting software.
Benefits
Business credit cards often offer rewards and benefits, including competitive, volume-based cash back, and no foreign transaction fees or annual fees. These cards are ideal for covering everyday business expenses, such as office supplies, software subscriptions, travel or vendor payments. They also provide flexibility for companies with fluctuating cash flow.
What Is a Corporate Credit Card?
A corporate credit card, also known as a commercial card, is tailored for larger, more established businesses. These cards are typically issued to corporations with substantial annual revenue, multiple employees and more complex expense management requirements.
Benefits
A major benefit of corporate credit cards is the ability to issue individual cards to multiple employees or vendors, each with customized spending limits and merchant category restrictions. Best-in-class corporate card programs offer robust expense management tools, automated reporting and seamless Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system integrations. These features help streamline reconciliation and approval workflows, minimize fraud, and increase working capital.
Corporate credit card programs offer travel benefits and tiered rebate programs based on overall card spend. This may be beneficial for companies with high volumes of travel or operational expenses.
Bonus Benefit for Both Business and Corporate Credit Cards
Most business and corporate card programs include access to virtual cards, which provide unique card numbers for secure one-time or recurring digital transactions, making them particularly useful for managing vendor payments or online purchases.
Business vs. Corporate Credit Cards: Key Differences Explained
Comparing the key differences between business vs. corporate credit cards may help you determine which option is most appropriate for your business.
| Feature | Business Credit Card | Corporate Credit Card |
|---|---|---|
| Typical User | Small business owners | Mid-sized to large corporations |
| Billing | Company and individually billed | Company billed |
| Rewards | Statement Credit | Cash Back |
| Reporting | ERP Integration | Expense Management tool and ERP Integration |
| Virtual Card Options | Included | Included |
These distinctions are especially important as your business scales. A business credit card is often ideal in the early stages, while a corporate card offers advanced features that may become more important as your operations grow more complex.
Choosing the Right Card for Your Business
Often, the choice between a business credit card and a corporate card depends on how the business is structured, average monthly spending and the number of employees who need access to a card.
Business credit cards offer flexible billing options, including company-billed and individually billed accounts. They may also function as revolving cards, allowing balances to carry over from month to month.
If your company has higher spending volumes, multiple departments or a growing number of employees with purchasing needs, a corporate card may offer greater control and efficiency. Features such as automated reporting, employee-level spending limits and centralized expense management help save time, reduce costs and improve financial oversight.
Credit Card Solutions for Each Stage of Business
Your business needs change as you grow, and your credit card should keep up. Whether you’re running a lean operation or leading a team across multiple departments, the right credit card can help you manage expenses with more control and less complexity.
Banc of California offers both business and commercial cards with no annual fees and a cash-incentive program. Our credit card solutions are designed to support how you operate today and scale alongside you as you grow. With flexible features, spending controls and dedicated support, we help businesses manage day-to-day expenses while planning for long-term success. To learn more, explore our credit card solutions or connect with a relationship manager for personalized advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a business or corporate credit card for personal expenses?
Business and corporate credit cards are intended strictly for business-related expenses. Using them for personal purchases can create accounting issues and may violate the card agreement.
For corporate cards, especially those tied to corporate credit card management software, unauthorized use can trigger internal controls or compliance concerns. Keeping business and personal expenses separate is not only best practice but also critical for accurate reporting. It is suggested to mandate or use a corporate and a purchasing card policy in your organization to support the correct usage for management and employees.
How do I choose the best corporate credit card programs?
Start by assessing how your business spends and who needs access to a card. The best corporate credit card programs typically offer features such as no annual fees, employee card controls, integration with accounting platforms and virtual card capabilities. Programs that include built-in support for corporate credit card expense management software may also reduce the burden on your finance team and help you scale your expense processes.
To choose the correct program, consider your organization’s future goals and whether the card will support the organization’s growth in the future.
All credit products are subject to credit approval. Not an offer of credit.
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