The best credit cards for small business owners.

While being a sole proprietor means there is no legal separation between you and your business, it's advantageous to keep your business and personal finances separate for easier bookkeeping and tax purposes.

Using a business credit card for business purposes can be more advantageous than using personal credit cards, as it allows for easier expense separation and offers rewards, financing options, credit history building, and other business-related benefits.

If you're a sole proprietor looking for a small business credit card, CNBC Select has compiled a list of the best options in several practical categories. Our methodology explains how we selected these top sole proprietorship business credit cards.

Best for travel rewards

This credit card is perfect for solo entrepreneurs seeking to earn transferable travel rewards, featuring a highly valuable welcome bonus and practical bonus categories for business spending.

The card offers numerous built-in travel safeguards and accrues Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, which can be transferred to more than a dozen airline and hotel travel loyalty programs. Additionally, points can be redeemed for 1.25 cents each through the Chase TravelSM portal for travel.

Best for 0% intro APR

This U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card is suitable for sole proprietors seeking a robust intro APR offer while still earning cash back. Generally, cards with extended intro-APR periods provide fewer rewards and other perks.

The U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card provides new cardholders with a 0% intro APR on purchases and eligible balance transfers for 15 billing cycles, followed by a variable APR of 19.24% to 28.24%. A balance transfer fee of 3% of the amount transferred ($5 minimum) applies.

Best for cash back

This credit card is perfect for sole proprietors who prioritize simplicity, as it provides a substantial flat cash-back rate on all purchases and does not come with an annual fee.

Sole proprietors can save time by earning at least 1.5% cashback on all purchases.

Best for bad credit

This credit card is for you if you need to improve your credit score while still earning rewards.

This secured credit card stands out from others with no credit history or weak credit scores, as it offers a competitive 1.5% cash back on every purchase, matching some of the top unsecured cash-back credit cards.

Best for premium benefits

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express is a top choice for solo entrepreneurs who prioritize luxury travel perks, including airport lounge access and automatic hotel elite status.

The card provides numerous travel perks, including access to over 1,400 airport lounges and an annual airline fee credit of up to $200 for incidentals. Additionally, cardholders can obtain Hilton Gold status, Marriott Gold status, and premium rental car privileges with National, Avis, and Hertz. Terms apply.

More on our business credit cards for sole proprietors

Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card

A popular business rewards card, the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, offers a reasonable annual fee, excellent rewards rates, and valuable insurance benefits.

Rewards

• 5X points on Lyft rides (through March 31, 2025)
• Each account anniversary year, customers receive 3X points on the first $150,000 in combined purchases in the categories of shipping, advertising (with select social media sites and search engines), travel, internet, cable and phone services.
• 1X points on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

After opening an account and spending $8,000 on purchases within the first three months, you will earn 100,000 bonus points.

Annual fee

$95

Notable perks

This credit card does not charge foreign transaction fees, does not require extra fees for employee cards, and provides numerous built-in insurance benefits that apply to specific purchases.

• Trip cancellation and interruption insurance
• Roadside dispatch
• Purchase protection
• Rental car insurance (primary)
• Baggage delay insurance
• Lost luggage coverage
• Travel accident insurance
• Travel and emergency assistance services

This card offers more travel and purchase protections than many other sub-$100 annual fee cards.

U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card

The U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card is a no-annual-fee business card that offers a competitive intro APR, a strong welcome bonus, and great cash-back rates.

Rewards

• U.S. Bank Travel Rewards Center offers a 5% discount on prepaid hotels and rental cars booked through the program.
• Eligible purchases at gas and EV charging stations, office supply stores, cell phone service providers, and restaurants receive a 3% cash back.
• 1% cash back on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

After opening an account and spending $4,500 on purchases within the first 150 days, you will receive a cash back of $500.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

To receive a $100 annual statement credit for recurring software subscriptions, cardholders must make 11 consecutive monthly payments for an eligible software service, such as QuickBooks or FreshBooks.

Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card

The Ink Business Unlimited card offers a substantial welcome bonus for a no-annual-fee business card, making it a lucrative cash-back option.

Rewards

• Through March 31, 2025, you can receive 5% cash back on Lyft rides.
• 1.5% cash back on all other purchases

Welcome bonus

After opening the account, you will receive a $750 cash bonus after spending $6,000 on purchases within the first three months.

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

Financing important business purchases is now more affordable with New Ink Business Unlimited cardholders receiving an intro 0% APR on purchases for 12 months. After that, a variable 18.49% to 24.49% APR applies.

You can add employee cards for no additional fee and enjoy benefits such as purchase protection, extended warranty protection, roadside dispatch, and travel and emergency assistance services.

With an eligible Ultimate-Rewards-earning card, such as the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card, the cashback earned can be converted into transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards® points.

Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card

The Bank of America Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card is a strong cash-back card, particularly when compared to other secured cards.

Rewards

• 1.5% cash back on all purchases

Welcome bonus

None

Annual fee

$0

Notable perks

This card requires a minimum deposit of $1,000 and offers a credit line equal to the amount deposited. Additionally, it provides several travel insurance benefits, including up to $100,000 in travel accident insurance, lost luggage assistance, and emergency ticket replacement.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express

The American Express Business Platinum Card comes with numerous advantages that can effectively balance out its steep annual charge (check rates and fees).

Rewards

• 5X points on flights and prepaid hotels booked on AmexTravel.com
• Eligible purchases of up to $2 million in the following categories - U.S. construction material and hardware suppliers, electronic goods retailers, software and cloud systems providers, and shipping providers - will receive 1.5X points. Purchases of $5,000 or more will also qualify for the bonus points.
• 1X points for all other purchases
• Terms apply

Welcome bonus

Spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases in the first three months of card membership to earn 120,000 bonus points.

Annual fee

$695 (see rates and fees)

Notable perks

The Amex Business Platinum card provides numerous valuable statement credit offers, such as:

• Dell purchases in the U.S. can earn up to $400 in cashback annually (up to $200 per semi-annual period).
• You can receive up to $360 in cashback on your purchases from Indeed throughout the year, with a maximum of $90 per quarter, until December 31, 2024.
• Select Adobe annual business subscriptions are eligible for a refund of up to $150 through December 31, 2024.
• Up to $120 back per year for U.S. wireless telephone service provider purchases
• You can receive up to $200 in airline fee credit annually with your preferred airline.
• Up to $189 back per calendar year for CLEAR Plus
• Global Entry and TSA PreCheck offer up to $100 in application fee refunds every four years or 4.5 years, respectively.

With Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy, cardholders can automatically attain hotel elite status and access more airport lounges than any other card, including Amex Centurion Lounges, Escape Lounges, Plaza Premium lounges, Priority Pass lounges, Delta Sky Clubs, and Lufthansa lounges.

The card offers no foreign transaction fees (refer to rates and fees) and numerous insurance coverages, including return protection, trip delay insurance, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage insurance, extended warranty coverage, rental car insurance, cell phone protection, and purchase protection.

Bottom line

Most small business credit cards, including those that offer cash-back, travel rewards, and introductory periods with no interest, are available to sole proprietors. To qualify for the most rewarding cards, you typically need a good to excellent credit score. However, if you have a lower credit score, you may still be able to obtain some of the easiest business credit cards with an average or fair credit score.

Why trust CNBC Select?

Our mission at CNBC Select is to deliver top-notch service journalism and in-depth consumer advice to our readers, enabling them to make well-informed decisions with their money. Each of our business credit card articles is the result of thorough reporting by our team of expert writers and editors, who possess extensive knowledge of credit card products. At CNBC Select, we take pride in our journalistic standards and ethics, and we earn a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links. However, our content is created without any input from our commercial team or external third parties. To learn more about our methodology and how we select the best business credit cards for sole proprietors, please refer to our website.

Our methodology

CNBC Select evaluated numerous major small business credit cards and compared them based on various features, such as annual fees, rewards, welcome bonuses, introductory and standard APRs, and foreign transaction fees. Additionally, we assessed the cards' additional perks, application processes, and ease of redeeming points.

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To learn about the rates and fees for The Business Platinum® Card from American Express, please click here.