Reply to: Business Credit Card recommendations

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Then if it's you - as I suspect most would prefer - then why is it not a BIK, since it was earned on the back of company expenditure and you wouldn't have got it otherwise??

Presumably because its entirely incidental to the purpose of the expenditure (unless you really are just buying something just to get the benefit of cash back - which would be very difficult to prove - in which case the whole expense should technically fail the wholly and exclusively rule and not be an allowable expense for YourCo).

I agree that generally speaking, company expenses (rather than employee out of pocket expenses) should be paid for directly by the company whenever possible however there are times when you don't have any choice - you might not have access to your company debit/credit card, your business card might be rejected (this has happened to me before due to anti-fraud so I had to use my personal card).

[malvolio]

Off the back of my last thread, I thought I'd take a punt and apply for a HSBC Business credit card yesterday. I've been with them since Jan this year and it sailed through the automatic online application with a £1k limit. It did a credit check on me, but you don't personally have to guarantee the debt until you want £3k+.

You can have an HSBC card for each officer of the company, so if the other half is Co Sec you get £6k limit total. You can then divide that between the two cards however you see fit; so my limit is £5k, which I used to use up most months when commuting by air to the frozen north (well, Yorkshire, to be precise) and SWMBO's is £1k, just in case.

And on the other point, I've never understood why I should spent my money on company business expenses, even with a reclaim. However, if you get a cashback deal on something that you have reclaimed in full, who actually gets the cashback - you, or YourCo?

Then if it's you - as I suspect most would prefer - then why is it not a BIK, since it was earned on the back of company expenditure and you wouldn't have got it otherwise??

Questions, always questions...

[vwdan]

Off the back of my last thread, I thought I'd take a punt and apply for a HSBC Business credit card yesterday. I've been with them since Jan this year and it sailed through the automatic online application with a £1k limit. It did a credit check on me, but you don't personally have to guarantee the debt until you want £3k+.

[ee61re]

I have a company Barclaycard, and interestingly I've had nothing from them about stopping the card, but I did get a letter today telling me they are increasing the credit limit on the card.

[pacontracting]

Do business credit cards offer much protection? I thought they weren't covered by the Consumer Credit Act. Are they covered by something else?

I thought so too. The consumer credit act protects only 'Individuals' so that would be a person, a sole trader or partner but I don't think it covers a situation where the Credit Agreement is between a Company and a Credit Card Company. That being said - a lot of 'Business' credit cards make it clear the agreement is between the individual named and that they are responsible for the debt etc - so I think it depends on the specific Credit Card agreement you sign (where it says, 'This agreement is between.... etc).

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

Exactly TCP.

I already have a debit card. I like using credit cards rather than debits for the protection they offer.

Do business credit cards offer much protection? I thought they weren't covered by the Consumer Credit Act. Are they covered by something else?

[cojak]

I'm assuming you only want a company credit card to make company purchases (i.e. in the company name) rather than for out of pocket expenses, as the latter would still need to be reported under the credit cards section on the P11D? Does your business bank account not have a debit card for company purchases?

Exactly TCP.

I already have a debit card. I like using credit cards rather than debits for the protection they offer.

[pacontracting]

I've been thinking about switching from my AMEX Business card to just my Business bank account Debit Card.

In terms of whether you need to report it on P11D, I always go with the rules here:

https://www.gov.uk/expenses-benefits...s/whats-exempt

So I use the company card for business travel (hotels / flights / train) to client site (recharging the cost to the client via invoice if not covered by day rate), buying equipment (like laptops and business related software) and that's about it. Any personal expenses like cabs, personal drinks at the bar etc - I don't bother claiming back from the company and take the hit myself. I do charge entertainment to the business CC (taking clients out etc, Christmas party etc).

So why stay with AMEX? Probably due to the Membership Rewards I get through AMEX. Worth the £125 fee per year? Hmm....

[TheCyclingProgrammer]

I find a business cc very useful for big company purchases like training and laptops, and I don't have to bother too much with P11D.

The training is particularly useful as I have a little more leeway with the type of training if the company pays for it.

But it looks as if I'll just have to go back to using my personal cc and expense it back to the company.

I'm assuming you only want a company credit card to make company purchases (i.e. in the company name) rather than for out of pocket expenses, as the latter would still need to be reported under the credit cards section on the P11D? Does your business bank account not have a debit card for company purchases?

[darrylmg]

My HSBC business credit card has a max limit of £2000.
The only way to increase this is to offer a personal guarantee from a director.
I use it for paying for google apps for business, my phone costs, apartment rentals, training and other expenditure. I find that I regularly hit the limit, but I can work around it by making more regular mini payments through online banking or through the hsbc app.
It costs £32 per year. Not bad.

[Maslins]

only one listed, but it is a cashback card, so worth a look:

Business Credit Cards - All The Best Company Credit Cards

That's the one I got just over a month ago. Wasn't initially keen as to my mind Capital One is for people with crap credit.

My reason for wanting one was using Cater Allen for main business banking, and they have a 30 transactions/month limit for free banking. With a company credit card I could put all the little purchases on it, so from CA's perspective they all combine to just one payment a month. Plus gives the added security of it being a credit card over a debit card.

Admittedly haven't had it long, but not got a bad word to say about it yet. Don't care about APR as will clear balance in full each month. Not too fussed about cash back, that's just a bonus. Main thing I want is hassle free and ideally no charge. Also like the idea of being able to get another card for a secondary user, but appreciate that might not be of interest to most contractors.

[barrydidit]

The training is particularly useful as I have a little more leeway with the type of training if the company pays for it.

Interesting comment - if training is expensable, why does the source of the payment matter?

[barrydidit]

HSBC and Lloyds have half decent ones,(VISA), but you need to hold your current account with them to apply for the Business Credit Card ( and for Lloyds you need to have held it for a year).

For info, the cashback card mentioned above has a couple of minimum application conditions:
Must earn £20K plus per year ( as an individual, not the business)
Must be a homeowner.

Didn't bother with one myself, use my own and expense it back to the company - is that an option for you ? Might be easier and you then have more options with some good intro offers out there.

HTH

WBS

I have an HSBC business card which was set up along with the current account. I don't use it though and with the £32 annual fee it isn't worth my while so i'm intending to ditch it. My preference is to use personal cards and expense back, keeping the cashback element for myself. I can see having one for equipment and training would be handy though to avoid P11D stuff.

I think the Santander cards offer good cashback deals at the moment. I use an AMEX one, which doesn't have the best rate any more and isn't accepted everywhere either due to their high merchant fees. The money saving expert site has a pro's and con's list of what's available.

[cojak]

I find a business cc very useful for big company purchases like training and laptops, and I don't have to bother too much with P11D.

The training is particularly useful as I have a little more leeway with the type of training if the company pays for it.

But it looks as if I'll just have to go back to using my personal cc and expense it back to the company.

[redgiant]

Not accepted everywhere (i.e. Maplin) but I use American Express Cashback Platunum, not sure if it is still available.

I have the same here.

Although I had a letter the other day from Barclaycard saying that they a launching an Amex Cashback CC (1.5%) with a secondary Visa CC (0.5%) shortly which I may switch to using when my existing Barclaycard CC is replaced next month. These are personal CC BTW that I expense purchases back to the business - never found a business CC that provides good incentives for me to use them instead.