Mastercard Adds New Benefits for Eligible Business Card Owners

Ahead of National Small Business Week, Mastercard has announced changes to its small-business credit card program, including a consolidation of its offerings as well as new benefits for business cardholders in the U.S. starting July 1.

Mastercard is folding its Professional and World card programs into two core offerings: Business and World Elite. The new benefits on those offerings will form Mastercard's new small-business program, which includes product discounts from Intuit, savings on everyday expenses, and access to other digital tools.

Here’s what the new business card benefits will offer:

For World Elite cardholders

• An enhanced Mastercard Easy Savings program: Mastercard already offers a baseline version of this benefit, which gives business owners a rebate on everyday business purchases such as dining and travel when you shop through select merchants via an eligible website. But Mastercard is adding what it calls "premium merchants" as of July 1 for business World Elite cardholders. (Mastercard cites companies like Avis and Monster.com as examples.)

• Cell phone insurance: As long as you pay your cell phone bill with your qualifying business Mastercard, you’ll be eligible for Mastercard Cellular Telephone Protection. This benefit covers stolen or damaged cell phones for a maximum of $800 per claim (no more than $1,000 per year). There’s a $50 deductible.

• A 24/7 business assistant: You’ll have access (via phone, mobile, web or email) to a live on-call assistant who can locate tech support, recruiting services, meeting rooms, locations for client dinners and more. You’ll be responsible for paying any costs incurred from this service.

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For all Mastercard Business cardholders

• Mastercard Receipt Management: Mastercard will provide a mobile app, in partnership with Itemize Corp., that allows you to stay organized. You can track paper and digital receipts, review key purchase data, categorize expenses and export customized reports. All you have to do is take a picture of the receipt and you can upload it to the cloud and app to categorize expenses and note important details.

• Enhanced Mastercard ID Theft Protection: Cardholders can monitor personal and business information when they enroll in this service free of charge. They also have access to identity-theft-resolution specialists, available 24 hours a day to help resolve incidents.

Also among new benefits provided for all Mastercard business cardholders are a couple that launched on April 15:

• Intuit Quickbooks Online discounts for new customers: Cardholders can get between 40% and 50% off a 12-month subscription of Quickbooks Online or Quickbooks Self-Employed, software that helps you stay financially organized. This discount is available only to new QuickBooks Online customers.

• Intuit Turbo Tax savings: Business owners can save up to $20 on TurboTax federal products annually. This service combines technology, tools and access to TurboTax Live certified tax professionals.

“We’re eliminating any friction so that cardholders can really experience and consume our products in a simple, intuitive manner,” says Amnah Ajmal, executive vice president of Mastercard’s core products in North America.

The new benefits will replace some of Mastercard’s travel and purchase protections, such as value added tax reclaim, travel accident insurance, travel and emergency assistance service, extended warranty protection and purchase assurance.

As a business owner, you’re more likely to have to collect daily receipts than face a car breaking down during travel, Ajmal says.