Best Employee Credit Cards of July 2025
Free employee cards are a common perk of business credit cards. The best options make it easy to keep an eye on employees’ transactions, while also earning you rewards for their spending.
Apply nowBest Employee Credit Cards
| Credit card | Best for | NerdWallet rating | Annual fee | Rewards rate | Intro offer | Learn more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card on Chase's website |  BEST SMALL BUSINESS CREDIT CARD OF 2025 | $0 | 1.5% Cashback | $750 | on Chase's website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
 The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card on American Express' website | New businesses and small teams | $0 | 1%-2% Cashback | $250 | on American Express' website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
 Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card on Chase's website | Travel rewards | $95 | 1x-3x Points | 90,000 Points | on Chase's website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
 Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card on Bank of America's website | Cash back on gas | $0 | 1%-3% Cashback | $300 | on Bank of America's website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
 The Business Platinum Card® from American Express on American Express' website | Luxury travel rewards | $695 | 1x-5x Points | 150,000 Points | on American Express' website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
 Capital on Tap Business Credit Card on Capital on Tap's website | Business owners with fair credit | $0 | 1.5% | N/A | on Capital on Tap's website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
 Capital One Spark Cash Plus on Capital One's website | Flexible cash back with no rewards cap | $150 | 2%-5% Cashback | $2,000 | on Capital One's website | |
| Pros
Cons
| ||||||
Here are the best employee credit cards
2025 BEST CREDIT CARD
SMALL BUSINESS
Pros
- High rewards rate
- Intro APR period
- No reward caps
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- No bonus categories
2025 BEST CREDIT CARD
SMALL BUSINESSInk Business Unlimited® Credit Card
Best for Sign-up bonus with no annual fee
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5%
Cashback
Intro offer
$750
on Chase's website
Pros
- High rewards rate
- Intro APR period
- No reward caps
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- No bonus categories
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1%-2%
Cashback
Intro offer
$250
on American Express' website
Pros
- High cash-back bonus rate
- Intro APR period
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- Spending caps on bonus rewards
- Low rate after you hit bonus cap
The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card
Best for New businesses and small teams
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1%-2%
Cashback
Intro offer
$250
on American Express' website
Pros
- High cash-back bonus rate
- Intro APR period
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- Spending caps on bonus rewards
- Low rate after you hit bonus cap
Annual fee
$95
Rewards rate
1x-3x
Points
Intro offer
90,000
Points
on Chase's website
Pros
- New cardholder bonus offer
- Transfer partners
Cons
- Does not include lounge access or travel credits
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Best for Travel rewards
Annual fee
$95
Rewards rate
1x-3x
Points
Intro offer
90,000
Points
on Chase's website
Pros
- New cardholder bonus offer
- Transfer partners
Cons
- Does not include lounge access or travel credits
Pros
- No annual fee
- High rewards rate in bonus categories
- New cardholder bonus offer
- Bonus rewards for qualifying Preferred Rewards for Business members
Cons
- Requires excellent credit
- Complicated rewards
- Spending caps on bonus rewards
- Multiple accounts, high combined balance required to get Preferred Rewards bonus
Bank of America® Business Advantage Customized Cash Rewards Mastercard® credit card
Best for Cash back on gas
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1%-3%
Cashback
Intro offer
$300
on Bank of America's website
Pros
- No annual fee
- High rewards rate in bonus categories
- New cardholder bonus offer
- Bonus rewards for qualifying Preferred Rewards for Business members
Cons
- Requires excellent credit
- Complicated rewards
- Spending caps on bonus rewards
- Multiple accounts, high combined balance required to get Preferred Rewards bonus
Annual fee
$695
Rewards rate
1x-5x
Points
Intro offer
150,000
Points
on American Express' website
Pros
- Lounge membership
- Transfer partners
- Automatic elite status
- Annual statement credit for travel, business expenses
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- High annual fee
- Low ongoing rewards rate
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
Best for Luxury travel rewards
Annual fee
$695
Rewards rate
1x-5x
Points
Intro offer
150,000
Points
on American Express' website
Pros
- Lounge membership
- Transfer partners
- Automatic elite status
- Annual statement credit for travel, business expenses
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- High annual fee
- Low ongoing rewards rate
Pros
- High rewards rate
- No reward caps
- Available with fair credit
- No annual fee.
- No foreign transaction fees.
Cons
- Not available to sole proprietors, charities or nonprofits
- Must enroll in automatic payments
- Potential for very high APR
- No new cardholder bonus offer
Capital on Tap Business Credit Card
Best for Business owners with fair credit
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5%
Intro offer
N/A
on Capital on Tap's website
Pros
- High rewards rate
- No reward caps
- Available with fair credit
- No annual fee.
- No foreign transaction fees.
Cons
- Not available to sole proprietors, charities or nonprofits
- Must enroll in automatic payments
- Potential for very high APR
- No new cardholder bonus offer
Annual fee
$150
Rewards rate
2%-5%
Cashback
Intro offer
$2,000
on Capital One's website
Pros
- High rewards rate
- No preset spending limit
- No foreign transaction fees
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- High annual fee
- Balance must be paid in full every month
- High spending requirement to hit bonuses
- Requires excellent credit
Capital One Spark Cash Plus
Best for Flexible cash back with no rewards cap
Annual fee
$150
Rewards rate
2%-5%
Cashback
Intro offer
$2,000
on Capital One's website
Pros
- High rewards rate
- No preset spending limit
- No foreign transaction fees
- New cardholder bonus offer
Cons
- High annual fee
- Balance must be paid in full every month
- High spending requirement to hit bonuses
- Requires excellent credit
What is an employee credit card?
An employee credit card is a business credit card that employees can use on the owner’s behalf. You can add specific employees as authorized users, and each gets their own physical credit card.
Employee credit cards extend the benefits of business credit cards to your team. If your business credit card offers cash back rewards
But the risks of using credit cards are extended, too. If an employee spends more than you expect, you’ll be on the hook for paying off that debt.
You can request employee credit cards from your business credit card issuer. There’s generally no charge for employee cards, and you may be able to have an unlimited number.
How do employee credit cards work?
Here’s what happens if you want an employee credit card:
- Add the employee as an authorized user and order them a card. Most card providers allow a large or unlimited number of additional cards, and they tend to be free. Some may let you issue your team one-off virtual cards as well, which can help with spend management.
- Set up your employee’s constraints. You may be able to cap how much an employee can spend on their card or get notified when they make a purchase outside a designated category. This can help you react quickly in case of potential fraud.
- Set up alerts. Your credit card issuer may be able to ping you whenever an employee makes a purchase, when they go over their spending limit or when a purchase looks fraudulent. You can lock employee cards and report fraud as needed.
- Earn rewards — but watch out for caps. Let’s say you’re using The American Express Blue Business Cash™ Card, which offers 2% cash back on your first $50,000 in eligible spending, then 1% after that. Terms apply. As employees put more purchases on your credit card, you may hit that spending cap faster — which may mean it’s time to shop for a card without them.
- Know other rules, too. Employee card spending may not count toward a
business credit card's sign-up bonus requirements - Beware credit limits, too. While you can set spending caps for each employee, every card will count toward the same credit limit. Keep a close eye on your spending and pay down your balance regularly if needed to avoid reaching the limit.
- Designate another account manager, if needed. If someone else manages your day-to-day business finances, you may want to add them as an account manager so they can add additional authorized users and approve spending.
Should you get employee credit cards?
If you have multiple employees responsible for making purchases, it may make sense to give each person their own credit card.
Some advantages of employee credit cards for small and midsize teams include:
- Limit reimbursements and combine statements. When employees use your business credit card, you’ll be able to see more of your business’s spending on one monthly statement or in one online account. Plus, you may be able to limit the number of reimbursements you have to process.
- Earn more rewards on your business spending. If your workers are making purchases on your business’s behalf, they can use an employee credit card to help you earn cash back, points or other rewards. They may appreciate not having to tap into their own cash or credit as well.
- Monitor and limit each employee’s spending. Many cards allow you to cap how much individual employees can spend and get alerts if they go over those limits. Some issuers offer category-specific spending notifications, too.
- Easily track expenses. Instead of having to categorize each reimbursement expense, most business credit cards will sync automatically with your
accounting software
But be wary of these potential drawbacks:
- You may reach rewards caps sooner. It’s fairly common for cash-back cards to offer rewards only up to a certain amount of spending. If you and your employees’ combined spending results in you hitting those caps, you may want to shop around for cards that offer unlimited cash back or other rewards, like Capital One Spark Cash Plus or Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card.
- Employees might misuse their cards. Employee cards get the same fraud protection as the main business credit card, and you can lock or freeze users’ cards at any time if you think they’ve been lost or stolen. But if your employee purchases something they shouldn’t have and your credit card issuer does not think it was fraudulent, you’ll still be on the hook for paying off that purchase.
Notes from card issuers
Methodology
NerdWallet's business credit card team selects the best small-business credit cards
Notable changes to our methodology for 2025 include factoring in whether spending on employee cards earns rewards and counts toward the welcome offer requirements. We also now consider what information the card issuer reports to consumer credit bureaus. Learn how NerdWallet rates small-business credit cards.