Business Credit Cards and Balance Transfer Options

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A reader recently wrote in to ask: I have a lot of debt on a business credit card at a very high interest rate (over 25 percent). Are there any decent balance transfer options out there for business credit cards? —Nancy

Hi Nancy,

A lot of business owners are in your position. Even though we seem to be recovering from the recession, many business owners incurred a lot of debt over the past few years.

Consumer credit cards have the best balance transfer options, including 18-month zero percent APR intro periods. You won’t find such great deals with business cards, but here are two pretty good cards from Chase that might work for you:

Ink Classic Business — Up to 25,000 Bonus Points: This card offers a zero percent intro APR on balance transfers for six months. After that, your APR is 13.24 percent, which is much better than your current rate. The downside is that there’s a 3 percent transfer fee.

You also get a zero percent intro APR on purchases for six months. After that, your APR is 13.24 percent. You don’t say if you’re interested in rewards, but since you do use a business credit card for purchases, you might as well get something back. This card offers rewards points for purchases.

Here are a few highlights of the rewards program: You get 25,000 bonus points if you spend $5,000 within the first three months. You get 5 points per $1 spent on the first $25,000 spent annually on office supply store purchases and on cellular, landline and cable services. You also get two points per $1 spent on the first $25,000 spent annually on fuel and lodging. Plus, one point on everything else.

Ink Cash Business Card: This card also offers a zero percent intro APR on balance transfers for six months. After that, your APR is 13.24 percent. Again, the downside is that there’s a 3 percent transfer fee.

You also get a zero percent intro APR on purchases for six months. After that, your APR is 13.24 percent. This card is similar to the one described above but this card offers cash back for purchases instead of rewards points.

Here are a few highlights of the rewards program: You get $250 cash back if you spend $5,000 within the first three months. You get 5 percent cash back per $1 spent on the first $25,000 spent annually on office supply store purchases and on cellular, landline and cable services. You also get two percent per $1 spent on the first $25,000 spent annually on gas and dining. Plus, one percent on everything else.

At publishing time, the Ink Cash Business Card is offered on Credit.com product pages and Credit.com is compensated if our users apply for and ultimately sign up for either of these cards. However, this relationship does not result in any preferential editorial treatment.