The best business cards offer rewards in key business spending categories, so a primary criteria for a business card’s rating is its rewards value. This includes the card’s average rewards rate, estimated annual rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value and reward redemption value.

To estimate a business card’s average annual rewards earnings, we first calculate its average rewards rate based on how much it earns in different bonus categories and how closely its categories align with the average small-business owner’s spending habits. In other words, we assess whether the card earns rewards at a high rate in the most popular business spending categories. 

We researched 10 key business spending categories including dining, gas, office supplies, travel, telecommunications, insurance and more to get a sense of the average small-business owner’s spending habits. We assumed an average annual spend of around $40,000 per year based on Bankrate survey data. 

Using this data, we are able to assign a weighting to each of a card’s bonus categories. We also estimate the redemption value of points or miles from various issuer, airline and hotel rewards programs.

This weighting and rewards valuation allows us to estimate a card’s average annual rewards earnings — how many points or miles you’d earn with a given card if your spending was about average and you used the card for all of your business purchases — as well as what those points are worth. We also use point valuations to determine a card’s sign-up bonus value

With these calculations complete, we assign each card a score based on how its average rewards earnings, sign-up bonus value, rewards rate and redemption value stack up against other business cards, factoring in the card’s annual fee.

The better these values, the higher its score will be, making it more worthy of inclusion in our list and increasing its potential ranking.

We also score cards based on how much it costs to keep them in your wallet or carry a balance. 

To start, each business card is scored based on whether it offers an intro APR and how its ongoing APR compares to the rates available on other business cards. This is because an intro APR on new purchases or balance transfers can be a lifesaver if you need to pay down debt, finance a large business purchase or free up cash flow. 

While intro APRs are not uncommon on business cards, they aren’t a given, so cards that offer this sort of payment flexibility will score higher in our card rating system and are more likely to land a spot on our best cards list.

Even more important to both a card’s score and its inclusion in our list, however, is how its annual fee influences its overall value. We consider a card’s annual fee in two ways — how it ranks relative to the fees you’ll find on other cards in the category and how it impacts a card’s overall rewards value. 

Cards with an annual fee will always be at a slight disadvantage in our scoring system since annual fees inherently cut into your rewards value. However, if a card offers terrific value via its ongoing rewards and perks, it can earn a high score and a spot in our list even if it carries a high annual fee. After all, the highest rewards rates and most valuable perks are often found on cards with annual fees. 

With this in mind, we rate a card based primarily on how its ongoing rewards value and ongoing perk value (such as annual credits or bonuses) stack up against those of other cards in the category when you subtract annual fees.

That said, we strive to include as many no-annual-fee options in our list as possible since many business owners would rather not worry about offsetting fees, even if a card carries impressive rewards and perks.

Business rewards cards may make it easy to earn a lot of points, miles or cash back, but how easy is it to use those rewards? After all, if it takes a ton of effort to redeem rewards or you can only redeem rewards in a couple of ways, a card may be more trouble than it’s worth. 

As such, we rate each card’s flexibility based on the restrictions it imposes on earning and redeeming rewards. We factor this rating into a card’s overall score and consider it when deciding on a card’s inclusion in our list. 

Flexibility factors include whether a card only allows you to earn a high rewards rate on only a small amount of spending or requires you to meet a certain earning threshold before you can redeem rewards. We also examine whether your points are worth less when you opt for some redemption options over others and whether a card gives you the flexibility to transfer rewards to travel partners.

We also score each card’s set of features – its perks and benefits — against five tiers of features to provide a rating. Top-tier perks include benefits like airport lounge access, travel credits, elite status with an airline or hotel and credits for expedited security screening membership programs.

We give extra weight to perks especially useful or valuable for small-business owners, like being able to qualify with no personal guarantee, digital advertising credits, free employee cards and accounting perks.

On average, Bank of America recommends potential business card applicants have a very good to excellent credit score (740 to 850 on the FICO scale). This could be a bit deterring since even some of the most popular business cards have a lower the bar. For example, even a few luxury-level cards like The Business Platinum Card® from American Express suggest applying with at least a “good” credit score (a 640 or higher FICO score).

The potentially higher credit requirements are certainly worth considering into your decision, but it’s worth noting that it’s a bit more common for issuers to suggest an excellent credit score on the business credit card market than the personal card market. In fact, several Capital One business cards recommend applying with excellent credit. 

If you want more confidence in your approval odds without risking a hard credit pull, it may be worth keeping an eye out for preapproved card offers.

The Bank of America® Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® Secured credit card may be the easiest Bank of America business card to qualify for since it doesn’t require a credit history to qualify. This card is specifically designed to help build your business credit and requires a security deposit like any other secured option.

Bank of America backs its small business credit cards with personal credit, but the issuer doesn’t include business card activity in your personal credit report as long as your account remains in good standing, according to Bank of America. 

Generally, business card activity can affect your personal credit in different ways, but it depends on the issuer. For example, Amex only reports negative business card activity to personal credit report, but Bank of America keeps your business credit activity entirely separate from your personal report. This could give Bank of America business cards a leg up over competitors for small business owners who might be worried about any slip-ups during busy periods.