This Small Business Card Monitor Report looks at our eight coverage firms, examining the fees of each of their small business credit card products, including:
- Annual fees
- Foreign transaction fees
- Additional card fees
- Cash advance fees
Every firm provides a list of most transaction and penalty fees within a terms and conditions document linked from each card option’s main product page. Of the 46 cards surveyed for this report, 22 carry an annual fee – though 14 of those offer introductory fee waivers for the first 12 months of card membership. The greatest variance in account fees occurs within the annual fees, which apply regardless of how business owners use their account.
Surprisingly, firms are not as forthcoming about the availability of employee cards, often relegating the topic to a bullet point or product highlight. While many firms do not charge for additional cards, including this information within the account terms and conditions page would eliminate confusion. The same applies to firms that do not allow certain transactions on cards (e.g., charge cards), such as balance transfers or cash advances. It is not always clear that the absence of a transaction’s fee implies its unavailability for the account.
Many firms assess foreign transaction fees between 2% and 3% for purchases, with only select cards offering fee-free international transactions. The fee-free foreign transactions attribute is most common on travel cards, encouraging customers to reach for their fee-free cards when making purchases abroad. Each firm also assesses straightforward fees for cash advances and balance transfers, starting at a minimum of $5 or $10 depending on the issuer. Late payment fees follow an ascending pattern, increasing with the outstanding balance on an account; some firms increase the penalty for repeat occurrences as well. To mitigate this, some firms allow customers to link their credit card to an existing checking account for an overdraft protection; those fees typically apply each time an overdraft service is utilized.
Additional key findings include:
- Minimum interest charges range from $0 to $2
- 75% of firms do not charge fees for exceeding the credit limit
- Late fees range from $25 up to $49
