The 6 Best Business Credit Cards for Multiple Employees [2023]

Do you have a business that’s growing? You probably remember the days when you were the only employee and you were working out of your garage or at your bedroom desk.

Fast forward to today — you might have a thriving business with consistent cash flow and be looking to grow your staff. If this describes you, you have probably been contemplating how to handle finances and expense management since you’re not the only employee anymore.

That’s what this guide is for! In this guide, we’ll hold your hand through the best business credit cards for multiple employees that you can have! Let’s deep-dive into it.

What To Look For in a Business Card for Multiple Employees

When you’re looking for a business credit card, you ought to look for a card that can help you scale your rewards and expense management with your headcount.

Credit cards that offer tools to manage your expenses will become invaluable as your organization grows, so that’s why you should be methodical about picking a card.

You can also position yourself to take advantage of the lucrative rewards that business cards offer, ranging from bonus categories to the ability to earn and redeem flexible rewards points.

One of the things to look out for, however, is to make sure that any benefits that exist on a primary card will be carried over to any employee cards. Most benefits, such as statement credits, do not duplicate when adding employee cards, but transactions on employee cards often count towards these benefits.

For example, you will rarely earn a brand-new $200 statement credit for employee cards if it’s offered to the primary cardholder. However, your transactions may count towards the $200 statement credit, which is an important distinction.

Let’s get into our favorite business cards for multiple employees.

The 6 Best Business Cards for Multiple Employees — Summary

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The 4 Best Overall Business Cards for Multiple Employees

Regardless of what purpose your business credit card serves, you’d ideally like to focus on earning the best rewards possible, as fast as possible.

When it comes to the most valuable types of points, Chase and Amex have both stood the test of time for their proprietary Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards points, respectively.

So, without further ado, let’s walk through the best credit cards for businesses with multiple employees.

1. Ink Business Preferred^® Credit Card (Staff Pick, No Fees for Employee Cards)

The Ink Business Preferred card is our favorite pick here for a number of reasons. Simply put, it’s an incredible business credit card to help amass a ton of rewards with a mild annual fee ($95) and no fees for adding employee cards.

This card is a fantastic pick from top-to-bottom, starting with the humongous welcome bonus you can get. This welcome bonus alone could be worth up to $2,000 based on our valuations, and that benefit alone could be worth more than 20+ years of annual fees from this card!

But the best perk, arguably, is the ability to earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points per dollar spent on up to $150,000 in combined purchases every year on internet, cable, and phone services, shipping expenses, travel, and ads purchased with search engines or social media sites.

With such diverse earning categories and the ability to effectively get a 6% return on spend (2 cents per point value) across so many relevant business categories, it’s easy to see why the highlight is actually the points earning structure.

Whether you’re paying for phone bills, marketing, business travel, or logistics, you’re bound to rack up points quickly.

Let’s talk about the other benefits of this card. First, you’ll be able to access industry-leading cell phone protection whereby you’ll get compensated if you break or damage your cell phone or if it’s stolen (note: lost phones aren’t covered). The coverage allows up to 3 claims every rolling 12 months with a $1,000 coverage limit per claim and a $100 deductible (up to $900 net payout per claim).

You’ll also enjoy the ability to earn 5x points per dollar on Lyft purchases through March 31, 2025, travel insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty protection, and no foreign transaction fees.

Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

We love Chase Ultimate Rewards points because they are incredibly flexible and valuable.

Whether you want to redeem them for statement credits on your credit card bill, merchandise, travel via the Chase travel portal, or for fantastic award travel using any of the Chase transfer partners, there’s an abundance of value to be had when earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

Indeed, Chase Ultimate Rewards points are some of the most valuable you can get your hands on!

Bottom Line: The Ink Business Preferred card offers awesome benefits that will help you amass points quickly. Between the huge welcome bonus, the 3x earning categories, access to Chase Ultimate Rewards, and the superior cell phone insurance coverage, it’s easy to see why we love this credit card.

2. American Express^® Business Gold Card (Big Points Earnings)

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 110,000 points with the Amex Business Gold card! The current public offer is 70,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

One of our favorite mid-tier premium cards — the Amex Business Gold card — comes with a medley of perks.

This particular card earns 4x Membership Rewards points on the top 2 categories where your business spends the most every month (up to $150,000 in combined purchases per calendar year):

• Airfare purchased from airlines
• U.S. purchases for advertising in select media
• U.S. purchases made from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
• U.S. purchases at gas stations
• U.S. purchases at restaurants
• U.S. purchases for shipping

Your earning categories are automatically adjusted from month to month to maximize the number of points you earn, so it’s a headache-free way to earn up to 600,000 Membership Rewards points with this structure. After that, you’ll earn 1 point per dollar.

This card also offers the ability to add up to 99 employee cards for an annual fee of $50 for the first card and then $0 for up to 98 remaining employee cards (rates and fees).

In addition, the Amex Business Gold card can seamlessly import your expenses via integrations with QuickBooks. You’ll also enjoy travel perks like secondary car rental insurance and baggage insurance. Plus, purchase protection and extended warranty coverage are standard benefits you’ll also love.

Why We Like Earning Amex Membership Rewards Points

We love what Amex has done with its proprietary rewards program, Membership Rewards. Because of the Amex transfer partners (both airlines and hotels), Amex has the most valuable points out there.

If you maxed out the $150,000 in bonus categories every year, your 600,000 points would be worth around $13,000+! With those points, you can transfer to airline and hotel partners, book travel through Amex Travel, get gift cards, donate to charity, redeem for statement credits, or buy merchandise.

But of course, if your goal is luxury award travel, you’ll want to stick to transfer partners!

3. Ink Business Unlimited^® Credit Card (Best No Annual Fee, Unlimited Number of Employee Cards for No Annual Fee)

The Ink Business Unlimited card is one of our top choices for a number of reasons. First of all, this card has no annual fee and almost always has an awesome welcome bonus.

Second of all, you can add an unlimited number of employee cards for no fee.

Third, the card will earn you an unlimited 1.5% cash-back on all your business purchases, regardless of which category they fall under.

You won’t need to worry about any bonus categories, bonus caps, or annual fees for yourself and your employees.

This card’s 1.5% cash-back is convertible to 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points if you have an Ultimate Rewards card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred^® Card. That could double the value of your points, ultimately earning you a return on spend of approximately 3%!

There are some other superb benefits for Ink Business Unlimited cardholders, such as an introductory 0% APR perk that’ll help you defer paying interest on balances.

This card also offers primary rental car insurance, which is a travel benefit that some ultra-premium cards don’t even offer! Other benefits include zero liability fraud protection, purchase protection, and extended warranty protection.

4. The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express (Best for Luxury Travel, Can Add Employee Cards for No Annual Fee)

Hot Tip: Check to see if you’re eligible for a huge welcome bonus offer of up to 170,000 points with the Amex Business Platinum. The current public offer is 120,000 points. (This targeted offer was independently researched and may not be available to all applicants.)

If you’re already familiar with the Amex Business Platinum card, you might be somewhat surprised to see it in this guide, considering how we’ve focused on the cards that have no additional annual fees for employee cards.

Before we get into the perks of this card, one little-known fact about the Amex Business Platinum card is that there’s a way to add up to 99 total employee cards onto your account without incurring any additional annual fees (rates and fees).

Normally, adding an employee card comes with a $350 annual fee per employee, but this annual fee only applies if you add an employee Amex Business Platinum card (rates and fees). You can actually choose to add any of these 3 cards for employees:

• Employee Amex Business Platinum card
• Employee Amex Business Gold card
• Business Green Rewards Card from American Express

The benefit of adding an employee Amex Business Platinum card is that you’re entitled to the same lounge access, hotel benefits, and other major travel-related benefits as the primary Amex Business Platinum card.

If your goal is to allow employees to spend on this card without accruing lots of annual fees, you can add up to 99 total employee Amex Business Green cards for no additional annual fees! Each employee Amex Business Gold card would come with a $45 annual fee per year.

Sure, the employee Amex Business Green card doesn’t come with many travel benefits, but it’ll get the job done in terms of allowing employees to transact.

Regardless of which employee card product you use, the rewards earned will match the structure of the Amex Business Platinum card:

• 5x points on airfare and prepaid hotels booked through Amex Travel
• 1.5x points on purchases in key business categories, as well as on large purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (up to $2 million per year)
• 1x points on other purchases

This card is an absolute juggernaut in luxury travel benefits, thanks to its long list of offerings:

• Access to Fine Hotels & Resorts and The Hotel Collection
• Complimentary Hilton Honors Gold and Marriott Bonvoy Gold Elite status
• Rental car privileges with Avis, Hertz, and National Car Rental
• Up to $200 airline fee credit every year
• Up to $189 CLEAR Plus credit every year
• Up to $100 Global Entry or up to $85 TSA PreCheck application fee statement credit
• 35% airline bonus on eligible airfare booked through Amex Travel via Pay With Points (up to 1 million points back per calendar year)
• No foreign transaction fees (rates and fees)
• Exceptional travel insurance

There are also a handful of business-specific benefits you can maximize:

• Up to $400 per year in Dell credits
• Up to $360 per year in Indeed credits
• Up to $150 per year in Adobe credits
• Up to $120 per year in wireless credits

Finally, this card includes purchase protection, extended warranty, cell phone protection, no preset spending limit, and no foreign transaction fees.

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for the best card for multiple employees that offers luxury travel perks, the Amex Business Platinum card is your best bet. Instead of adding employee cards as Amex Business Platinum cards that come with a $350 annual fee per card, you can add up to 99 total employee Amex Business Green cards for no additional annual fee!

The 2 Best Alternative Business Credit Cards for Multiple Employees

Now that we’ve gone over our biggest top picks that range across the spectrum of card offerings, let’s talk about some of the alternative choices you should consider.

1. Ink Business Cash^® Credit Card (No Annual Fee for Employee Cardholders)

The last credit card recommendation we’ll touch on is the Ink Business Cash card, which is certainly an option worth talking about.

This credit card also comes with no annual fee for the primary and authorized employee cardholders.

You can earn up to 5% cash-back on these bonus categories:

• Office supply stores
• Cellular phone, landline, internet, and cable TV services

You’ll be capped at $25,000 in combined purchases every account anniversary year.

Also, you’ll earn 2% cash-back (up to $25,000 in combined purchases) on gas stations and restaurants.

Your 5% cash-back and 2% cash-back could be converted to 5x and 2x Ultimate Rewards points, respectively, if you have a card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

You’ll gain access to travel insurance and purchase protection as an added benefit on these cards.

However, because of the relatively low bonus category caps, you might find yourself easily meeting the ceiling for bonus points! Still, it’s a card to consider if you find yourself transacting a lot in the categories above.

2. The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express (No Annual Fee for Employee Cardholders)

The Amex Blue Business Plus card is an underrated credit card that gets you some exceptional rewards on everyday business expenditures.

On up to $50,000 in purchases per year, you can earn 2x Membership Rewards points spent on purchases. After that, you’ll earn 1x.

We love this card for plenty of reasons, but at the top of the list is the ability to earn an excellent 2x points without fussing about merchant categories. Also, this is a no-annual-fee card, so you also won’t need to worry about annual fees for employee cards (rates and fees)!

The card is one of the lowest-cost ways to access a transferable rewards program, thanks to Membership Rewards.

There are numerous other benefits like Expanded Buying Power to help you make purchases beyond your credit limit, secondary car rental insurance, extended warranty coverage, purchase protection, and access to the famous Amex Offers ecosystem.

Last, but not least, you can also access an attractive 0% introductory APR benefit (rates and fees) when you open your card, which could result in thousands of dollars in saved interest fees.

The only drawback of this card is that the $50,000 yearly purchase limit that qualifies for 2x points is relatively low — you could max this out with $4,167 in monthly spending.

Final Thoughts

Having a growing business is a great problem to have. And as your business needs grow, so will your business spending requirements. That’s why we put together this guide of the best cards to have if you have multiple employees.

In general, the card recommendations above avoid annual fees for employees, but you should weigh the trade-offs before gravitating towards a card with no annual fee for employee cards.

If you can get a higher value than the annual fee from an employee card, then it might be worth it.

For instance, the Amex Business Gold card comes with a $50 annual fee for the first employee card and then no annual fee for up to 98 additional employee cards, but it enables your business to seamlessly earn lots of Amex points!

Nevertheless, we hope you enjoyed our favorite picks of business credit cards for businesses with multiple employees.

For the car rental loss & damage insurance benefit of the Amex Business Gold card and The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company. Car rental loss or damage coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. 

For the purchase protection and extended warranty benefit of the Amex Business Gold card, Amex Blue Business Plus card and The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.

For the cell phone protection benefit of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply. Visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by New Hampshire Insurance Company, an AIG Company.

The information regarding the Business Green Rewards Card from American Express was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of the American Express^® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business^® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.