If you find yourself making frequent runs to office supply stores for your small business, you may be interested in getting a new credit card to get some cash back or rewards for all of your spending. A good rewards card could practically pay for a vacation from your small business purchases. That is, if you ever find some time to take off.
Here are the best credit cards for shopping at office supply stores.
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Chase Ink Business Cash
The Chase Ink Business Cash earns 5% back on the first $25,000 spent at office supply stores and telephone, internet, and cable services during each cardmember year. Cardmembers can also earn 2% back on purchases at gas stations and restaurants with a separate $25,000 cap per cardmember year.
Cardholders can get more value out of their 5% back by combining the Chase Ink Business with one of Chase's premium credit cards. A premium rewards card allows cardholders to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points to travel partners or redeem them through the Chase travel portal for $0.0125 to $0.015 per point. That could turn 5% back into 7.5% back in travel redemptions.
The Chase Ink Business Cash comes with a sign up bonus of $300 and charges no annual fee. Learn more about the Chase Ink Business Cash credit card by reading our full review.
SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express
The SimplyCash® Plus Business Credit Card from American Express also earns 5% cash back at office supply stores and telephone, internet, and cable services. It offers a higher cap than the Chase Ink Business Cash at $50,000, but that cap also includes other selected bonus spending categories.
Cardholders can choose one of several categories to earn 3% cash back in. Options include, airfare purchased directly from an airline, hotels purchased directly from a hotel, gas stations, restaurants, and more. The card will earn just 1% back everywhere else. Cash back is automatically credited to the account at the end of every month.
The card comes with a sign up bonus of $400, but requires significantly more spending ($15,000 total within 12 months) to earn the full bonus compared to the Chase Ink Business Cash. There's no annual fee, and could present better value if you plan to spend more than $25,000 per year at office supply stores.
Bank of America Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard®
The Business Advantage Cash Rewards Mastercard® from Bank of America offers 3% back on spending at office supply stores and gas stations up to $250,000 per cardmember year. Cardmembers can also earn 2% back at restaurants without limits.
If you spend over $50,000 per year at office supply stores, you might consider the Business Advantage Cash Rewards' lower rewards rate in exchange for its significantly higher spending cap.
The card comes with a sign up bonus of $200 after spending just $500, and it charges no annual fee. It also comes with a short nine-month 0% intro APR offer.
Purchasing office supplies outside of office supply stores
There's no rule saying you must purchase office supplies at an office supply store. Here are some other options for earning extra rewards or cash back by strategically spending at other stores.
- The Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card from Chase earns 5% back on purchases on Amazon.com. Amazon got into the office supply business in a big way a couple years ago, and offers exclusive discounts to business account holders. It's free to sign up for one. If you have a Prime account, you can use it on business purchases and you'll earn 5% cash back on all purchases on Amazon.com. The card also earns 2% cash back at restaurants, gas stations, and drug stores and comes with no annual fee besides a Prime membership.
- The American Express Business Gold Rewards doesn't earn bonus points at office supply stores, but it can earn three times Membership Rewards Points per dollar on U.S. computer hardware, software, and cloud computing purchases made directly from select providers. It's one of five available options for bonus points. Bonus spending is capped at $100,000 per year. If you spend more on computer hardware and software at office supply stores than anything else, consider looking closely at the American Express Business Gold Rewards card. It charges a $175 annual fee (waived the first year), and comes with a sign up bonus of 50,000 Membership Rewards points.
Maximizing rewards for your small business
Small businesses can rack up a lot of spending much more quickly than consumers. As a small business owner, that presents a huge opportunity to earn extra rewards from credit cards. Some of the cards listed above present excellent options for maximizing the points earned while spending money on office supplies, but your small business may have additional expenses as well. Be sure to review our picks for the best credit cards (both small business and consumer), to find the card that fits your spending best.
