The 5 Best Corporate Credit Cards for Startups in 2025

You already know how typical personal credit cards work, but when it comes to your business, it's time to think outside the box. 

Take a look at four five unique options: Brex, Divvy, Ramp, Stripe, and Zeni. These four cards are unique because they're more like charge cards than traditional credit cards.

This means you can't carry a balance on these cards. You'll pay it off every month, which keeps your business out of debt. The card providers make money by charging fees to your merchants instead of charging you interest.

These cards are also unique in that they do not require a personal guarantee, personal credit check or credit score of the business owner to open an account, relying instead on a company's cash flow to determine credit limits — more on this later.

While all four of these cards work this way, they have plenty of differences. The only way to choose the best one is to compare their features. Read on for our comprehensive business credit card comparison.

See also: Hit the Books: When To Hire a Bookkeeper For Your Startup

The Best Startup Corporate Credit Cards Compared 

Credit Comparison

1. Brex

Brex is a fintech platform designed to provide a one-stop-shop for financial management. Among its many products and services is a corporate charge card, referred to as the Brex Card.

Brex uses financial factors like revenue and expenses to determine your credit limit. In addition, you can apply with an Employer Identification Number (EIN) instead of your Social Security number (SSN), so no personal credit check or guarantee is necessary.

The Brex Card also offers attractive cash-back rewards, including:

• 7x points on rideshare purchases
• 4x points on travel booked with Brex Travel
• 3x points on restaurant purchases
• 2x points on software purchases
• 1x points on all other purchases

Brex also states that it reports your company’s payment history to at least one major credit reporting agency, but there’s no way to know which one it’ll be ahead of time.

Additionally, you can’t carry a balance for more than a month, and Brex may require you to pay off your purchases as often as daily.

2. Divvy

The BILL Divvy Corporate Card is a charge card that offers a revolving credit line of up to $5M. It automatically connects to the platform’s powerful expense management software, which you can use to:

• Create a virtual card for every worker
• Set individual budgets to control spend
• Track, categorize, and analyze company expenses

The card also has a robust rewards program with no annual fee, allowing you to earn up to 7x points on restaurants, 5x points on hotels, 2x on software subscriptions, and 1.5x points on all other purchases.

Because the BILL Divvy Card is a charge card, you can’t carry a balance for more than a month. To qualify for the best rates, you must pay off your balances weekly.

BILL Divvy also reports the card to Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and the Small Business Financial Exchange (SBFE), and there’s no personal credit check when you apply.

3. Ramp

Like BILL Divvy, Ramp is a comprehensive expense tracking and management platform with a corporate charge card attached. It has similar features and limitations, including virtual employee cards and a 30-day maximum payback requirement.

What sets Ramp apart is that it reports to every major business credit bureau, including D&B, Equifax Business, and Experian Business. That makes it invaluable if your goal is to build business credit.

In addition, there’s no impact to your personal credit score when you apply, and your credit limit is based on financial factors like your revenue and funding raised.

Ramp also offers 1.5% cash back on all eligible purchases.

4. Stripe

Stripe is one of the world’s largest payment processors, handling a total payment volume of over $1 trillion in 2023. If you’re one of the many who already favor the platform’s business solutions, you may be interested in its corporate card.

While there aren’t a ton of bells and whistles, it automatically integrates with your Stripe account, providing expense reporting and management tools you should be familiar with.

That said, the Stripe card does earn a respectable 2% back on combined purchases in two categories and 1% on all other spending. However, Stripe only reports to the SBFE, so it’s not the best for building business credit.

You must receive an invite to apply, but there’s no personal guarantee or paperwork involved. Instead, your credit limit is based on your banking history and Stripe activities.

5. Zeni

Zeni is a truly comprehensive financial management platform for startups, providing bookkeeping, tax prep, fractional CFO, bill pay, payroll management, employee reimbursement, and business banking services all under one roof.

One of our most recently developed offerings is a corporate charge card. It integrates with our other products and services, and like many of them, its capabilities are enhanced by AI, facilitating streamlined reporting and a faster month-end close.

There’s no personal guarantee or credit check when you apply. Instead, we use your financial data for our underwriting, which allows us to offer much higher and more predictable credit limits.

After your account opens, you can issue as many virtual cards as you want to your team, allowing you to set budgets and track your spending. There is no annual or foreign transaction fee, and all purchases earn 1.75% cash back.

What is the difference between a corporate card and a traditional business credit card?

Before we review the various features of this new breed of corporate credit cards, let's first review a few points for how they differ from traditional business credit cards.

Providers 

Most major credit bureaus and financial institutions offer corporate programs for small businesses and large enterprises. 

You may be interested in a Capital One, Chase, or American Express card membership, as they’re some of the most highly-regarded. Silicon Valley Bank is also a recognizable name in the venture-backed startup community.

Application & Qualification 

Applying for a traditional small business credit card often requires founders or business owners to undergo a personal credit check and may require a personal guarantee if your business does not meet the credit card issuer's minimum annual revenue threshold. 

Your acceptance and credit limit may be impacted by your personal credit score, in addition to your company's credit history.

Card fees 

While application fees are not common, annual card fees may apply depending on the card issuer and type. You will also be subject to interest rate fees for any balance carried over.

Perks 

Card members can access a line of credit (a key benefit to this type of card) and, if necessary, pay off their balance with monthly payments over a period of time with interest. 

They also may offer balance transfers, access to additional financial resources, exclusive sign-up offers, introductory APRs, and more.

Rewards 

Traditional corporate cards offer bonus points, cash rewards, or gift cards on purchases made; some of which are more rewards-based than others which are more cash-back based. 

Because of their robust networks, some of these cards are able to offer compelling travel rewards programs, in particular, complete with TSA Precheck, Global Entry, and CLEAR membership discounts. 

These travel cards are an attractive money-saving option for companies where business travel is a core component of their operations.

Card rewards comparison

Most of the best corporate credit cards advertise based on their rewards because you can watch them pay off in real dollars. These five top startup credit cards have very different approaches to rewards programs.

Brex's approach is similar to that of most credit cards, offering specific amounts of Brex rewards points for various types of purchases. 

They offer unlimited rewards points at a rate of up to seven times on rideshare spending, four times on flights and hotels, and three times on restaurants for example. Any purchase that isn't in one of the bonus categories earns one point per dollar.

Divvy offers rewards for various types of purchases too, but they let you choose your own reward plan. You decide if you want to pay off your balance every week, twice per month, or once per month. The more frequent your payoff schedule is, the better your rewards are.

Ramp, on the other hand, keeps it simple. All purchases made using your Ramp credit card earn you 1.5% cash back rewards as statement credit.

Stripe has a customizable reward program as Divvy does but in a different way. 

Stripe tracks your spending each month and divides your spending into specific categories. You get 2% cashback on whatever your top two categories are each month. Every other purchase earns you 1% cashback.

Zeni takes a straightforward and competitive approach to rewards. It offers a flat cashback rate of 1.75% on all purchases, regardless of category.

See also: 8 Best Accounting Tools for Startups

Additional perks comparison

Cashback rewards are among the most important perks when it comes to choosing a business or personal credit card, but they aren't the only ones.

All five of these cards have partnerships with other companies, giving their cardholders exclusive partner offers and discounts on services. Google Ads and Amazon Web Services are among those partners for all four cards. 

There are also partnerships between Brex and WeWork, Divvy and Adobe, Ramp and Datadog, and Stripe and Shopify, to name a few.

Ramp and Stripe, however, go above and beyond with their perks.

For the Ramp card, the key focus is to track and analyze your business's spending. Their platform identifies wasteful spending and helps you cut it out of your budget, saving more money overall. Ramp reports that its customers save up to 2% through this ongoing analysis.

Stripe also has its own brand of perks. Stripe's primary business is payment processing. After spending $5,000 on your Stripe credit card, you'll receive $50,000 in free payment processing.

Unlike other cards, Zeni’s perks are directly integrated into its all-in-one FinOps platform, providing not just savings but also seamless management of these tools within a unified system. This unique approach allows founders to streamline operations while maximizing the value of their card perks.

Credit limit comparison

The purpose of a startup credit card is for your team members to have access to the money your company needs when you need it. To do that, you need a reasonable credit limit.

Zeni credit limit vs competitors

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All five of these cards tend to have higher spending limits than other traditional corporate credit cards, and they aren't based on your credit history.

Brex, Ramp, Stripe, and Zeni set your spending limits depending on your bank balances. Simply put, a higher bank balance means higher limits. Stripe also uses your payment processing history, especially if you've used Stripe's payment processing software in the past.

Divvy is a bit different. The card is meant as an accessory to Divvy's main product: expense tracking software. Therefore, they allow you to set budgets based on how much you can pay off.

For all of these cards, though, your spending limit is a company total and you can set your own budget for each team member's card to allocate employee spending limits.

Expense management comparison

Rule #1 for business expense tracking is to put all your business expenses on a single card. However, all five of these cards take it a step further.

Zeni expense management vs competitors

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Divvy initially launched as an expense management platform, later introducing its complementary corporate card offering — so it should come as no surprise that Divvy has the most extensive platform for managing expenses. 

In addition to allowing cardholders to easily upload receipts, Divvy takes it a step further by allowing managers to require spenders to submit expenses for approval before the transaction occurs.

That said, the three other cards work toward making your life easier on the expense management front as well.

Brex, Ramp, Stripe, and Zeni all have dashboards where cardholders can upload receipts and admins easily view card activity. 

They each also allow you to text or email your receipt and they will automatically link it to the correct expense, or upload a photo of the receipt directly via the mobile app.

All-in-all, each of these cards brings a lot of value to the table when it comes to capturing and storing details and documentation for each business expense, a pain point for businesses using traditional credit cards or processing expense reports for employee reimbursements.

See also: Startup Taxes: A Complete Guide to Filing Small Business Tax Returns

Accounting integrations comparison

Reliable accounting software is a critical aspect of keeping your business on track. Chances are that you already use Quickbooks or another type of popular accounting software to make your reporting process simpler.

The ability to, for example, sync transaction data along with the data captured by the expense management tool directly to your accounting software is a huge time- (and headache-!) saving benefit for accounting departments.

The beauty of these top five corporate cards is that they all integrate with certain accounting software.

Zeni accounting integrations vs competitors

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Brex and Ramp both integrate with Quickbooks Desktop and Quickbooks Online, Oracle NetSuite, and Xero.

Divvy and Zeni are a bit more limited. They integrate with Quickbooks Online. Their integration with NetSuite is in beta testing. For Divvy, they are actively working toward adding integrations with Quickbooks Desktop and Xero.

‍Stripe's software integrations are still in progress as well. The platform already works seamlessly with Quickbooks, and they are in the process of adding Xero to the list.

See also: Accounting Software Comparison for Startups‍

‍Because they require you to pay them off monthly, they don't charge interest because you can't carry a balance. This is a tremendous money-saver for many businesses.

Card fees comparison

One of the reasons these five cards are among our favorites for startup companies is that they charge few, if any, fees.

Zeni card fees vs competitors

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Divvy, Ramp, and Stripe don't charge any annual fees no matter how many cards you issue to your employees. With Brex, there are no fees for your first five cards. For every additional Brex card, there is a cost of $5 per user per month.

Acceptability comparison

A business credit card isn't worth much if you have a hard time finding merchants who accept it. Fortunately, that isn't a problem with these five cards.

Zeni acceptability vs competitors

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Brex and Divvy are both powered by MasterCard, so they're typically accepted by any merchant who accepts MasterCard. Ramp, Stripe, and Zeni are powered by Visa, so any merchant who accepts Visa should accept these cards as well.

Requirements comparison

Comparing startup credit cards has little purpose if you cannot qualify for any of them, so it's critical to find out the requirements.

‍Each of these business cards has an application process, but it's different because it doesn't check your personal credit or rely on personal finances. It focuses on your business's assets and financial activity.

Zeni requirements vs competitors

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For instance, you need to have a $50,000 bank balance, a U.S. EIN and not operating as a sole proprietorship to qualify for a Brex corporate card. Ramp requires you to have $75,000 in bank balance and Divvy requires you to spend $10,000 per month on your business.

Zeni doesn't have any minimum requirements, besides being a corporation or LLC. Stripe explains that your application depends on your bank balance history and your payment processing history.

Keep in mind that there are likely additional factors that these companies will review to determine whether you qualify.

Fraud protection comparison

The last thing your startup needs while it tries to get off the ground is a loss due to fraudulent activity.

Fortunately, all these five cards have you covered with fraud protection for all users.

Foreign transaction fees comparison

Depending on your business model, you might be doing business overseas today or that might need to wait until your business grows. Either way, you need to know what you're in for in advance.

Brex, Ramp, Stripe, and Zeni offer zero foreign transaction fees for purchases made outside of the United States. Divvy does not state what their foreign transaction fees are, and users do report that they charge foreign transaction fees.

Ease of use comparison

In the midst of building your business, you don't have time to struggle with managing your corporate credit cards on a clumsy system. 

Each of these top five credit cards has its own unique platform to make your life easier, complete with multiple customer service touch-points.

Zeni ease of use vs competitors

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Brex provides a dashboard that the primary user can utilize to issue employee cards and control what their budgets are. 

You can also track your spending on this platform, including uploading receipts to track everything in one place.

Ramp and Stripe also have dashboards and software systems with similar features to those Brex offers. The standout in this category is Divvy and Zeni.

Divvy and Zeni offer expense management software that can connect seamlessly with the corporate credit cards.

And all of the providers offer virtual cards, enabling users instant access to make purchases once their application has been approved and account setup.

Special features comparison

While each of these five cards functions similarly as a corporate charge card, they all have different unique features that set them apart.

Zeni special features vs competitors

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Brex, for instance, has the unique feature of offering cash management services. You can treat your Brex account like a bank account, except that it doesn't have fees for wire or ACH transfers.

‍Divvy's primary identifying factor is its expense management platform. The software gives you extensive options for categorizing and tracking expenses for various categories and cardholders, making tax time a snap.

The Ramp card helps your expenses in a different way. The software has expertise in identifying opportunities for savings. 

With its advanced savings report, the Ramp credit card helps you cut waste and run a leaner business.

Stripe offers you the ability to process your payments and charge your card, all in one. 

In fact, Stripe is primarily known for its payment processing system and offers a number of related financial products. The charge card allows you to track your income and expenses in one place.

Finally, Zeni takes a unique approach by offering a fully integrated FinOps platform that includes credit card management, AI-powered bookkeeping, and a range of financial services like bill pay, reimbursements, and tax preparation support.

What sets Zeni apart is its ability to provide real-time financial visibility and insights while automating time-consuming tasks.

See also: When Startups Should (And Shouldn’t) Hire a Chief Financial Officer

Identifying the best corporate credit card for your startup

No pressure, but the credit card you select for your startup can play a powerful role in your financial help. The only way to identify the best business credit cards for your startup is to determine the most important needs of your business and compare your options accordingly.

Whether you're evaluating corporate cards for a new business, or looking to revamp your current small business card setup, with this guide, you can lay down five of the top cards side-by-side to determine the best card for your business needs.