As a business expands beyond a single owner-operator, its financial needs become dramatically more complex. With more than one person making purchases, the basic bank-issued debit card becomes less than optimal.
The drawbacks:
- Coordination
- Communication
- Controls
- Security
Those issues can be solved with a small-business-oriented credit or charge card such as those offered by Ramp, Brex, American Express and dozens more (see our full list of digital challenger cards here).*
There are dozens of options, so what exactly should you be looking for? Here are our favorite advanced features that help you find a great solution, rather than just something that is adequate.
Must-have features:
- Email/SMS customer service (extended business hours)
- Bullet-proof and clear fraud protection guarantee
- Two-factor authentication
- Customizable alerts
- Downloadable transactions (common file formats)
- Anit-fraud transaction scanning
- Mobile app
- Long-term (5+ years) transaction/statement archives
- Sortable/searchable data
- Digital/plastic cards for authorized users
- Robust transaction dispute tools
Should-have features:
- Large dynamic (changes with bank balance) spending limits (with floor level)
- Smart spending controls at the card-holder level
- Lifetime statement/transaction archives
- Dedicated account manager(s) you know by name (with contact info)
- Positive pay for transactions over a certain amount
- Unlimited plastic/digital cards*
- Weekend customer service
- Enhanced customer service*
- Enhanced security*
- Card on/off switch
- Custom permissions (for third-party access)
- Feeds/integrations to major accounting services*
- Expedited dispute resolution*
- Transaction annotation
- Daily statement delivery (email)
- Transaction filing system
- Transaction display prioritization (shows most important transactions first)
- Three/four-factor authentication for certain permissions
- Annual transaction and account summaries
- Credit monitoring/alerts (personal, family & business)*
- Emergency security contacts (“break glass in case of fraud”)*
- Employee expense management*
- Virtual card numbers*
Nice-to-have features:
- Revolving options (for charge cards)*
- Software integrations*
- Immediate credit for disputed transactions (pending resolution)
- Rewards*
- 24/7 customer service*
- Equipment financing*
- Transaction feed
- Business dashboard*
- Token-based account access option*
- Account aggregation of other card accounts*
- Preformatted forms*
- Premium/VIP client service option*
- Receipt capture/upload*
*May incur extra fees or service charges