Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card: A Smart Choice for Building Credit

The Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card is a good choice for business owners who are looking for a credit card but have less-than-stellar credit. While you do need to make a deposit of at least $1,000 to secure your line of credit, Bank of America periodically reviews your account to see if you’re eligible for an unsecured credit card.

On top of that, this $0-annual fee card offers cash back rewards with no limit on how much you can earn. Not all credit cards for building credit offer rewards, so this is a strong perk that can help your business’s bottom line.

Like many credit cards for building credit, there’s no welcome offer or introductory APRs on new purchases or balance transfers. However, responsible use of this card should help improve your credit and open up the door for better credit cards down the road.

Annual fee: $0

Rewards: Unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases

Regular purchase APR: 27.49% variable

Other benefits:

• Cash flow management tools
• Online and mobile access
• Travel and emergency services
• Balance Connect® for overdraft protection

Recommended credit: See website for details*

• Cash back on all purchases

  Even though it’s a secured credit card, the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases. This is notable because a lot of secured credit cards lack rewards, as their primary purpose is to build or rebuild credit with proper use of the card.

  There’s no annual cap on earning rewards, so they truly are unlimited. And as long as you keep your account open, rewards don’t expire. This is a solid rate compared to other business credit cards, and can help lower your business expenses a bit.

  You can redeem your rewards for a statement credit, a deposit to your Bank of America® checking or savings account or as a check.

• Path to unsecured card

  One of the most important features to look for in a secured credit card is that it has a path to an unsecured card. Bank of America will periodically review your account to see if you’re eligible to transition to an unsecured credit card.

  The first benefit to upgrading to an unsecured card is that you won’t have to apply for a new card and see your credit score drop. While this drop is minimal and your score usually recovers in a matter of months, it’s best if you don’t have to worry about it in the first place.

  Secondly, by transitioning directly to an unsecured card, you also extend the length of your credit history. Again, this also helps your credit score, since 15% of your credit score is based on your credit history.

  Note that when you successfully transfer your credit card account, your security deposit is returned to you, less any unpaid charges or fees.

  → Get your free credit score from LendingTree Spring.

• Useful travel insurance and protections

  The Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card offers a small variety of travel protections that could end up being useful when travel plans go awry. Among the benefits included:

  • Up to $100,000 in travel accident insurance
  • Auto rental insurance
  • Emergency ticket replacement
  • Lost luggage assistance
  • Legal and medical referrals when away from home

• Business tools

  With the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card, you receive access to several tools that help improve and monitor your finances:

  • Cash flow management tools: Enjoy a suite of online services including transfers, automatic payments and downloading transactions to QuickBooks.
  • Mobile and online banking: You have 24/7 access to your account to check your balance and account activity on your mobile device or computer.
  • Free access to business credit scores: Your Dun & Bradstreet business credit score is accessible within Business Advantage 360.

• Requires high security deposit

  As a secured credit card, the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card requires a security deposit, and a hefty one at that. To open your account, you’ll need to deposit a minimum of $1,000. Upon approval, this amount will then be equal to your credit line. This means that if you want a higher credit limit, such as $2,000, you can deposit more to get more purchasing power.

• No welcome offer

  Since this is a secured credit card, it’s not a surprise that there’s no welcome offer. Typically, these are reserved for unsecured credit cards, with the best offers on cards that carry annual fees.

• No intro APR

  Again, this isn’t a surprise or a serious drawback to the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card. The purpose of a secured credit card is to build credit. As a secured card, you need to put down at least $1,000, so it doesn’t make sense to use this card to carry a balance.

  If you want to carry a balance to help with cash flow, a 0% APR credit card or a balance transfer credit card are better options. You should choose the 0% APR card if you need to purchase inventory or supplies. A balance transfer credit card is a good option if you have other business cards with balances at high interest rates. Although you’ll probably have to pay a balance transfer fee, the ability to avoid interest charges for up to two years may be well worth the nominal fee.

Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card vs. Valley Visa® Secured Business Credit Card

The Valley Visa® Secured Business Credit Card has a $0 annual fee and earns unlimited 1% cash back on purchases. For those looking for financing, it offers a 0% introductory APR for 6 billing cycles on purchases, then 15.20%-26.50% Variable APR. This offer makes it a good alternative to the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card if you’re looking to finance purchases but can pay them off before the regular interest rate kicks in. Even if you do need to pay the regular rate, the lower end of their range is well below the average interest rate in the United States.

For this secured card, you’ll need to put down 110% of your desired credit limit, up to $25,000. This means that if you want a credit limit of $1,000, you’ll need to send in $1,100. You can essentially pick a credit limit that works for your business needs and not have to rely on how much the bank grants you.

Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card vs. Capital One Spark Classic for Business

The Capital One Spark Classic for Business is open to applicants with fair credit, earns 1% - 5% cash back and has a $0 annual fee. It has a high 29.74% (Variable) APR, which makes carrying a balance expensive. There’s no sign-up bonus, which is typical for credit cards that are open to lower credit bands.

Although the benefits are lacking with the Capital One Spark Classic for Business, it offers a starting point for building credit. Once you’ve improved your credit, you can consider a different business credit card from Capital One, such as the Capital One Spark Cash Plus, which offers higher rewards and no preset spending limit.

Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card vs. Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card

If you need to improve your personal credit, the Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card is the best credit card for building credit. Like the other cards listed above, it has a $0 annual fee and can earn 1.5% cash back on all purchases. It also lets you earn a $25 statement credit when you sign up for automatic payments within the first three months of opening your account and remain enrolled for at least 90 days.

The Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card is an unsecured credit card, so you don’t need to put down a security deposit. However, you can boost your approval chances by having at least $250 in a Chase checking or savings account. This shows that you’ve established a banking relationship and, if you’re approved for the credit card, you can use the money. This is not a security deposit, which is held by the bank until you move to an unsecured card or close your account.

Your personal credit can affect your business credit, especially if you’re in the early stages of starting a business, and the Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card can help you build credit. It can also be a segway to opening future Chase credit cards.

The Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Secured credit card is the best secured business credit card available right now that we know of. If you’re a new or existing business owner who is unable to get an unsecured card, then this is one to try. There’s a $0 annual fee, and you earn rewards on every purchase.

If you’re looking for a personal credit card to help improve your credit score before venturing into a business card, the Chase Freedom Rise® Credit Card is our top pick for building credit.

No matter which credit card you choose, it’s important to pay your bill on time, as that’s a simple way to improve your credit fast.

We use an objective rating and ranking system that compares features across a large set of credit cards (over 200 of them, from over 50 issuers). We use calculations to estimate the value of each card for the average cardholder, based on LendingTree and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

• Average value over two years (50% of rating): We calculate the cash back earned for the average cardholder using Bureau of Labor Statistics data and an annual spend of $20,000, minus the annual fee. This value includes sign-up and annual bonuses. We look at the average rewards earned over two years to balance out a card’s ongoing value with its first-year value.
• Flexibility of rewards (30% of rating): We consider how easy the rewards are to use, looking at factors like expiration dates and minimum thresholds to redeem.
• Other features (20% of rating): We also compare a card’s benefits, such as purchase and travel protections, against benefits from other cards.