Some of the best Canadian credit cards with insurance, a low interest rate, and a little annual fee for business owners.
Key Comparisons
| BMO CashBack® Business Mastercard®* | American Express Business Edge™ Card | |
| Estimated Credit Score | 660 | 725 |
| Annual Fees | N/A | $99 |
| Interest Rate | 19.99% | 19.99% |
| Insurance Coverage | Yes | Yes |
| Pros | 1. Every time you make a purchase with this credit card, you’ll be earning some cashback in return. 2. You’ll be earning 10% cash back on your bonus categories, which are gas, office supplies, and cell phone/internet bills. 3. There is no annual fee or income requirement, so you don’t have to worry about spending enough to justify having it in your wallet. 4. You will have more security against any fraudulent purchases made with this credit card thanks to BMO’s Liability Waiver Program, which makes it simpler to issue them to your employees. | 1. Earn an extra 1,000 bonus points for every month you charge $3,000 or more to the card, yielding up to 12,000 extra bonus points every year for those who maximize this feature. 2. Employee Card Misuse Protection provides coverage for unauthorized charges made with a supplementary card up to $100,000 per Basic Cardmember in the event that an employee does so. 3. Earn 10x the points for every $1 spent on eligible business essentials including office supplies & electronics, rides & gas, eating & drinks within 6 months of Card Membership, up to a maximum of 10,000 points. |
| Cons | 1. It only comes with 2 types of purchase insurance: extended warranty and purchase protection. 2. Standard earn rate for purchases outside of boosted categories is only 0.5%. 3. Monthly cap of $500 each in grocery purchases and recurring bill payments. 4. It only comes with 2 types of purchase insurance: extended warranty and purchase protection. | 1. Limited acceptance in some Canadian retailers. 2. Not a low rate credit card with a foreign transaction fee of 2.50%. 3. Missed payment interest rate – miss 2 payments within 12 months, the interest rate will increase to 23.99%, and miss 3 payments within 12 months, it will increase to 26.99%. |
Key Benefits of BMO CashBack® Business Mastercard®*
Perks
If each employee has a company-issued cell phone, which is about $80 per month, you have ten employees. Your company’s cell phone expenses alone may earn you $288 in cash back with this card in its first year. Purchase protection (90 days of damage and theft insurance) and warranty extension are applied to purchases made with your card (one year of additional warranty protection). Get a 15% discount on Cirque du Soleil performances that are touring Canada and a 20% discount on shows in Las Vegas. Free add-on cards for eligible family members. The extremely flexible ways cardholders can redeem their cash back is a pleasant benefit that doesn’t get enough notice. Cardholders are always able to request cash back for as low as $1.Additionally, you can have it placed into your BMO InvestorLine account or set up automatic recurring transfers (with a minimum of $25) into your BMO checking or savings account. Given that many cash-back credit cards only allow you to redeem cash once per month or once per year, these alternatives are astounding.
Extended Grace Period and Liability Waiver Program
Extended Grace Period refers to the additional time you have between when your statement was released and the deadline for paying your account before interest is applied. You will receive a few more days compared to other cards, giving you a total of at least 25 days, freeing up some of the valuable cash flow for your business. If you’ve given your employees secondary cards, the Liability Waiver Program will put your mind at ease. In order to protect against card misuse, this program releases the consumer from responsibility for erroneous transactions made by other cardholders.
Bonus and Cashback
You can get 1.5% cash back rewards on purchases of gas, office supplies, mobile phone bills, and internet bills, 1.75% cashback at any Shell outlet, and 0.75% on all other purchases with the BMO CashBack Business Mastercard, a business card without an annual charge. A welcome bonus of 10% cash back on gas, office supplies, mobile phone, and internet expenses for the first three months (up to $125 earned) is also included with this card.
Key Benefits of American Express Business Edge™ Card
Welcome Bonus
You can earn 45,000 Welcome Bonus points by charging $5,000 in purchases to your Business Edge Card in the first three months of card membership. Per monthly billing cycle, you can also accumulate 1,000 Membership Rewards points when you charge $3,000 in transactions to your Card. This could result in up to 12,000 extra points in a calendar year. Additionally, you can earn up to 10,000 points for every dollar spent on eligible business essentials like office supplies and technology, transportation and fuel, and food and beverages within the first six months of card membership.
Earning and Point Redemption
With this card, you may earn three times as many points (up to 75,000 points) on specific office supplies and other necessities for your business, including meals and drinks, transportation, and gas. You will earn double the points on everything else. You can be qualified to get a 5,000-point referral bonus as a Basic Cardholder for each person you recommend. You can pay for company expenses wholly or partially with the points you’ve earned. Aside from bill credits, points can also be used to book travel, lodging, and auto rentals. You can also use your points to make purchases on Amazon.ca, transfer them to different frequent flier and loyalty programs, get statement credits in exchange for them, and exchange them for gift cards and other products.
Insurance Coverage
The Car Rental Theft & Damage Insurance, the 90-day Purchase Protection in case of loss or damage, and the Buyer’s Assurance, which automatically extends the manufacturer’s warranty by up to one year, are all features of the Business Edge Card. These two precautions can be quite helpful, especially given that you’re likely to purchase the majority of your equipment through the Business Edge due to the 3x points you receive.