…

It’s easy to find a small-business credit card that fits your needs, whether you’re looking for a way to fund business travel, save on monthly bills, or earn rewards for a combination of the two. But tech startups and large businesses that spend more than the rewards limit on small-business cards may be hard-pressed to find a corporate card that meets their needs while still offering rewards and other benefits at the scale they need. .

While you don’t have to be a registered business to apply for and use a small-business credit card, that’s not the case for the corporate cards offered by Brex. These cards are only available to US corporations and other non-personal liability companies, such as LLCs, LLPs, C-Corps and S-Corps. Additionally, you must have at least $50,000 in a business bank account to qualify for the card. Unfortunately, that means freelancers, sole proprietors and side hustlers won’t be eligible.

Let’s take an in-depth look at this card to determine if it’s right for you and your business.

Information on Breaks Corporate Card for Startups is independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Brakes Corporate Card

Brex Corporate Card Benefits

For example, you’ll get up to $5,000 in credit a year on Amazon Web Services. You’ll also get up to 50% off UPS shipping and up to 25% off 12-month Slack plans. Other partners include Freshworks, QuickBooks, Gusto, Vouch, Experian and more. Brex valued his partner’s offer at more than $180,000. While it’s unlikely that any business — startup or otherwise — will take advantage of every partner offer, corporations can save a lot of money through these offers.

As a World Elite MasterCard, the card also comes with benefits such as MasterCard Travel Service and access to MasterCard Airport Concierge. The Brex Corporate Card also has business features including expense management tools, accounting integration and receipt capture capabilities. Employee cards are available at no additional cost.

The Brex corporate card can also be combined with additional cards with different restrictions, such as a card for one-time purchases or an employee card with embedded policies that allow them to pay only for selected items. The Brex Corporate Card automatically collects itemized receipts, which can help automate employee compliance. It also includes a suite of built-in expense management software.

You have to be a non-personal liability company to get this card as the Brex card does not require a personal guarantee. Brex acts as the underwriter on the card, and they use your Employer Identification Number (EIN) instead of a personal SSN. Because of this, your Brex card does not affect your personal credit score (although it will affect your business credit score). It also means you’ll have higher spending limits than a traditional small-business card.

Related: How to Get a Business Credit Card

Earn points on the Brex Corporate Card

The Brex Corporate Card offers a rewards structure that will benefit many corporations.

With this card, you will earn:

• 7 points per dollar on ride-hailing including Uber, Lyft, taxis, scooters and more
• 4 points per dollar on travel booked through the Brex travel portal
• 3 points per dollar at restaurants
• 2 points per dollar on recurring software subscriptions
• 1 point per dollar on everything else

The remaining categories are also generous. Earning 4 points per dollar on travel is great, especially since it’s not so strict in definition The Business Platinum Card® from American Express Its 5 points per dollar for airfare and prepaid hotels. Just keep in mind that you’re booking through an issuer portal, so there’s a chance you won’t be able to earn elite qualifying points or miles on certain bookings, especially hotel reservations.

My favorite spending category on this card is 2 points per dollar on software. You don’t see this particular category often on small-business cards, and Brex has a broad definition for recurring software subscriptions. From Slack to Salesforce to Grammarly and everything in between, almost any subscription qualifies. You can earn an impressive number of points annually on your business subscriptions alone.

What really sets Brax apart from small-business cards is that there are no limits on bonus rewards. Traditional small-business cards will cap your rewards annually, usually in the $150,000 range. Corporations spending $500,000 or more per year will be left juggling five different credit cards (all with different rewards structures and annual fees) to get bonus rewards year-round. With Brex, you’ll earn bonus points whether you spend $100,000 or $1 million a year.

Unfortunately, there is a catch. To be eligible for this rewards structure, this must be yours Exclusive Corporate Card. What does that mean, exactly? Well, Brex doesn’t clearly define exclusivity, and considering you’re stuck with a flat 1 point per dollar on all purchases if this requirement isn’t met, the lack of clarity in the terms and conditions is concerning. While you can get away with putting most of your spending on a card to qualify for bonus rewards, full exclusivity may be required. If you’re not ready to give it up with your other business and/or corporate cards, the Brex Corporate Card may not be the card for you.

Related: How to Get a Business Credit Card with Just One EIN

Redeeming points on the Brex Corporate Card

Brex offers several ways to redeem your points. They can be redeemed for a wide range of options including gift cards, travel, cryptocurrency, cash back, mental health benefits, team offsites, executive coaching, billboards, donations, airline miles and gifting and transfer points.

We love that Brex has multiple ways to redeem your points, including some unique ones like billboards and team offsites. If your business spends a lot on advertising, being able to redeem your points for billboard advertising may be something you strongly consider.

Brex points cost 1 cent when redeemed for travel through their portal and 0.6 cents per point when redeemed for cash back. Fortunately, you can get more value for your points when you use transfer partners.

Points transferred to the Brax Corporate Card

Brex has seven airline transfer partners, greatly increasing the value of its program.

The seven transfer partners are:

Brex points are transferred on a 1:1 ratio and points can also be transferred to any employee account.

Fortunately, all three major airline alliances are represented by this list: Star Alliance, Oneworld and SkyTeam. This opens up your redemption options greatly. For example, you can transfer Brex points to Avianca LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio, then redeem those miles for a reasonable rate for a Lufthansa first-class flight from the US to Europe — all without costly carrier surcharges.

Related: Credit Card Transfer Partners: A Guide to Transferring Points and Miles to Airlines and Hotels

What cards compete with the Brax Corporate Card?

The Brex Corporate Card is unlike many other business cards. It is designed for a specific group of businesses and is not comparable to many other cards. Its only direct competitors are other corporate cards.

Information on the American Express Corporate Platinum Card® has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Related: How to Choose the Right Credit Card for Your Business Expenses