Seemingly everyone is getting in on the credit card game these days – especially with the highly-publicized launch of the Apple Card earlier this month. Recently, payment giant Stripe – known for its payment processing integrations – launched a new business credit card, the Stripe Corporate Card.
Stripe Corporate Card
The card, currently in the beta stage, is a Visa card the company touts as offering no fees of any kind – including no annual fees, no foreign transaction fees, and especially no late payment fees. According to Christina Cordova, who is overseeing the launch for Stripe, one of the most common causes for late or missed payments in the world of business credit cards is a person switching bank accounts and forgetting to update their new information. She believes that the Stripe Card will have fewer problems, as the company already has access to most of this information (and changes) through its payment-processing business. Unlike many business cards, the Stripe Corporate Card will likely require account holders to pay their entire balance each month. In this respect, the Stripe Card is more akin to a charge card than a standard business rewards card, which will typically allow a business to carry a balance. Charge cards, on the other hand, operate based on repaying the entire amount owed each month. Since Stripe will not charge late fees, however, it will be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out in the real world.
How Does the Stripe Corporate Card Stack Up?
According to Stripe, the card is designed to help companies focus on their business, rather than trying to optimize their points earning potential. Accounts earn 2% cash back on the top two categories they use their card for, which are automatically calculated – and differ from month to month, depending upon their spend. If, for example, a company spends heavily on software and corporate hospitality one month, and then advertising and hardware the next, they can expect Stripe to reward them accordingly, with no extra work or stress on the part of the cardholder. All other purchases with the card earn 1% cash back. The Stripe Corporate Card also claims that cash back rewards never expire, as they will be credited directly to the account holder’s monthly bill, meaning businesses never need to worry about missing out on their bonuses. As the Stripe Corporate Card is rewards card, account holders who are lucky enough to get their hands on the card can expect some impressive business perks. These perks include an exceptional introductory offer: $50,000 in free payment processing from Stripe should once they make $5,000 in purchases. This initial offer doesn’t appear to have a set time frame for the spend, meaning this is likely a goal everyone can reach. Beyond the excellent intro offer, the Stripe Corporate Card comes with a huge raft of additional benefits, including:
- $5,000 in AWS credits
- $150 in Google Ads credits
- $436 each month, for the first year, in Zendesk credits
- 50% off Expensify for the first 6 months
- 40% off the first year for Hubspot
- $2,000 in credits for up to 5 people for 20 months with Airtable
- 50% cash back with Notion, up to $5,000
- 3 months free of Gusto
Quite frankly, the list of benefits Stripe are offering with this card are too numerous, but they are well worth it.
Other Features of the Stripe Business Card
Since the Stripe Corporate Card is a business card through and through, account holders can expect seamless integrations with a variety of the finance software businesses use every day. The card will integrate with not only Quickbooks, the go-to source for accounting and invoicing for most companies, as well as with Expensify – an application for receipt scanning, business travel, and expense management. While currently in the beta stage, Stripe also states the card will integrate with Xero, a cloud-based accounting platform, and Bench, another bookkeeping platform, in the future. The card will also feature both custom spend controls and real-time expense reporting, allowing companies to monitor how authorized users use their cards. These features, Stripe claims, will enable pinpoint account controls, going so far as to allow a business to set authorization rules for specific merchant categories. Stripe states that these controls are designed to give companies the ultimate in account management – in essence becoming the card Stripe dreamed of having themselves.
Should You Consider the Stripe Card?
So, should your company consider signing up for the Stripe Corporate Card beta trial? If you are a U.S. based corporation who currently uses Stripe for payment processing, the answer is a firm “maybe.” In reality, It depends on what your biggest spends are. If, for instance, the most significant corporate expense for your company is travel, there are plenty of great alternatives out there that offer much more impressive rewards. The American Express Business Gold Card, for example, offers 4x points on travel expenses over the Stripe’s potential 2% cash back. Further, while the Gold card features a $295 annual fee, for a firm with employees traveling often, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to what they can earn. Likewise, if a company plans to carry a balance, especially more substantial purchases, the Stripe Card isn’t a great option. There are plenty of great business rewards cards out there that offer similar rewards but allow companies to carry a balance. The Ink Business Unlimited Card from Chase, for instance, earns a flat-rate 1.5% cash back on all purchases – which is comparable to the Stripe Corporate Card – but also comes with the added benefit of 0% intro APR on balance transfers for the first year. That’s not to say that the upcoming Stripe Corporate Card isn’t a solid choice. After all, Stripe already is a powerful name in the payment processing field. As many companies already use their services, getting the new card is significantly easier, with fewer details being required for existing partners. But for others, always be sure to review your options before deciding on your next business credit card.
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