The 7 Best Business Credit Cards for Veterinarians [2021]
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If you’re running a veterinarian practice, clinic, or hospital, the last thing you probably want to do is get bogged down by trying to manage your expenses.
At the same time, you want to do everything you can to maximize the value you get from spending you’d be making anyway.
As a veterinarian and business owner, you’re in charge of managing your profit and loss (P&L), including your revenue, payroll, office expenses, rent, and much more.
Consider putting all of your business expenses on a business credit card so that you can optimize your rewards and treat yourself (and your family!) to vacations and luxury travel. We’ll show you how to do just that in this guide.
Table of contents
Table of Contents
What To Look for in a Business Credit Card for Veterinarians
Veterinarian offices, clinics, and hospitals are specialized versions of healthcare practices — and much like a doctor or dental office, a veterinary center will undoubtedly have rent to pay for, as well as office supplies, specialized medical equipment, practice management software, payroll, and even advertising to grow their practice.
Because these expenses can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, we’ve focused all of our recommendations on the cards that offer the most rewards for common veterinary expenses.
Sure, there aren’t any credit cards that offer bonus points on medical equipment per se, but there are a number of credit cards that offer bonus points on business purchases such as office supplies and even miscellaneous expenses like rent and payroll.
Of course, just about every business credit card allows you to separate your expenses and manage your reporting, so that wasn’t a critical factor in determining our recommendations.
Now that we’ve identified what to look for in a business card for veterinarians, we’ll show you our best business credit card recommendations.
Best Overall Business Cards for Veterinarians
The best overall business cards for veterinarians will be the ones that offer the best rewards, most valuable points, and highest earning structures.
Keep in mind that while every veterinarian’s expenses might be different, just about all of them will make frequent purchases on office supplies, software, and marketing.
So, let’s look at our best business cards for veterinarians!
1. American Express® Business Gold Card
| Credit Card | Benefits & Info |
|---|---|
American Express® Business Gold Card Learn More (at Amex's secure site) |
Must Reads: For more info on the Amex Business Gold Card see our guide on its benefits, top FAQ’s and our full review. |
One of the most rewarding cards for big business spenders, the Amex Business Gold card is undoubtedly the best pick for most veterinarian’s spending patterns.
You’ll accelerate your points-earning by hitting that oh-so-sweet welcome bonus. And as long as you hold the card, you will earn 4x points on up to $150,000 in combined purchases per calendar year for the top 2 categories in this list:
- Airfare purchased from airlines
- U.S. purchases for advertising in select media
- U.S. purchases made from select technology providers of computer hardware, software, and cloud solutions
- U.S. purchases at gas stations
- U.S. purchases at restaurants
- U.S. purchases for shipping
So if you maxed out these bonus categories every calendar year, you’d earn 600,000 Amex points that are worth more than $13,000+! That’s equal to an approximate return on spend of 11%!
As a cardholder, you also don’t need to select any bonus categories — American Express, every statement, will automatically select the 2 best categories where you spend the most, so you can focus on running your business.
The Amex Business Gold card offers purchase protection, extended warranty, various travel insurance benefits, secondary rental car insurance, no preset spending limit, no foreign transaction fees, and up to 99 total employee cards with no annual fee after the first employee card ($50 annual fee).
The annual fee is $295.
Why We Like Earning Amex Membership Rewards Points
So what can you do with Amex points? Well, the short answer is, a lot!
The type of points you’ll earn with the Amex Business Gold card are called Amex Membership Rewards points, and they’re the most valuable transferable points available, according to our valuations.
You can use Amex points for cash-back, statement credits, gift cards, merchandise purchases, Amex Travel bookings, and our staff favorite, luxury travel bookings through transfer partners.
2. Ink Business Cash® Credit Card
| CREDIT CARD | BENEFITS & INFO |
|---|---|
Ink Business Cash® Credit Card Learn More (at Chase's secure site) |
Must Reads: For more info on the Chase Ink Cash Card, see our guide on its benefits and our full review. This is one of several business credit cards from Chase. |
The Ink Business Cash card is our runner-up credit card for veterinarians — simply put, you won’t find a more rewarding business credit card without an annual fee!
This card offers the ability to earn up to 5% cash-back on the first $25,000 in combined purchases each account anniversary year as follows:
- 5% cash-back at office supply stores
- 5% cash-back on internet, cable, and phone services
Also, you can earn 2% cash-back on the first $25,000 in combined purchases each account anniversary year as follows:
- 2% cash-back at gas stations
- 2% cash-back at restaurants
On all other purchases, as well as purchases in the above bonus categories after the bonus categories are maxed out, you’ll earn 1% cash-back.
Earning 5% cash-back is excellent, but what makes this credit card exceptional is that you can convert your cash-back to the coveted Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1% to 1x ratio, as long as you have an Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card.
The Ink Business Cash card gets you primary car rental coverage, travel insurance, purchase protection, and of course, unlimited employee cards for no extra fees.
This card has no annual fee.
Why We Like Earning Chase Ultimate Rewards Points
While the Ink Business Cash card ordinarily earns cash-back, the rewards you accumulate can be converted to Ultimate Rewards points that would instantly double your return on spend.
With an Ultimate Rewards credit card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card, you can start thinking about redeeming your points for fantastic business and first class flights via transfer partners.
Since your 5%, 2%, and 1% cash-back could become 5x, 2x, and 1x Ultimate Rewards points, respectively, you could end up getting a return on spend of ~10%, all with a no annual fee card!
3. The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
| Credit Card | Benefits & Info |
|---|---|
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express  Learn More (at Amex's secure site) |
$2,640 Must Reads: For more info on the Amex Business Platinum, see our insights on its benefits, top card FAQ’s and the best airport lounges you can access. Go here for our full review. This is one of several business credit cards from Amex. |
If you’re on the market for the most rewarding, perks-loaded card for your business, the Amex Business Platinum card is the way to go.
The first thing you’ll enjoy to kick off your rewards is a welcome bonus, which is easily worth $2,000+ by itself.
You’ll earn a whopping 5x Amex points on flights and prepaid hotels at Amex Travel, so if you travel for conferences or other business trips, you could potentially get a return on spend of ~11%.
Another reason why you’d want to have this card that you can earn 1.5x on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else (up to $2 million in purchases per calendar year).
But the real reason anyone would want this card (regardless of profession) is for its travel benefits. The Amex Business Platinum card offers the best lounge access privileges of any card in the world. Specifically, you can access the American Express Global Lounge Collection, consisting of:
- Airspace Lounges
- Centurion Lounges
- Delta Sky Clubs (when flying on a same-day Delta flight)
- Escape Lounges — The Centurion Studio Partner
- International American Express Centurion Lounges
- Plaza Premium Lounges
- Priority Pass lounges
- Select Virgin Clubhouses
- Select Lufthansa Lounges
This collection of lounges includes over 1,300+ lounges globally, but we’re just getting started with travel perks!
When you hold this card, you can activate your complimentary Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy Gold status. The former offers complimentary breakfast at many properties, which is fantastic! You’ll also find rental car elite status at Avis, Hertz, and National as a complimentary benefit.
You can also get access to Amex’s Fine Hotels & Resorts, a Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee credit, up to $400 in statement credits for U.S. purchases with Dell (enrollment required) a $200 airline incidental fee credit every year, a 35% rebate on select flights via Pay With Points, and numerous travel protections like a baggage insurance plan, trip interruption and cancellation insurance, travel accident insurance, and secondary rental car coverage.
Plus, you’ll get purchase protection, return protection, and extended warranty coverage. The Amex Business Platinum card has no preset spending limit, so you can focus on making essential transactions to grow your business.
Bottom Line: The 3 best business cards for veterinarians are the Amex Business Gold card, the Ink Business Cash card, and the Amex Business Platinum card. Each of them has different value propositions, but you’re bound to find an option that resonates with you, whether you’re looking for maximum points-earning, low-cost rewards, or the best luxury travel benefits.
Alternative Business Credit Cards for Veterinarians
While we’re huge supporters of the business credit cards detailed above, we understand that there might be different needs for every veterinarian.
That’s why we put together this next list that will show you some of the best alternative choices for business credit cards, should you wish to see more options on the table.
4. Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card
| Credit Card | Benefits & Info |
|---|---|
Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card Learn More (at Chase's secure site) |
Must Reads: For more info on the Ink Business Unlimited, see our guide on its benefits and our full review. This is one of several Chase business cards. |
The Ink Business Unlimited card is our best alternative business credit card for veterinarians, thanks to its straightforward earning structure and potential to access the Ultimate Rewards program.
Just like the Ink Business Cash card, this card offers cash-back rewards that can transform into transferable rewards with the right credit card pairing.
First off, you’ll enjoy a huge welcome bonus, worth $1,500+ when converted to Ultimate Rewards points.
Offering a different earning structure, the Ink Business Unlimited card gets you 1.5% cash-back on all your business purchases with no caps. That means you can get up to a 3% return on spend with everyday business purchases!
In addition, you can access a 0% introductory APR benefit, zero liability protection, additional cards for no extra fee, primary rental car insurance, purchase protection, extended warranty protection, and best of all, no annual fee.
If you happen to have an Ultimate Rewards card such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, your 1.5% cash-back can be converted to 1.5x Ultimate Rewards points.
5. The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express
| Credit Card | Benefits & Info |
|---|---|
The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express  Learn More (at Amex's secure site) |
|
The Amex Blue Business Plus card is one of our favorite credit cards in Amex’s entire offering. Cardholders will earn 2x Amex points on everyday business purchases up to $50,000 in total purchases per calendar year; then, 1x thereafter. Earning 2x Amex points per $1 spent is equivalent to a return on spend of 4.4%, according to our valuations.
To aid your business finances, take advantage of the 0% introductory APR, as shown in the table above, that can help you save a bundle on interest fees.
We also love this card because it is one of the few no-annual-fee credit cards that gets you full access to transferable rewards. The Amex Blue Business Plus card also offers secondary rental car coverage, no-cost employee card, purchase protection, extended warranty, access to Amex Offers, and expanded buying power (see rates and fees).
We recommend this card for veterinarians running a very lean organization because of the $50,000 bonus-spend cap. If you have more than $50,000 in business purchases per year, your earnings won’t be maximized after the first $50,000.
6. Capital One Spark Miles for Business
| Credit Card | Rewards & Annual Fee |
|---|---|
| Capital One Spark Miles for Business |
|
The first (and only) Capital One credit card in this guide is one worth considering: the CapOne Spark Miles card.
When you sign up for this card, you can earn a sizable welcome bonus and unlimited 2x Capital One miles on every business purchase.
You can also earn 5x Capital One miles on hotel and rental car bookings made through Capital One Travel.
Earning 5x and 2x Capital One miles is equal to a 6.8% and 2.7% return on spend, according to our valuations.
Other awesome perks include a $100 Global Entry/TSA PreCheck application fee reimbursement, free employee cards, roadside assistance, fraud alerts, extended warranty, and zero fraud liability.
The annual fee is $95, and you won’t be surprised with any foreign transaction fees.
Why We Like Earning Capital One Miles
We love Capital One Miles because they’re one of the major transferable rewards programs out there. We value Capital One miles at a respectable ~1.4 cents each.
You can redeem your miles via airline and hotel partners for some incredible travel bookings.
Although you’ll get the best value from transfer partners, you have the option to redeem your Capital One miles for travel booked through Capital One Travel, statement credits, gift cards, and more.
7. Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
| Credit Card | Key Benefits & Info |
|---|---|
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card Learn More (at Chase's secure site) |
$2,000 Must Reads: For more info on the Ink Business Preferred, see our guides on its benefits, 7 things to do as a new cardholder, and our full review. This is our favorite Chase business credit card. |
The Ink Business Preferred card is our last (but definitely not least) credit card in the scope of this guide.
Offering a humongous welcome bonus, this alone should be reason enough to sign up for the credit card.
But beyond that, you’ll earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent on select business categories (up to $150,000 in combined purchases per anniversary year):
- Internet, cable, and phone services
- Shipping expenses
- Travel
- Ads purchased with search engines or social media sites
Furthermore, this credit card earns Ultimate Rewards points directly which means that, unlike the Ink Business Unlimited card and Ink Business Cash card, you don’t need another credit card to access transfer partnerships.
Also, the Ink Business Preferred card’s cell phone insurance is second-to-none; you can get up to an additional $1,500 in value across a maximum of 3 claims every 12-month period with a maximum of $600 per claim and a deductible of $100 per claim ($500 net reimbursement per claim).
Lastly, you’ll get stellar travel perks, including purchase protection, extended warranty, primary rental car coverage, trip cancellation and interruption insurance, and much more.
Employee cards are free, and the annual fee is $95.
Final Thoughts
Running your veterinarian business is a demanding profession combining technical expertise with business acumen — but don’t let the complexity of credit card rewards prevent you from optimizing your spending.
With any of these credit card options, you’ll do well to get significant returns on your spending.
Our favorite business credit cards fall under Chase’s and Amex’s catalog, but we also have a Capital One credit card that might fit your needs.
You’re now equipped with the knowledge to make the credit card side of your veterinarian practice succeed.
The information regarding the Capital One Spark Miles for Business was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.
For rates and fees of the American Express® Business Gold Card, click here.
For rates and fees of The Business Platinum Card® from American Express, click here.
For rates and fees of The Blue Business® Plus Credit Card from American Express, click here.
