Small Business Cards are the Next Battleground for Cardmember Growth
By Liz Froment, Contributor at The Financial Brand
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Credit cards are crucial to small business operations. According to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Small Business Credit Card Satisfaction Study, 89% of small business owners have used a credit card for a recent business purchase. That makes a business credit card a daily touchpoint, and smaller institutions can grow relationships with these small business owners through checking and savings accounts, treasury services, and lending.
But community banks and credit unions often underdevelop their business credit card programs. It’s a missed opportunity, especially when many already have a relationship with business owners on the personal side.
Need to Know:
- Small businesses run on cards. 89% of small business owners have used a credit card for a recent business purchase.
- The personal relationship is a head start. Among small business banking customers, 84% also have a personal account at the same bank.
- Underwriting is an advantage. Smaller institutions that already hold a business owners account can make more flexible approval decisions.
- Fraud protection, visibility, and controls keep the card in use. Real-time alerts, a clear view of charges, and employee spending limits protect cash flow and time.
- The card can lead the rest of the relationship. Daily use keeps the institution top of mind when owners need checking, deposits, or loans.
Instead of trying to compete at scale with national card issuers, these institutions can get ahead by creating programs built around providing small business owners better control over their spending, more security features, and faster access to credit.
Business Owners Already Bank with You
Small business owners tend to stay with the banks that hold their personal accounts. J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Small Business Banking Satisfaction Study found that 84% of small business banking customers have a personal account at the same bank. Those customers also reported higher satisfaction, scoring 64 points higher than customers without a personal account.
Those figures demonstrate just how important pre-existing relationships are, and the weight they can carry when small business owners look for financing. In fact, according to the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Small Business Credit Survey, an existing relationship was the top reason businesses chose which bank to apply to for loans, lines of credit, and cash advances. That relationship matters for credit cards, too.
Key insight:“Business cards are becoming a bigger priority for community banks and credit unions because they realize that connecting personal accounts to business cards is where real value lives,” Kim Chambers, product manager – card experience at Georgia’s Own Credit Union, told The Financial Brand. “A strong business card is often the foot in the door to winning the rest of the relationship for checking, deposits, and loans. The card establishes the daily habit, and the rest of the banking business follows.”
But that only works if the owner chooses the business card and keeps using it. With national issuers and fintechs competing for the same spending, it has to give them a clear reason to reach for it first.
What a Competitive Business Card Program Looks Like Now
Chris Hendrickson, vice president of member business services at Wright-Patt Credit Union, says business owners are looking for tools that save time, reduce headaches, and keep their business running properly.
“Today, that translates to transparency, security, rewards, and convenience. Business owners want to see transactions in real time, manage employee cards, track expenses, and integrate spending data with the accounting systems they’re already using,” says Hendrickson.
Chambers adds that features like automated software syncing, employee spending limits, and rewards built around operational costs like fuel or travel are now table stakes. “But what really makes an offer stand out is flexibility,” says Chambers. “That means credit lines that expand with the business and automated features that manage backend headaches, like receipt matching or spending caps for employees. If a card isn’t actively saving an owner time and smoothing out their cash flow, they’ll find one that will.”
Speed of approval also matters for many small business owners when choosing a business credit card, and it’s an area where smaller and local institutions have an advantage. “Underwriting is where community institutions can beat both national issuers and fintechs,” Will Tumulty, CEO of Rapid Finance, a provider of working capital to small and mid-sized businesses, told The Financial Brand.
Key insight:Larger issuers tend to have more rigid algorithmic scorecards and automated models deciding business card applications. A community bank or credit union that already holds a business owner’s account can see some of the nuances of how the business actually manages its money, and it also understands the local economic market. So, the smaller institution has more flexibility in decision-making and approvals, which can help land the business.
Tumulty says a business owner applying for a card is usually solving a short-term need, like covering inventory or funding a seasonal ramp-up. And a competitive program offers an online application, instant or same-day decisions for most applicants, and a clear path for the rest, such as manual review with a committed turnaround time.
Going Beyond Rewards
Smaller financial institutions can’t match national issuers on credit card points programs. However, where they can compete is on the features that small business owners rely on daily, like fraud protection, spending visibility, and controls.
Fraud protection is often the first factor small business owners look at. “No business owner wants to discover unauthorized charges after the fact or spend valuable time trying to untangle a problem,” says Hendrickson. Tumulty adds that AI-enabled fraud is raising the stakes, and a single fraudulent charge can hit a small business’s cash flow harder than it would for a larger company. Real-time alerts that flag suspicious activity early, plus a quick response when something does go wrong, save businesses time and protect their cash.
Spending visibility is another area that matters. “Understanding what’s pending versus settled, and why an authorization hold might look different from the final purchase amount, eases a lot of anxiety business owners may have about phantom charges eating into their available funds,” says Tumulty. A clear view of what’s been spent and how much credit is still available helps manage day-to-day cash flow.
Controls also become more important as the business grows and more employees carry a card. “As teams expand, controls and security become just as vital. Dynamic spending limits, merchant blocks, and real-time fraud alerts protect company capital with continuous oversight,” says Chambers.
Key insight:When a business grows, the owner can’t sign off on every purchase, especially in real time. Pre-set spending controls let employees use the business card to buy what they need, like fuel or supplies, within limits. That gives the business owner a clear view of who spent what, which means fewer surprises on the statement and less time chasing down receipts for expense reporting.
Turning Daily Spending into a Full Relationship
“Business owners aren’t usually waking up thinking about financial products. They’re thinking about payroll on Friday, a piece of equipment that needs to be replaced, or a growth opportunity they don’t want to miss,” Hendrickson says.
Bottom line:A business card that protects their money, shows them where it’s going, and gives them control over who spends it takes some of that pressure off. For community banks and credit unions, that’s a practical way to compete with national issuers and keep the rest of the business relationship close.
