The 6 best business credit cards for balance transfers for 2023

Written by: Tim Devaney
• Updated •7 min read
This date may not reflect recent changes in individual terms.
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If you’re self-employed or a small-business owner and your company is carrying high-interest credit card debt, a business balance transfer credit card might help you lower your interest rate and pay down your high-interest credit card debt more quickly.

Here are our picks for the best balance transfer business credit cards for 2023.

Best for long introductory period: U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card

Here’s why: The U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card gives you more time to pay off your balance interest-free than any other balance transfer business credit card we found.

With the U.S. Bank Business Platinum Card, you’ll get an introductory 0% APR for the first 18 billing cycles on balance transfers made in the first 30 days after opening your account. (There’s an 18-month 0% APR offer on purchases as well.) Though there’s a balance transfer fee of 3% (minimum $5) on each transfer.

After the intro APR offers expire, balance transfers and purchases will be charged variable APRs somewhere in the range of 15.74% to 24.74%. But there’s no annual fee on this card.

Compare offers for business credit cards on Credit Karma to check out more options.

Best for staying focused on your debt: PNC Visa® Business Credit Card

Here’s why: If you want to stay laser focused on paying off your business debt, this card offers a useful intro APR offer without any distractions.

The PNC Visa® Business Credit Card offers a 0% APR on balance transfers for the first 13 billing cycles after your account opens on balances transferred within the first 90 days. It charges a balance transfer fee of 3% or $5, whichever’s greater.

After the intro period ends, the variable APR for both balance transfers and purchases rises to 13.74% to 23.74%.

The PNC Visa® Business Credit Card doesn’t charge an annual fee, but it also doesn’t offer any rewards. For that reason, the PNC Visa® Business Credit Card is likely best for business owners who want to pay off debt and maintain a potentially low APR once their intro period ends.

For more options from this bank, read our list of the best PNC credit cards.

Best for ongoing expenses: U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card

Here’s why: The U.S. Bank Triple Cash Rewards Visa® Business Card lets you earn cash back in several key business categories to go along with its valuable balance transfer offer.

It has an intro offer of 0% APR for 15 billing cycles on purchases and balance transfers made within the first 30 days after your account opens. After that year, the regular variable APRs on balance transfers and purchases range from 17.74% to 26.74%. There’s a balance transfer fee of 3% (minimum $5) on each transfer.

There’s no annual fee, and you’ll also earn 3% cash back on eligible purchases at gas stations, office supply stores, cellphone service providers and restaurants. All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

We recommend focusing on paying down your business debt to take best advantage of a balance transfer offer, but that’s not always possible. If you need to use the card for new purchases, you’ll at least be able to take advantage of the 0% APR offer on purchases and earn rewards.

Best for established businesses: Wells Fargo Business Platinum Card

Here’s why: With up to 99 free employee cards, flat-rate rewards and a 0% intro APR offer for both purchases and balance transfers, the Wells Fargo Business Platinum Card offers established businesses the opportunity to save on interest.

The card has an introductory 0% APR for nine months from account opening on purchases and on balance transfers processed during the intro period. After the intro period is up, a variable rate of the Wells Fargo Prime Rate plus 7.99% to 17.99% will apply to new purchases and balance transfers (as well as any remaining balances).

There’s also an upfront cost to transfer a balance, with a fee of 4% (10% minimum) on each.

While this card’s intro offer is shorter than others, it could be a good option for dealing with debt in the short term. Plus, there’s no annual fee and purchases will earn either 1.5% cash back or one point for every $1 spent.

Best for Edward Jones clients: Edward Jones Business Plus Mastercard®

Here’s why: If you have a business account with Edward Jones, this card’s balance transfer offer might help you manage your debt.

You’ll get a 0% intro APR on balance transfers for the first 12 billing cycles on transfers made in the first 60 days after your account opens. There’s also a 0% intro balance transfer fee for transfers made in those first 60 days, which rises to 3% of the amount transferred after the first 60 days (with a minimum of $5).

After the intro period ends, the balance transfer APR goes up to 18.74% to 29.74%.

Otherwise, the Edward Jones Business Plus MasterCard® offers 1.5 Loyalty Points® on every $1 spent on purchases up to $40,000. After reaching the $40,000 threshold, you’ll earn two points per $1 spent on purchases. You’ll also earn four bonus points on top of that base rate per $1 spent on prepaid hotels and car rentals booked through the Edward Jones Rewards Travel Center.

Best for regional customers: Zions Bank AmaZing Rewards® Business Credit Card

Here’s why: This card offers another balance transfer option for businesses that need to manage debt, but your business must be headquartered in Utah, Idaho or Wyoming.

For balance transfers made within 60 days of account opening, you’ll get a 0% intro APR for 12 months after account opening. The card charges a balance transfer fee of 3% (minimum $10).

The Zions Bank AmaZing Rewards® Business Credit Card also comes with a 0% intro APR on purchases for six months after your account opens.

The variable APR for purchases and balance transfers rises to 17.99% after the end of each intro period.

Otherwise, this no-annual-fee credit card provides three points for every $1 you spend on select business purchases (including office supplies, cellular services, internet services, telecommunications and cable TV), two points for every $1 you spend on select business travel purchases (including airline and car rentals), and one point per $1 on all other purchases.

How do business balance transfers work?

Balance transfers can save business owners a lot of money in interest charges and help work down debt more quickly.

But you have to be careful — it’s easy to misunderstand the fine print and end up with even more debt that you started with.

Here’s how to make a business balance transfer work for you.

  1. Research business balance transfer credit cards. Try our balance transfer calculator to get an idea of how much a balance transfer could save you.
  2. Understand that a business balance transfer could affect your personal credit as well. There are several ways that a new business credit card could affect your personal credit.
  3. Apply for the business balance transfer credit card of your choice. Even if it’s rarer to find an introductory 0% APR balance transfer offer with business cards than with personal credit cards, there are still offers available. If you don’t get approved, you can try working on building your business credit before trying again.
  4. If you’re approved, initiate the transfer with your new credit card issuer. There may be a limited amount of time for you to initiate the transfer to qualify for an introductory 0% APR offer. Depending on the amount you want to transfer and the credit limit you’re approved for on the new card, you may only be able to transfer part of your debt. The issuer for your new card may mail you a balance transfer check that you can use to make the transfer (up to the new card’s limit).
  5. Follow up. Don’t stop paying your old card until you’ve confirmed that the balance transfer is complete. If you were only able to transfer part of your debt, you’ll have payments to make on multiple cards now.
  6. Pay down your debt. Paying off the transferred balance within the intro APR window means you could save on potentially high interest payments and pay down that debt more quickly. 

In order to effectively pay down your debt, it’s important to focus on your primary goal. We like rewards as much as the next person, but earning a sign-up bonus or collecting cash back should never get in the way of paying off your debt.

If you think rewards or a sign-up bonus will tempt you to spend more, consider looking for another balance transfer credit card that doesn’t offer rewards.

On the other hand, if you use your balance transfer credit card only to make purchases you were already planning on making, you might as well earn rewards for your spending while paying down your balance transfer.

If you think you’ll end up charging new purchases to your balance transfer card though, it’s a good idea to look for a card that offers an intro APR that’s the same length for purchases as it is for balance transfers. Why? If your purchase offer ends before your balance transfer offer ends, you could be charged interest on your new purchases right away, unless you pay off your entire balance (including your non-interest-accruing transfer balance). Keep reading to learn more balance transfer risks.

How we picked these cards

To find the best business balance transfer credit cards, we started by looking at our favorite business credit cards. Then, we checked each of our favorite business cards to see which ones offered balance transfers.

But business balance transfer offers are somewhat rare, so we included some cards with application restrictions to ensure we presented a comprehensive list. These cards won’t be available to every business, but they might fit your needs.

We also factored in the regular APR, balance transfer fees, annual fees and rewards programs for each card.

About the author: Tim Devaney is a personal finance writer and credit card expert at Credit Karma. He’s a longtime journalist who prides himself on being a good storyteller who can explain complex information in an easily digestible wa… Read more.