The Spark® Cash for Business card from Capital One® helps small businesses buy goods and services while earning cash back rewards. It’s designed for applicants with excellent credit.

Other benefits include:

• Introductory cash back bonuses
• Free employee cards
• No confusing purchase categories
• Easy accounting with different download formats
• An easy to understand reward system that anyone can understand

Is there an annual fee?

This card comes with an annual fee of $95 in addition to interest payments.

That’s not unusual, but for small businesses looking to save every penny, there are alternatives.

For example, the Bank of America® Business Advantage Travel Rewards World Mastercard® has no annual fee whatsoever.

What’s the APR?

This card comes with a 19.24% variable APR, which is roughly average for a business credit card of this type.

Check out our roundup of the Best Small Business Credit Cards

Who is the Spark® Cash for Business card right for?

This card is great for businesses who don’t worry too much about cleverly crafted reward systems or travel perks and would prefer a simple cash back card.

The simple 2% cash back on all business purchases without any further complications is perhaps the biggest reason to get this card. That means it could be the right choice for:

• Swamped entrepreneurs who don’t want to waste time figuring out how to get the most out of their card with confusing points systems and purchase eligibility requirements, or confusingly defined spending categories
• Innovative startups with non-traditional spending needs that don’t match up neatly with pre-defined purchase categories, as all spending is covered. Maybe that pingpong table is a business expense, afterall.

Small businesses should always check the small-print and compare the details with other cards and providers before deciding to apply. A rundown of business credit cards can be found here.

Are there introductory rates and rewards?

For the first year, the annual fee of $95 is waived. While this isn’t a huge amount of money, it’s a nice incentive that some other cards on the market lack, notably the travel-oriented Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card from Chase.

For now, Capital One are offering up to $2,000 in cash bonuses for spending in the first six months. Small businesses earn:

• A $500 cash bonus for spending $5,000 in the first three months
• An extra $1,500 for spending $50,000 in the first six months

A six-month introductory period is fairly average, but incentives totaling over $2,000 for that period is quite competitive.

How’s the Spark® Cash card after the introductory period?

The Spark® Cash for Business credit card has an impressive cash back rate of 2%. This can be redeemed at any time, and there are no minimums and no expiration date. This takes some of the complications out of financial planning.

Capital One also make accounting easier for small businesses by offering easy purchase record downloads in multiple formats, including:

• Quicken®
• Quickbooks™
• Excel®.

This simplicity also extends to calculating rewards, with no confusing or ambiguous spending categories to worry about. Cardholders get the same pay-off wherever they choose to use their card.

What are the cash back terms like?

The 2% cash back rate is unlimited, meaning there’s essentially no upper limit on the amount of cash back a small business can earn with it.

The 2% figure is slightly more generous than the one with the Capital One® Spark® Cash Select for Business, a similar card with a 1.5% rate.

How many points do I get?

Unlike certain other business credit cards, like the Chase Ink Business Preferred℠ card, the Spark Cash for Business card doesn’t operate a points system. Rewards are expressed in cash back and bonuses.

How many travel miles does my money buy?

This credit card doesn’t offer travel benefits directly unless the lack of foreign transaction fees counts as a travel reward.

Instead, businesses can use the cash back or bonuses they receive to purchase items like plane tickets directly.

What other benefits come with this card?

Capital One® report the activity of cardholders with Spark® Cash card to the business credit bureaus.

This makes it a great card for building up a credit rating, so long as the business can keep up with the payments.

Cardholders also receive:

• A custom quarterly and yearly summary
• Emergency card replacement
• An auto rental damage waiver
• Purchase security and extended protection (doubling the manufacturer’s warranty)