Business credit card statistics | 2025

Business credit cards remain a core part of how businesses manage spend. However, the way they're used, including how much, how often, and where risk appears, is changing rapidly. If you're leading finance operations, you need data that reflects those shifts.

How many American businesses use credit cards?

Most businesses in the U.S. rely on credit cards to manage expenses and improve cash flow. About 79% of small businesses use at least one business credit card for day-to-day operations. These cards help you track expenses, manage cash flow, and keep personal and business finances separate.

Mid-sized companies tend to manage more complex spending needs. Many use corporate cards across departments to enable team purchasing, enforce category-level controls, and monitor budgets in real time. As your business grows, credit cards often become part of a broader financial stack that includes accounting software, vendor portals, and approval workflows.

Business cards as a funding source

Many businesses rely on credit cards to bridge financial gaps and cover short-term needs. Over 53% of businesses used credit cards as an external source of funding. These cards often fill the space between daily expenses and longer-term financing tools like loans or credit lines.

Over 21% of businesses specifically sought funding through business credit cards. The flexibility to cover immediate costs without waiting for loan approvals made them a practical option for many.

Traditional financing remains a common route, but access is not guaranteed. Around 80% of businesses expected to face financial difficulty in the year ahead, and 30% pointed to credit availability as a key concern. If you face delays in receivables or rising operating costs, having access to revolving credit can help you manage risk and stay operational.

Business credit cards continue to offer quick access to working capital when you need it, without the paperwork that comes with traditional financing.

Total number of corporate cards in circulation

Credit card usage remains widespread across the U.S., with more than 827 million credit cards in circulation as of 2025. This figure includes both personal and business cards and reflects ongoing growth in card adoption across sectors.

While most available data combines personal and business accounts, corporate credit card issuance continues to rise. The global business credit card market reached $35.23 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $52.28 billion by 2029. As more businesses move away from checks and reimbursements, card programs are becoming a preferred tool for controlled and trackable spending.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported 548 million open general-purpose credit card accounts in the U.S. Though not segmented by business type, these figures underscore the scale and pace of credit card usage. If you manage company expenses, you are likely part of this growing trend toward centralized, card-based spending.

Spending behavior and usage patterns

Business cards remain a central tool for managing everyday expenses. In 2023, the average monthly spend per business credit card reached $13,000. This figure reflects a wide range of use cases, from software subscriptions to travel, inventory, and advertising.

You may see higher spending in months tied to seasonal demand or annual vendor payments. Many businesses use cards to cover recurring costs like SaaS tools and utility bills, while others rely on them for larger one-time purchases tied to growth or expansion.

Average monthly business card spend by business size

Spending volume on business credit cards varies significantly based on company size. A 2025 study analyzing transaction data from 1.6 million U.S. small businesses found that average monthly credit card spend rose from $10,000 in 2020 to $23,000. This increase reflects a growing reliance on credit cards for managing everyday operations. Here’s a better look at that progression:

If you run a small business, your spending may concentrate on categories like inventory, digital tools, or contractor payments. As your company scales, spending tends to spread across more categories and teams.

Larger businesses using corporate credit cards often see higher monthly spend volumes. These companies typically operate with broader purchasing needs, larger teams, and higher spending limits.

Top expense categories for business cards

Business credit cards are used to manage a wide range of operating costs. According to recent spending data, the most common expense categories include software, advertising, and travel. These categories reflect core business activities like growth, communication, and operations.

Here’s a breakdown of the top expense categories:

Your business may lean more heavily into certain expense categories depending on your industry. Marketing agencies often see higher ad spend, while tech companies typically allocate more to software. Tracking how and where you spend helps you manage cash flow and identify areas for adjustment.

Top categories for cashback returns

After understanding where your business spends the most, it's helpful to evaluate how those purchases pay you back. While many cards offer flat-rate rewards, the actual cashback value returned to businesses can vary widely by category. That depends on how much is spent and how rewards are structured.

Ramp customer data from the past month highlights which categories tend to generate the most cashback on average, giving a clearer picture of where businesses are capturing the most value from their corporate card programs.

Here are the top five categories ranked by average annualized cashback earned per business:

These categories reflect not just high-spend areas, but high-impact ones, where strategic use of corporate cards can drive measurable financial return.

Businesses investing heavily in performance marketing, cloud infrastructure, or recurring SaaS subscriptions can significantly increase their net benefit by aligning those payments with corporate cards that offer cashback.

Card usage for recurring vs one-time expenses

Business credit cards are often used for both recurring and one-time payments. Recurring charges typically include software subscriptions, utilities, and monthly vendor services. These expenses help automate payments and reduce administrative work, especially when tied to essential tools like payroll, CRM, or project management platforms.

One-time expenses cover purchases like travel, equipment, event costs, and emergency repairs. These transactions often vary month to month and require closer monitoring to stay within budget.

If you rely heavily on subscriptions, reviewing your recurring charges regularly can help avoid waste. Nearly 50% of all software installed by businesses goes unused by employees. In total, U.S. companies waste an estimated $21 million each year on unused licenses. These unused tools often continue to charge automatically on business cards, leading to silent budget drains.

Credit limits and access to capital

Your credit limit plays a direct role in how much flexibility you have to manage expenses, cover shortfalls, or fund growth.

If you're operating a newer or smaller business, your initial limit may fall between $5,000 and $50,000. This range allows you to manage basic operational costs while building a track record of on-time payments and responsible use.

Mid-sized companies tend to qualify for higher limits based on larger cash flows and longer credit histories. Ramp supports over 40,000 active customers, including companies scaling into multi-entity operations with higher card limits and spend volume.

Corporate card payment behavior and trends

Payment trends often reflect how closely your spending aligns with available cash flow. Between 2020 and April 2022, average monthly credit card payments rose from $10,000 to between $24,000 and $26,000. This increase matched higher usage rates as more businesses turned to cards to cover operating expenses.

By 2023, usage levels remained elevated, but payment volumes started to decline. That shift suggests tighter cash positions or changes in repayment strategies. If your business holds a balance rather than paying in full, you may face higher interest costs or reduced credit flexibility over time.

Here's a look at how business credit card payments have changed over recent years:

Changes in payment behavior often signal shifts in financial health, access to capital, or short-term risk tolerance. Ramp customers have saved over $10 billion and 27.5 million hours by automating expense management and improving spend discipline.

How interest payments have changed over time

The cost of carrying a balance on business credit cards has increased in recent years. Federal Reserve rate hikes between March 2022 and May 2023 raised borrowing costs across the board, making interest payments more expensive for businesses using revolving credit.

During this period, average interest payments on business credit cards rose by 60%. If you carried a balance from month to month, you likely saw a noticeable increase in your monthly finance charges.

Here's a quick look at how average interest rates on business credit cards have increased year over year:

Delinquency rates also climbed during this window. By mid-2023, business credit card delinquencies reached 2.8%, reflecting rising pressure on repayment and financial stability. For many, the combination of higher rates and tighter capital made it harder to keep balances under control.

How many businesses carry a credit card balance

Carrying a balance on a business card is a common strategy for managing short-term cash needs. But recent trends show that long-term reliance on revolving credit may be declining. Between 2010 and 2022, the share of firms that carried a balance for 12 consecutive months fell from 26% to 17%. This drop suggests that more businesses are paying off balances faster.

Here's a breakdown of how many businesses carry a balance on their corporate card for over 12 consecutive months:

How credit cards compare to other payment methods

Credit cards remain one of the most widely accepted payment methods among businesses. In 2023, 74% of businesses accepted credit cards, making them the second most common option after checks. This level of adoption reflects how credit cards support fast payments, flexible terms, and easier reconciliation compared to other methods.

Checks continue to lead in acceptance, particularly in industries with established vendor relationships or high-value transactions. But processing checks takes longer and often involves manual follow-up. If you prioritize speed and tracking, credit cards offer better visibility and faster processing.

Other methods, such as ACH transfers, wire payments, and digital wallets, are also growing, especially for recurring or high-volume payments.

Virtual and corporate card adoption by small businesses

Small businesses are turning to virtual and corporate cards to manage spending more efficiently. With rising transaction volumes and a growing need for control, these tools are becoming core parts of payment operations.

Growth in virtual card usage among small businesses

Virtual card adoption has surged across the U.S. In 2024, businesses accounted for over 71% of the global virtual card market, with usage growing at 24.7% annually. Among small and mid-sized companies, virtual card usage for online purchases and recurring expenses rose by 48%. These cards help you reduce fraud risk, assign purpose-specific limits, and automate vendor payments without needing a physical card.

In 2023, B2B transactions made up 64% of the global virtual card market. The manufacturing sector saw a 20% increase in adoption, and the healthcare sector followed with an 18% rise. Virtual cards also grew by 50% for business travel and employee expenses, making them an increasingly flexible option across industries.

Corporate card market expansion

The corporate card market continues to scale. In 2025, the market is valued at $150 billion and is projected to reach $280 billion by 2033. This growth follows an 8% compound annual rate, driven by companies moving away from personal reimbursements and toward real-time expense tracking.

By 2024, 70% of U.S. corporations had adopted virtual cards, up from 55% in 2022. For large companies, usage hit 76% for procurement and vendor payments. These adoption patterns are starting to shape expectations for small businesses, especially those seeking better control over team-level spending.

Future of virtual card transactions

Virtual card transaction value is projected to reach $5.2 trillion globally in 2025. That number is expected to grow 235% by 2029, reflecting broader trust in virtual payments as a primary B2B channel. If you're looking for more control, transparency, and built-in limits, virtual cards provide a scalable way to manage vendor, travel, and subscription payments.

Among finance leaders, virtual cards are moving from experimental to essential. Around 56% of CFOs now consider virtual cards a core part of their payment toolkit.

Ramp lets you issue unlimited virtual cards with built-in controls, so you can assign a unique card to each vendor, set monthly limits, and track usage in real-time. Businesses using Ramp benefit from 17 million+ transactions auto-coded, 2.2 million invoices digitized, and 75 million approval workflows automated, removing manual overhead while maintaining control.

Although they still represent only around 2% of accounts payable transactions, adoption is growing quickly, especially for controlling spending, reducing fraud risk, and managing subscriptions or one-time vendors.

Tools like Ramp are changing how businesses use corporate credit cards by combining spend controls, automation, and real-time visibility. Instead of reconciling charges at month-end, finance teams track and manage expenses as they happen. Cards can be issued instantly with built-in limits and approvals. The result is faster workflows, fewer errors, and smarter spending decisions.