The Strategy That Saved My Businesses $15K & Earned Me Two Million Points

I’ve known business partners, clients and friends who run their business expenses through debit cards. Not only does this strategy not protect you and your purchases, but it also leaves significant value on the table.

While many small business owners stick with debit cards out of habit, fear overspending, or believe that tracking spending with a debit card is easier to manage, experience has shown me this is a costly mistake.

Like I did a few years ago, you may think you can only earn 1-2% back from credit cards, so what’s the big hurry? I can wait and do the research later. Over the last few years, I’ve learned that using multiple credit cards to maximize your earning potential can actually earn you back 6-10% of your spending or more.

Why Credit Cards Are Essential Business Tools

When used strategically, credit cards can transform everyday spending into business leverage. And I’m not just talking about travel points here. I’m talking about:

• Covering the costs of business expenses, or tax-free income through cash back
• Significant additional purchase protection, up to 3X more than standard
• 45-day payment holds that allow you to manage cash flow better while receivables come in

That’s just icing on the cake, though, compared to the fantastic incentives you can earn when you have the right credit card mix for your businesses. In late 2023, I hired a firm to help me find the right cards and optimize my spending strategies. The results speak for themselves:

In 2024 alone, I generated over 1.9 million points plus nearly $15,000 in cash back across three businesses with monthly spending of $80,000- $90,000. Here’s a high-level summary, and this is just from my top cards:

• AMEX Points: 984K
• Chase Points: 596K
• Marriott Points: 213K
• Cash Back: $14.6K

Sure, your spending volume may be different, but the fundamental approach remains the same. Whether you are spending $2,000 or $200,000 every month, you can still reap tremendous rewards by using the right cards.

This is part one of a two-part blog. Here, I’ll share the credit cards that helped me achieve these incredible perks. Part two (stay tuned) will focus on spending strategies and multiplying your earned points.

Full disclosure: While this is not a sponsored post, I do receive a referral bonus if you sign up for any of these cards through my links (and you earn big bonuses, too). Whether you sign up is up to you. I'm only sharing these specific cards because they work. They've fundamentally changed how I do business, and I genuinely believe they could do the same for you.

AMEX

Gold Business

Unlike other cards, AMEX Gold Business does not lock you into preset spending categories. Instead, it adapts to your purchase patterns, offering 4X points in your top two expense categories every month (capped at $150,000 in combined annual spending). These categories include domestic purchases of: 

• Online, TV, or radio advertising (I max out the cap with this alone)
• Restaurant purchases, including takeout and delivery
• Transit like trains, taxis, tolls, and parking
• Gasoline
• Electronic goods, software, and cloud systems

Additional perks include extended warranties on qualifying items and purchase protection covered up to 90 days from the purchase date if stolen or damaged.

Affiliate offer: Sign up here for a 100,000-point signup bonus.

Business Platinum

This card helps cover everyday business expenses through statement credits—which means AMEX automatically reimburses specific purchases in the following categories:

• Recruiting: Up to $360 back every year ($90 every three months) on Indeed subscriptions
• Hardware: $400 back annually on Dell purchases ($200 every six months)
• Software: $150 back on Adobe Creative Cloud and Acrobat Pro subscriptions
• Communications: $10 back on monthly wireless phone charges

You will also earn 1.5 Membership Reward points per dollar on domestic purchases in the following categories:

• Electronics
• Software
• Cloud service providers
• Construction materials and hardware supplies
• Shipping
• Purchases of $5,000+

Now, the real reason for having this card is its incredible travel benefits. I’ll name just a few:

• Airport Lounge Access: Access to over 1,400 airport lounges in more than 650 cities across 140 countries (this is through the free Priority Pass)
• Airline Fee Credit: Receive up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year when incidental fees are charged by the airline to your Platinum Card account
• Hotel Credit: Receive up to $200 back in statement credits each year for prepaid Fine Hotels + Resorts bookings, or stays of two nights or more with The Hotel Collection
• Global Entry/Clear/TSA Pre Credit: credit varies per program but typically covers the cost of multiple programs
• $200 Uber Cash: Add your Platinum Card® to your Uber account, and you'll automatically get $15 in Uber Cash each month, plus a $20 bonus, for a total of up to $200 per year.‡

Affiliate offer: Sign up here for a 150,000-point welcome bonus.

Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant

If you stay at full-service Marriott hotels a few times a year, this is your card.

Key perks include:

• A free night award worth up to 85,000 points (at luxury properties only)
• $300 in annual dining credits
• Automatic Platinum Elite status, which gives you access to room upgrades, plus early and late checkouts

However, to maximize these benefits, you must be strategic. The free night earned only covers one night in a luxury property. You also must use the dining credit every month, as points do not roll over.

Affiliate offer: Sign up here to receive 85,000 bonus points.

Chase

Ink Business Preferred

This card’s point multiplier system makes it incredibly valuable. Earn up to 3X points on common business expenses like travel, shipping, internet and phone service, and advertising on social media and search engines (which I max out every year).

The points are especially valuable because they can be:

• Worth 25% more when you redeem them through the Chase portal
• Transferred to airlines and hotels for increased value (another points multiplier)
• Combined with points from other Chase cards

It’s worth noting that these points are flexible; you can apply them to:

• Travel purchases
• Statement credit or direct deposit cash back
• Amazon purchases
• Apple products

Affiliate offer: Sign up here for 90,000 bonus points.

Ink Business Premier

This is one of my core cash-back cards. Online reviews about this card are mixed. The main criticism is that points can only be redeemed for cash back at a fixed rate of 1 cent per point. The card also does not allow points to be transferred to Chase’s travel partners.

But I have other cards for that. The Chase Ink Business Premier card is on my list because it gives me 2.5% cash back on purchases over $5,000. It also earns 2% on all other purchases, which makes it decent for everyday spending.

Affiliate offer: Sign up here to get a $1,000 bonus.

Capital One Spark Business & Venture X Business

The Spark card is also one of my key cash back cards. If you’re looking for a simple high-value rewards structure, the Capital One Spark Business card offers a flat 2% cash back on all business purchases—regardless of the category. And you can choose to have them send you a personal check!

I also like Capital One’s Venture X Business card for similar reasons: No limit, 2% cash back, or 2X miles on all purchases.

Affiliate offer: Sign up here for $4,000 in sign-up bonuses.

Final Thoughts

Whether it’s optimizing your online advertising or offering information that can help you avoid larger and more costly marketing mistakes, WISE is here to help. Stay tuned for part two, where I’ll dive into specific strategies for multiplying your credit card rewards.

In the meantime, if you’d like to explore additional business growth strategies, feel free to book a one-hour strategy session with me!