Can you use a personal credit card for business expenses?

It is a fact, universally acknowledged, that most corporate cards are absolutely rubbish for earning rewards. If you’re lucky, you’ll earn maybe 0.4 mpd on all your spending (the AMEX HighFlyer Card is a notable exception at 1.8 mpd), or else some miserly cashback.

After all, corporate cards were created with cashflow and internal control benefits in mind. Companies are more concerned that employees aren’t charging gentleman’s clubs to the corporate coffers, rather than how many miles they’re racking up. At the same time, business expenses tend to be several magnitudes higher than personal spending, and to the extent that these are non-discretionary, banks are not particularly inclined to reward them as generously as they would a personal card.

But if you’re running your own business, or are fortunate enough to work for a company that isn’t fussy about how you charge expenses, you might be tempted to use a personal card instead. I mean, wouldn’t you rather be taking home 4 mpd and meeting the minimum spend for sign-up bonuses, through tax deductible or reimbursable expenses? 

That leads us to the question: can you use personal cards for business expenses?

By right, no

While banks don’t explicitly state that personal cards can’t be used for business expenses, most do mention that you won’t earn rewards for such transactions.

For example:

HSBC

Maybank

UOB

Even where banks do not address the matter explicitly, you’ll notice that they tend to use the term “retail spend” when talking about awarding points. If push comes to shove, they can point to that term in justifying their decision to exclude certain transactions, because “retail” doesn’t encompass B2B spending.

But by left…

While banks would prefer that you not use your personal card for business expenses, in practice it can be hard to distinguish.

If your card shows a restaurant charge, is that a business lunch, or are you on a date? If your card shows a supermarket charge, are you restocking the office pantry, or are those your personal groceries? If your card shows an air ticket purchase, are you going on a business trip, or a holiday?

It’s not always possible to tell, and banks simply don’t have the time or resources to investigate every case.

But there are some obvious red flags. For example, there are MCCs specifically related to B2B spending, which ordinary consumers are unlikely to encounter in the regular course of life. 

• MCC 1731: Electrical Contractors
• MCC 1750: Carpentry Contractors
• MCC 5039: Construction Materials Not Elsewhere Classified
• MCC 5046: Commercial Equipment Not Elsewhere Classified
• MCC 5051: Metal Service Centre and Offices
• MCC 5065: Electrical Parts and Equipment
• MCC 5074: Plumbing and Heating Equipment
• MCC 5085: Industrial Supplies Not Elsewhere Classified
• MCC 7311: Advertising Services
• MCC 7339: Stenographic and Secretarial Support Services

Other examples include services like Mailchimp, Shopify, Squarespace and Facebook ads. 

The list above isn’t exhaustive, and of course there could be perfectly innocuous situations where you end up with such a charge on your card, but that’s generally the first line of monitoring for banks.

Another indicator that banks would look at in determining whether a transaction is commercial in nature is whether it recurs with any regularity. If there’s a fixed charge to a B2B MCC that happens each month, you can bet that will send up some flares.

And of course, there’s quantum. If your spending is modest, it’s highly unlikely the bank will give it a second look. Of course, it’s impossible to say precisely what threshold will trigger attention, but common sense will tell you that some things are playing with fire. I have a friend who runs a talent agency and regularly used her UOB PRVI Miles Card to pay overseas influencers via PayPal. These payments would run into the six digits each month, and after a few months, UOB shut down her account. I’ve also read online accounts of people charging five-digit AWS or Google Adwords expenses to their cards, and landing in similar trouble.

If you ask me, I’d say that “dual-use” situations are quite safe- any kind of expenditure that could plausibly have a consumer purpose, like mobile phone subscriptions, office supplies or computer equipment (though perhaps not a five-digit server refit).

Are there any decent corporate cards out there?

The only half-decent corporate card I can think of is the AMEX HighFlyer Card, which is open to any SME with no minimum spend necessary. 

Apply
Income Req.	S$30,000 p.a.	Points Validity	3 years
Annual Fee	S$304.59	Min. Transfer	N/A
Miles with Annual Fee	None	Transfer Partners	1
FCY Fee	3.25%	Transfer Fee	None
Local Earn	1.8 mpd	Points Pool?	N/A
FCY Earn	1.8 mpd	Lounge Access?	Yes
Special Earn	2.5 mpd on SIA Group*	Airport Limo?	No
*Up to 6 mpd extra on SIA tickets, depending on ticket type Cardholder Terms and Conditions

Cardholders earn 1.8 mpd on all spending, and 2.5 mpd on the SIA Group (SIA, Scoot, KrisShop), with additional perks like 2x Priority Pass lounge visits and an Accor Plus Explorer membership. Keep in mind, this card used to be even more amazing, back in the days when the first year fee was waived and you earned miles for GrabPay top-ups!

You can read a full review of this card here.

Aside from that, the field is very thin. The next best card in terms of earning potential would be the DBS World Business Card, which earns 2 mpd on FCY spend, 1 mpd on local dining, entertainment and travel, and 0.3 mpd everywhere else. 

All the other options I know of are either pure cashback options, or earn so few miles they’re not worth considering.

• AMEX Corporate Card: 0.69-1.11 mpd
• Citi Corporate Card: 0.4 mpd
• DBS Platinum Business Card: 0.4 mpd 
• Maybank Business Platinum: 0.4 mpd
• OCBC Business Credit Card: Up to 3% cashback
• UOB Empire World Business Mastercard: 1.5% cashback
• UOB Regal Business Metal Card: 1.5-2% cashback

Like I said at the start, internal controls and cashflow management are the real appeal of corporate cards, with rewards as a mere afterthought. 

Conclusion

There’s no law that says you can’t use your personal card for business expenses, but those who spend large amounts on what are clearly B2B transactions run the risk of their points being clawed back. 

That said, I’m sure there’s plenty of SME owners out there who put generous amounts of business spending on their personal card and earn plenty of miles in the process. It’s a fine line really, but given how anemic corporate cards tend to be, I can’t really blame them for wanting to.

Now, about those TPS reports…