6 Ways To Use Credit Cards To Support Your Side Hustle

Written by Dia Adams

Dia Adams

Credit cards, travel rewards, travel, personal finance

Dia Adams has been featured on national television, radio, print, and online media as an expert in the realm of credit cards, travel rewards, and family travel. She has acted as a senior staff editor on the personal finance team at Fortune and as a managing editor at Forbes Advisor. Dia has been writing about credit cards and travel rewards for over a decade, and has also written a best-selling guidebook on Disney World. She created, organized, and hosted Family Travel for Real Life (FT4RL), a successful travel rewards-focused conference that ran for six years. Outside of work, Dia is a mom of two residing in the DC Metro area. Between growing up in foreign service and working in consulting, she built up a serious love of travel that includes visiting over 50 countries and living in Thailand, China, and Ireland, where her son was born.
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Edited by Cory Dudak

Cory Dudak

Credit cards, banking, budgeting, savings

Cory is focused on giving readers the credit card advice they need to improve their personal finances across banking, budgeting and more, all with the core goal of ensuring readers are spending smarter and saving more. He is informed by his continued work as an editor for GOBankingRates, where he has touched content ranging from the brand’s newsletter, video and social media since 2018.
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Reviewed by Jasmin Baron

Jasmin Baron

Credit Cards, Travel Rewards, Loyalty Programs, Family Travel, Credit Building, Credit Scores

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Jasmin Baron is CardCritics’ senior editor, responsible for editing and writing credit cards, travel rewards, loyalty program, and other credit-related content. She is passionate about personal finance education and enjoys sharing tips and tricks for making the most credit card points and miles with her readers. Her expertise in maximizing credit card travel rewards originated from over two decades of aviation industry experience, including 18 years working as a pilot and college professor/flight instructor in her native Canada. Her work has appeared on sites such as CNN Underscored Money, Business Insider, The Points Guy, and point.me. When she’s not planning her next trip with credit card rewards, you’ll probably find her tinkering around in the kitchen, hanging out with her three kids, or playing with her dog, Benji.
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Last Updated Aug 14, 2025

You don’t need to be a business mogul to make credit cards work for you. If you’re running a side gig — be it food delivery, freelancing or resale — here’s how credit cards can help you.

Learn More: Ways To Elevate Your Summer Travel Adventures

Separate Business Spending and Streamline Your Expenses

A dedicated credit card draws a clear line between business and personal expenses. Most cards offer dashboards and downloadable statements, allowing you to sync transactions with accounting software or export them for your records.

An example might be to use a business credit card for side hustles such as selling on eBay. For instance, you could charge the items you source to resell, pay for shipping and even cover eBay fees all on the same card. It keeps everything tidy, earns rewards and makes tracking profits a breeze.

Maximize Tax Deductions and Simplify Tax Prep

When tax time rolls around, you’ll thank yourself for the easy bookkeeping and transparent profit tracking of a business credit card. This makes tax prep far less painful. It will also help with your IRS Schedule C form since all your business info is on one credit card annual summary.

If your credit card is used strictly for business, interest and annual fees may even be tax-deductible. Keep detailed records to claim every dollar you’re entitled to.

Earn Rewards on Business Purchases

Choose a card that matches your business spending habits, like cash back on shipping, office supplies or fuel. Those cash rewards can offset costs or be reinvested in your business. Don’t forget to check for bonus categories or shopping portals for extra value.

You can maximize credit card rewards by timing new business purchases, such as a laptop or cell phone, with getting a new business credit card. Your latest tech could knock out a large portion of a sign-up bonus.

It’s even possible to use your credit card to cover quarterly estimated taxes. While you may pay a fee for this service, the cash back rewards could make up for it.

Build a Business Credit Profile

Responsible use of a business credit card can help establish a credit history for your side hustle. This potentially opens doors to bigger loans or better financing down the road, even if you’re a one-person show. Access to credit could be the difference between having a side hustle and making the leap into running a full-time business.

Access Flexible Financing

Business cards often come with higher limits than personal cards, giving you more room to cover inventory, advertising or equipment. Some offer 0% introductory annual percentage rate (APR) periods on purchases — just have a plan to pay off the balance before interest kicks in. If you end up paying interest, you’ll likely negate your rewards quickly.

Unlock Perks and Protections

Business cards frequently include perks like purchase protection, extended warranties and travel insurance. Some even provide free employee cards with spending controls, which come in handy if your side hustle grows.

You don’t need a premium business card to unlock valuable protections for your side hustle. Many business cards with annual fees under $100 pack in credit card perks that can save you money, provide peace of mind and keep your business humming along. Here’s a breakdown of useful benefits to look for:

Cell Phone Insurance

How it works: Pay your monthly cell phone bill with your eligible business credit card, and you should be covered if your phone is damaged or stolen up to a specified amount.
Typical coverage: Up to $600 to $800 per claim, with a $25 to $100 deductible. Most cards allow two to three claims per year.
Pro tip: Coverage usually applies to all phones on your bill, but not to lost phones or cosmetic damage.

Purchase Protection

How it works: If an item you purchase with your card is stolen or accidentally damaged within a set period (typically 90 to120 days), you can be reimbursed for the repair or replacement.
Typical coverage: Up to $10,000 per claim (with an annual cap), covering most new purchases.
Pro tip: Always save your receipts and report incidents promptly to maximize your chances of approval.

Extended Warranty Protection

How it works: Extends the manufacturer’s warranty on eligible purchases by up to an additional year.
Typical coverage: Matches or extends warranties of three years or less, up to a set dollar amount per item.
Pro tip: Don’t forget you have this coverage! Since you might not need it until a year or two after you buy an item, extended warranty often slips through the cracks.

Bottom Line

You don’t have to be a tycoon to use business credit cards strategically. Whether you’re selling on eBay, tutoring or freelancing, a business credit card can help your side hustle run smoother and smarter.

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Editorial Note: Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer.
*CardCritics™ references a FICO® 8 score, which is one of many different types of credit scores. A financial institution may use a different score when evaluating your application.