Best Credit Card Reader for iPhone
From bustling farmers’ markets to busy cafes, iPhone credit card readers are a game-changer. Discover your best options here.
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From bustling farmers’ markets to busy cafes, iPhone credit card readers are a game-changer. Discover your best options here.
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Applying for a business credit card is easier than it sounds. Here is how to apply for one, whether you have a corporation or a freelance side hustle. A business credit card is a great way to get extra rewards and perks. But not all cards are created equal. Read on for everything to know about how to apply for a business credit card. Who Can Apply? What You Need to Apply Getting Approved How to Compare Cards Frequently Asked Questions Here are 5 steps to qualify for a business credit card: Have a small business with the intent to make a profit. Know your credit score so you know which cards you qualify for. Compare business credit card offers to find the best one for you. Fill out application with your business name and EIN (or your name and SSN). Wait for approval. Or call for reconsideration if rejected. Tip: As a small business owner, you know that credit cards can be a lifesaver. But it’s not always easy to know where to start when it comes to applying for a business credit card. You’ve probably heard that getting a business credit card is important, but you don’t want to get taken advantage of by high interest rates or unfair fees. Consider this: Ink Business Cash lets you earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening. Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other card purchases. There is no annual fee. Plus, there is a 0% introductory APR on purchases for 12 months. After the intro period, a variable APR applies, currently 17.99% – 25.99%. Who Can Apply? Business cards aren’t just for corporations. You can apply for a business card even if you’re running a one-man show and have no office. You may be surprised by what could be considered a business. Here are just some examples: If you’re a freelance web designer If you have an Etsy shop If you sell books on Ebay If you drive Uber in your spare time If you tutor students If you sell cookies at the farmer’s market Basically, if you do anything for profit, it can be considered a small business. In fact, you don’t even have to be already making income to apply for a business credit card. You just need to have a reasonable intention to make money and have business expenses (such as buying materials for your Etsy shop). Tip: How to Build Business Credit Benefits of having a business credit card: Keep your business expenses separated. This will make it so much easier come tax time. Earn rewards in business categories. Besides the tempting bonuses, business credit cards generally give bonus cash back or points in popular business categories (such as office supply stores, advertising online, telecommunication services, etc.) Ink Business Cash® Credit Card Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services each account anniversary year. Earn 2% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants each account anniversary year. Earn 1% cash back on all other purchases. Get Deal More purchasing power. Having a separate business credit card will mean that you have more credit for business expenses. Also, business credit cards tend to give higher credit lines than personal cards. What You Need to Apply Here comes the fun part: Applying for a business credit card when you’re just starting out can make you feel more official. It’s a little different than applying for a personal credit card. Here’s a rundown of how to fill out the application: The business’ legal name This is the name you use to do business. It’s what will show up on your card if you’re approved.If you have a corporation or an LLC, enter the business name that you registered with your state government.If you’re a freelancer or sole proprietor, just use your legal name on this line. Tip: Small business can also file a “Doing Business As” or DBA. This allows you to operate under another business name (instead of your own name). If you have done this, apply with your DBA name. Your tax identification number You’ll need a tax identification number to process your application.Incorporated businesses and partnerships enter their federal Employer Identification Number. This is a nine-digit number issued by the IRS for tax reporting purposes.If you’re a freelancer, you’d enter your Social Security number on this line (unless you have an IRS-issued Employer Identification Number). The business type or business structure This is the kind of business you’re operating. If you’re an LLC, you’d choose partnership or corporation, based on how it’s set up. If you are a freelancer, you would usually put down sole proprietorship. Beneficial owners: Effective May 11, 2018, new regulations require that important personal information is also provided for beneficial owners. This is anyone who directly or indirectly owns 25 percent or more of the business. This includes names, birth dates, social security numbers, home addresses and percent of ownership. Their credit information is not pulled, but records are kept for informational purposes.[1] The industry type or nature of the business Credit card companies also want to know what kind of business you’re running. You’ll have a list of industries to choose from. Just select the one that fits best, even if it isn’t quite the exact label. Related: Successful People Do These 23 Things Daily Your role in the business Spell out what you do. For example, you can say
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A good business credit score can increase a company’s value and protect personal credit. But how can I build my business credit fast? Read on for the answer. As a small business owner, the lines between your personal and business life can become blurred. Creating a separate business credit profile will protect your personal assets and give your business more lending power. Here are 8 smart steps to establish business credit: Establish your business formally Get a federal tax identification number (EIN) Open a business bank account Apply for a DUNS number Get a dedicated business phone number Establish trade credit with vendors or suppliers Apply for a business credit card Get a business loan What is Business Credit and Why Do I Need It Business credit is similar to personal credit, but it’s based on your business’s financial history. It’s tied to your Employer Identification Number (EIN) instead of your SSN. It’s a completely separate file from your personal credit report. Having business credit allows your business to borrow money, which is important for growth. Lenders will look at your business credit to get an idea of how reliable you are in paying back loans and decide if they want to work with you. Business credit is essential for things like: Qualifying for small business loans Determining how much credit limit you can get Determining business insurance premiums Eligibility to open vendor accounts 8 Responsible Ways to Build Business Credit Building business credit is not as straightforward as building personal credit. But don’t worry, it’s not too complicated. There are just some extra steps. We’ll go over everything you need to know. What percentage of your total credit do you think you should use? 1. Establish Your Business Formally Before you can build business credit, you need to establish your business as its own entity separate from yourself. This means you need to register your business as one of the following: Limited Liability Company (LLC): An LLC limits personal financial liability from the owners while allowing them to record profits and losses on their personal taxes. Limited Liability Partnership: This is when two or more partners go into business together. Unlike a normal partnership, you are protected from personal liability. Corporation: Corporations are completely independent legal entities that eliminate liability from owners. Because of their tax requirements, however, owners can end up being taxed twice on earnings. Sole proprietors are not a separate business entity. The proprietor is personally responsible for the business financial obligations. Any profits or losses are recorded on your personal tax returns. Do I need to get business insurance? Some businesses are required to get business insurance. If you have employees, for example, you’ll need to provide unemployment, disability, and worker’s compensation insurance. Some states also require additional ones. But required or not, it’s best to get one. It can protect your business from lawsuits, damages, and loss of income. 2. Get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) An EIN is like a Social Security number for your business. Use it to apply for a business checking account and to file business taxes. To obtain an EIN, you can get one for free on the IRS website. This number is usually issued right away. 3. Open a Business Bank Account A dedicated business banking account is essential to keep a clear divide between your personal and business life. It makes your business more legit and will keep your finances organized. Open the bank account with your business name and EIN. A checking account in itself won’t build business credit. But your banking history is often something lenders look at when you apply for credit. And plus, it helps you establish a relationship with your bank, which can help when you apply for business loans and credit down the road. Here are the best business checking accounts for all types of small businesses. It’s important to separate your business’ expenses from your personal expenses as soon as possible. This article from Lovely Financials explains how to both open a bank account under your business’ name and how to determine if something is business or personal expense. 4. Apply for a DUNS Number Dun & Bradstreet is the main business credit reporting agency. It’s what most lenders and suppliers use when evaluating your credit. Registering your business with them is one of the first steps to establishing a business credit file. You can register for a DUNS number for free here. If you have had a business credit card or loan before, then you’ll already have a file. 5. Get a Dedicated Business Phone Number Obviously, you need a number for customers, clients, vendors, etc. to call. But that’s not the only reason to get a dedicated phone number just for your business. A business phone number makes your business credible. If you just use your personal mobile number, your business may not seem legit to a lender. You don’t need to buy a new smartphone just to get a business number. You can use a Voice Over IP service (like Grasshopper and RingCentral) to get a business number and forward calls to your current phone. Create Business Social Media Pages Creating social media pages for your business is another way to connect with your clients. People can reach out to you through them. As small business owners, it also makes your business look professional. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram are popular ones you can use. 6. Establish Trade Credit With Vendors A lot of vendors and suppliers offer trade credit. This means they first provide the product/service and you don’t have to pay until later. This is essentially like a small loan. For example, Net 30 means you have 30 days to pay after receiving the product. Common terms are 30, 45, 60, 90, or 120 days. If the vendor reports your payments to the credit bureaus, it will help to build business credit. Ideally, it’s best to confirm if they
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The best banks for LLCs have low fees and valuable perks to help your business grow. Here are the best business bank accounts for all types of LLCs. What is the best bank account for a LLC? Here are the 10+ best business bank accounts for LLCs: Found: best for one person LLCs Bluevine: best for earning interest North One: best all-around free account US Bank: best traditional bank with free checking Bank of America: best for cash deposits Chase: best for physical businesses that take credit cards Novo: best for integrating business tools Relay: best for multiple checking accounts Lili: best business checking with accounting Wells Fargo: best SBA Lender. Chase Business Complete Banking® – $300 Bonus Earn $300 when you open a new Chase Business Complete Checking® account. For new Chase business checking customers with qualifying activities. Multiple ways to waive the $15 Monthly Service Fee, including maintaining a minimum daily balance or purchases on your Chase Ink® Business credit card. Full-service business banking. Convenient access to all your business banking services in one place — lending, checking, credit card and payment solutions. Your choice of payment types. Choose from a full range of options for accepting payments and making deposits that include Zelle®, Online Bill Pay, wire transfers and ACH payments. Convenient access to payment processing. Process all major debit and credit cards with QuickAccept®. It’s a built-in feature with your Business Complete Checking account. Get support you can rely on. Get access to our customer support team, plus a wide array of solutions that carter to every stage of your business Full-featured banking online and on-the-go. Manage your business’ finances on your terms with the latest online and mobile banking technology. Associate Debit and Employee Deposit Cards available upon request Find Out More Expires 1/16/2025 Member FDIC Bank of America® Business Advantage Banking Checking Account – $200 Bonus Offer The $200 bonus offer is an online only offer and must be opened through the Bank of America promotional page. The offer is for new eligible business checking customers only. Offer expires 12/31/2024. To qualify, deposit $5,000 or more in New Money* directly into a new eligible Bank of America Business Advantage Banking account within thirty (30) days of account opening. Maintain an average balance of $5,000 in that new Business Advantage Banking account during the Maintenance Period**. Once all requirements are met, Bank of America will attempt to pay bonus within 60 days. Additional terms and conditions apply. See offer page for more details. *New Money is new funds deposited into your business checking account that are not transfers from other Bank of America deposit accounts or Merrill investment accounts. ** The Maintenance Period begins thirty-one (31) calendar days after account opening and ends ninety (90) calendar days after account opening. Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC Find Out More Expires 12/31/2024 Member FDIC Silver Business Checking account – $400 Bonus Promo code Q4AFL24 MUST be used when opening a U.S. Bank Silver, Platinum, or Business Essentials (Available in AZ, NV, CO, NM, OH, IN, KY and TN) Business Checking account. Limit of one Business Checking bonus per business. A $100 minimum deposit is required to open one of the referenced accounts. Earn your $400 Business Checking bonus by opening a new U.S. Bank Silver Business Checking or Business Essentials (not available in all markets) account between 10/1/2024 and 1/15/2025. You must make deposit(s) of at least $5,000 in new money within 30 days of account opening and thereafter maintain a daily balance of at least $5,000 until the 60th day after account opening. New money is considered money that is new to U.S. Bank. Funds must come from outside U.S Bank and cannot be transferred from another U.S. Bank product or a U.S. Bank Affiliate. Checking account fees (e.g., monthly maintenance, paper statement fee, etc.) could reduce the qualifying daily balance, therefore you must make deposit(s) to cover the fees to maintain the daily balance during the qualifying period to be awarded the bonus. Refer to the Business Pricing Information or Business Essentials® Pricing Information Document for a list of fees. The business checking bonus will be deposited into your new eligible U.S. Bank Business Checking account within 30 days following the last calendar day of the month you complete all of the offer requirements, as long as the account is open and has a positive available balance. Offer may not be combined with any other business checking account bonus offers. Existing customers (businesses) with a business checking account or customers (businesses) who had an account in the last 12 months, do not qualify. All regular account-opening procedures apply. For a comprehensive list of checking account pricing, terms and policies, reference your Business Pricing Information or Business Essentials® Pricing Information and YDAA disclosure. This document can be obtained by contacting a U.S. Bank branch or calling 800.872.2657. Bonus will be reported as interest earned on IRS Form 1099-INT and recipient is responsible for any applicable taxes. Current U.S. Bank employees are not eligible. U.S. Bank reserves the right to withdraw this offer at any time without notice. Member FDIC. Find Out More Expires 1/15/2025 Free Checking Account for Small Business Owners Sign up in 3 minutes; no credit check No account fees – $0 monthly fee, overdraft fee, foreign transaction fee, or ATM fees at approximately 40,000 locations Automatic Savings Get paid up to 2 days early Lili is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Sunrise Banks N.A., Member FDIC Find Out More Read Review North One Free Business Banking Business banking for teams Automatic invoice ingestion and payments Sales and revenue analytics Unlimited account envelopes Close to 100 integrations Over $5000 in perks for new customers No monthly fees, no application fees, no minimum balance North One is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by The Bancorp Bank, Member FDIC. Find Out More Read Review Free Business Checking – Up to 1.5% APY 1.5% APY on your balance up
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Find out how the affluent grow their wealth: 44 brilliant passive income streams. Start now with this guide. Want to grow your money without working non-stop? Let your money do the work instead. Passive income helps make money over time without constant effort. This means earning cash during vacations, family time, and even while sleeping. But starting can be tough. It needs time and work to create different income sources, and some might not be a good fit. In this guide, discover over 40+ amazing ways to earn passive income. Also, learn how much money each idea could bring in. What Is Passive Income? Passive income is money earned without constant effort. It often comes from investments, rentals, or businesses requiring minimal upkeep. While it’s appealing, setting it up can take time and work. Passive income can be separated into two categories: Investing some capital into assets that can grow (investing in stocks, rental properties, business, etc.) Putting in time and effort to create something that will earn money (creating a blog, product, music, book, etc.) In reality, all passive income needs some effort—making money without any work is unrealistic. However, picking smart methods and putting in hard work can lead to great results. Read on for the best passive income ideas, whether you have start-up cash or have time. What passive income ISN’T Your job – Passive income is supposed to bring in income without active effort so you can spend more time on hobbies and with loved ones. Side hustles – Again, passive income is not the same as active income. Consulting – You need to be able to step away from the work and still make money with passive income streams. Investing for speculation – Stock appreciation is not income because you only see the return if you sell the investment (exceptions are dividends and cash on cash returns). Why Passive Income Is Important While it doesn’t really replace active income sources (like your full-time job), it can still be a good idea to explore passive income opportunities. Here are some of the benefits of passive income investments: Have a safety net if you lose your day job Earn extra cash to supplement your retirement plan Have more time to spend doing the things you love Earn multiple passive income streams at once Flexibility to work from anywhere (just need internet) Potential to grow into your own business How much passive income do you currently earn each month? How to Choose a Passive Income Stream To maximize its potential, you need to find the best passive income stream for you. Here are some tips that can help you out: Assess your current situation. To find the best passive income strategy for you, think about what you can utilize. You can start by asking yourself questions like: Do you have money? Do you have debt? What skills do you have? Do you have enough resources? Knowing what you have or don’t have can be a good way to identify how you can start earning passive income. Stay realistic. Before you decide on a passive income stream, make sure you stay realistic about your goals and capacity to commit. That way, you can sustain whatever source you choose.After all, even though passive income ideas require less effort, that doesn’t mean there’s zero effort involved. Do your due diligence. It’s best to do your research and learn everything you can about your preferred passive income source before committing. That way, you can avoid wasting time and resources on something that won’t work. Read on for the best passive income ideas, as well as the difficulty level to get started and make money. Hopefully, this list will inspire you to start your journey to build passive income and achieve financial independence. How much passive income can you earn? How much passive income you earn depends on what you do. Refinancing your mortgage could save you a few hundred a month, while a successful blog or podcast could earn several thousand.By combining several of these passive income strategies, it’s possible to add an extra $1,000 a month to your bank account. Passive Income Ideas with an Upfront Investment The following passive income streams require investing some money upfront. Depending on the income source, your upfront investment could be as little as $5. Find the right one for you below. If you need more cash for upfront investment, here’s how you can make $500 fast to kickstart your passive income idea. 1. AUTO-INVEST WITH ROBO-ADVISORS Difficulty level: Easy Potential earnings: 2.91%-6.10%[1] Robo-advisors automatically invest for you. They pick investments for you and manage your portfolio, so you don’t even need any investing knowledge or practice. Just sit back and let the investing platform do all the work. Just answer some questions about your goals and risk tolerance, and the software algorithms will create an investment strategy for you. All you have to do is fund your account. A lot of robo-advisors don’t have a minimum, so you can open an investment account even if you don’t have a lot of money. See our complete guide to the best robo-advisors. Pros Invest without the need to micro-manage your financial accounts Lower fees than most true stockbrokers Small minimum investment, depending on the platform Access to tried-and-true investment strategies Robo-advisors often invest with tax efficiency in mind. Cons No personalized service—you work with a computer program Limited options to customize your portfolio $20 Investment Bonus Open an Acorns account (new users only) Set up the Recurring Investments feature Have your first investment be made successfully via the Recurring Investments feature Get $20 Investment Bonus Read Review Residual Income vs. Passive Income Passive income is money earned when you’re not actively working. Residual income is a type of passive income. Residual income is money you continue to receive even after all the work is done (such as song royalties, YouTube ads, or stock
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Best Savings Accounts to Open Online in November 2024 Best Savings Accounts to Open Online in November 2024 Best Savings Accounts to Open Online in November 2024 Best Savings Accounts to Open Online in November 2024 Best Savings Accounts to Open Online in November 2024
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