Best business credit cards for New Zealand companies

Key takeaways

• Business credit cards in New Zealand fall into three main categories – rewards (Airpoints or flexible points), cashback, and low-interest – and the right pick depends on whether you pay your balance in full each month or carry it forward.

• Top issuers for NZ businesses include ANZ, BNZ, Westpac, Kiwibank, and American Express, each worth looking at for different reasons – travel rewards, direct cashback, or low-rate financing.

• Modern fintech platforms like Airwallex offer Corporate Cards with a multi-currency wallet, real-time spend controls, and no foreign transaction fees – a strong fit if your business works with international suppliers or operates across borders.

Choosing the right business credit card can save your company money, simplify expense tracking, and earn you flights or cashback on everyday spend. With so many options across NZ banks and fintech providers, you’ll want to know what each card actually offers before you apply.

What is a business credit card?

A business credit card is a revolving line of credit in your company’s name that keeps business spend separate from your personal finances. Think of it like a tab opened in your company’s name – purchases go on the tab, and you settle it at the end of each month, or carry a balance forward with interest.

One thing to know upfront: there’s a difference between a credit card and a charge card. A credit card lets you carry a balance from month to month, with interest charged on whatever you don’t pay off. A charge card – like the American Express (AMEX) Business Gold Card – means you have to pay the full balance each month, so there’s no interest, but also no option to spread costs over time.

Both are available to NZ businesses, including sole traders.

The top business credit cards and corporate cards in New Zealand

The right card comes down to three things: how much you spend, whether you pay in full each month, and how much of your spend is overseas or travel-related.

Here’s how the leading options compare:

Airwallex Corporate Card

Airwallex Corporate Cards are pre-funded cards; they draw from your multi-currency wallet balance rather than a revolving credit line. That means no interest, no risk of missing a payment, and no foreign transaction fees on international spend. The card also comes with powerful spend controls, including the ability to set a variety of spend limits, including monthly, quarterly or annually, and to track transactions in real-time.

If your business pays overseas suppliers, subscribes to software billed in US dollars, or has staff spending in multiple currencies, this structure can remove a layer of cost that compounds quickly on traditional cards.

• Card type: Pre-funded corporate card (Physical and virtual cards available)

• Annual fee: NZ$0 on the Explore plan

• Interest: None – cards draw from your multi-currency wallet balance

• Foreign transaction fee: None when spending directly from a held currency balance

• Employee cards: Issue instantly via the WebApp; set individual spend limits per card

• Accounting sync: Bank feeds connect to Xero, QuickBooks, and NetSuite (Explore plan); Expense Management on the Grow plan adds automated receipt extraction and bills sync with Xero and QuickBooks

American Express Gold Business Card

The AMEX Gold Business Card is a charge card, so the full balance is due each month – no interest, but no option to carry debt forward either. It earns Membership Rewards points on eligible spend, which you can transfer to Air New Zealand and other airline and hotel partners.

The annual fee is higher than most bank-issued cards, so it works best if you have consistent high spend and can reliably pay in full each month.

• Card type: Charge card (balance due in full each month)

• Annual fee: NZ$95 p.a. (plus NZ$50 annual Membership Rewards fee)¹

• Interest: Not applicable

• Foreign transaction fee: 2.5%¹

• Employee cards: Available; additional card fee of NZ$70 p.a. applies¹

ANZ Visa Business Cashback

The ANZ Visa Business Cashback card earns direct cashback credited to your account – no points portal, no redemption process. Here’s the catch: the purchase interest rate is high, so the cashback benefit only holds if you pay the balance in full each month.

• Card type: Credit card

• Annual fee: NZ$95 p.a.²

• Interest rate (purchases): 20.95% p.a.²

• Cashback rate: NZ$1 CashBack for every NZ$90 spent on eligible purchases (approximately 1.11%); subject to minimum annual spend threshold²

• Foreign transaction fee: 2.0%²

ANZ Visa Business Airpoints

If your staff regularly fly Air New Zealand, the ANZ Visa Business Airpoints card earns Airpoints Dollars – Air New Zealand’s loyalty currency – on eligible spend. The card also includes status point bonuses for the primary cardholder.

• Card type: Credit card

• Annual fee: NZ$145 p.a.³

• Interest rate (purchases): 20.95% p.a.³

• Airpoints earn rate: 1 Airpoints Dollar per NZ$85 spent on eligible purchases (or 1 Airpoints Dollar per NZ$50 spent directly with Air New Zealand, up to NZ$25,000 per annum)³

• Foreign transaction fee: 2.0%³

Westpac Airpoints Business Mastercard

The Westpac Airpoints Business Mastercard also earns Airpoints Dollars and runs on the Mastercard network, which offers wide global acceptance. It includes complimentary international travel insurance and purchase protection – useful if your staff travel frequently.

• Card type: Credit card (Mastercard)

• Annual fee: NZ$145 p.a.⁴

• Interest rate (purchases): 20.95% p.a.⁴

• Airpoints earn rate: 1 Airpoints Dollar per NZ$85 spent on eligible business purchases⁴

• Foreign transaction fee: 2.5%⁴

• Included insurance: International travel insurance and purchase protection – limits apply⁴

BNZ Business First Lite Visa

The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) Business First Lite Visa may be an option if you occasionally carry a balance. The same low rate applies to both purchases and cash advances. This makes it stand out, as most cards charge a higher rate on cash advances, so this consistency is genuinely useful.

• Card type: Credit card

• Annual fee: NZ$60 p.a.⁵

• Interest rate (purchases and cash advances): 14.95% p.a. for both⁵

• Interest-free period: Up to 55 days on purchases⁵

• Foreign transaction fee: 1.75%⁵

Kiwibank Business Low Rate Visa

The Kiwibank Business Low Rate Visa charges a quarterly account fee rather than an annual one, which can work out cheaper if you’re keeping overheads tight. It includes data export to Xero and MYOB, so transactions flow directly into your accounting software without manual entry.

• Card type: Credit card

• Account fee: NZ$6.25 per quarter (NZ$25 p.a.)⁶

• Interest rate (purchases): 12.50% p.a.⁶

• Interest rate (cash advances): 12.50% p.a.⁶

• Interest-free period: Up to 55 days on purchases⁶

• Accounting export: Xero and MYOB compatible⁶

What fees should you compare on a business credit card?

The headline annual fee is rarely the only cost that matters. These three fees have the biggest impact on what a card actually costs your business over a year.

Annual fee

Some cards charge a flat annual fee; others charge per card per year, which scales up quickly once you’re issuing cards to multiple employees. Before comparing on annual fee alone, calculate the total cost across all the cards you’d need – a NZ$45 card that charges NZ$25 per additional employee card can end up more expensive than a NZ$135 card that includes employee cards.

Interest rate and interest-free period

The interest-free period is the window between a purchase and when interest starts accruing – typically 44–55 days for NZ business cards. Here’s the catch: it only applies if you pay the full closing balance by the due date. Pay even a dollar short, and the bank charges interest retrospectively on the full balance from the purchase date – not just the unpaid portion.

Also worth checking: the cash advance rate, which applies to ATM withdrawals and sometimes balance transfers, is usually higher than the purchase rate.

Foreign transaction fee

A foreign transaction fee applies to any purchase made in a currency other than NZD – including online purchases from overseas merchants, not just travel spend. If your business pays for software subscriptions billed in US dollars or buys stock from overseas suppliers, this fee compounds quickly. Airwallex Corporate Cards charge no foreign transaction fee, because spend draws directly from your multi-currency wallet in the relevant currency.

What features matter when choosing a business credit card?

Beyond cost, a business card should fit how your team actually spends and how your finance team closes the books at month end.

Rewards rate and redemption options

NZ business cards offer three main rewards structures. Airpoints Dollars are tied directly to Air New Zealand – straightforward to earn and redeem, but locked to one airline. Flexible points programmes like AMEX Membership Rewards let you transfer points to multiple airline and hotel partners, including Air New Zealand. Cashback is simple – a percentage of eligible spend is credited directly to your account, with no redemption required.

A higher general spend earn rate matters more than a high earn rate in a single category, unless most of your spend genuinely falls in that category.

Spend controls and employee cards

Per-card spending limits and real-time transaction visibility matter more than you might realise until something goes wrong. Some NZ bank cards let you set individual limits per employee card; others apply a single shared credit limit across all cards on the account.

Airwallex Corporate Cards let you set per-card limits, restrict spend to specific merchant categories, and view transactions the moment they happen. Some providers charge a fee per employee card; Airwallex includes them at no extra cost on eligible plans.

Accounting integrations

Direct data export to Xero or MYOB means you don’t have to manually enter transactions at month end – the Kiwibank Business Low Rate Visa includes this as standard. Airwallex’s Expense Management goes further – it uses AI to extract data from receipts automatically and categorise spend in real time, so your Xero reconciliation is largely done before the month closes.

When companies choose Airwallex Corporate Cards to manage employee spend

Traditional business credit cards work well for NZ-only spend. But if you’re paying overseas suppliers, reimbursing remote staff in multiple currencies, or managing spend across entities in different countries, foreign transaction fees on every international purchase add up fast.

Airwallex Corporate Cards are pre-funded from a multi-currency wallet rather than tied to a revolving credit line. No interest charges, no missed payment risk, and no single credit limit shared across your whole team. You can issue Employee Cards or Company Cards in minutes via the WebApp, set per-card limits, and transactions sync directly to Xero through Expense Management.

The cards connect to the same multi-currency wallet used for Global Accounts and FX & Transfers, so you can hold funds in the currencies you actually spend in and pay out without double conversion – the “round trip” cost of converting NZD to USD and back again on every transaction. 

Frequently asked questions

Can a NZ sole trader apply for a business credit card?

Yes – sole traders can apply, though most NZ issuers assess personal income and credit history rather than business revenue, so eligibility criteria vary by provider.

What credit limit can a new NZ company expect on its first business credit card?

You’ll typically start with a conservative limit because issuers have limited trading history to assess; it generally increases after several months of on-time repayments and consistent use.

Can I hold business credit cards from multiple NZ banks at the same time?

Yes – running a low-rate card for everyday spend and a rewards card for higher-value purchases is a common set-up, and there’s no restriction on holding cards from different issuers.

What happens if an employee misuses a company credit card?

Your business is liable for repayment to the card issuer regardless of who made the transaction; any dispute between you and the employee is handled internally or through employment law.

Are business credit card rewards taxable in New Zealand?

Inland Revenue doesn’t currently treat cashback or points earned from business spend as taxable income, but the tax treatment can depend on how the rewards are used – confirm with your accountant.

What’s the difference between a business credit card and a corporate card?

A business credit card is a revolving line of credit you repay monthly; a corporate card like Airwallex’s is pre-funded from a wallet balance, so there’s no credit line, no interest, and no risk of carrying debt forward.

Sources 

1. https://www.americanexpress.com/en-nz/business/credit-cards/gold-business-card/

2. https://www.anz.co.nz/business/accounts-cards/credit-cards/visa-business-cashback/

3. https://www.anz.co.nz/business/accounts-cards/credit-cards/visa-business-airpoints/

4. https://www.westpac.co.nz/business/accounts-and-cards/airpoints-business-mastercard

5. https://www.bnz.co.nz/business-banking/accounts-and-cards/credit-cards/business-first-lite

6. https://www.kiwibank.co.nz/business-banking/accounts-cards/business-credit-card/

The information in this article is based on our own online research. Airwallex was not able to manually test each tool or provider. The information is provided for educational purposes only and a reader should consider the specific requirements of their business when evaluating providers. This research is reviewed annually. If you would like to request an update, feel free to contact us at [[email protected]]. Airwallex (New Zealand) Limited is registered with the New Zealand Financial Service Provider Register (FSP No. 1001602) to provide a range of financial services in New Zealand.