UBS Launches SMB Cards To Separate Business Spend

UBS Bank USA is rolling out a new suite of commercial card products for its small business (SMB) customers, according to Bankrate reports this week. The co-branded Visa corporate cards will offer small businesses a range of choices, including the UBS Visa Infinite Business card, the UBS Visa Signature Business card and the UBS Cash Rewards Visa Business card, each with their own rewards programs.

UBS is currently only offering the cards to clients of its UBS Global Wealth Management operations, with UBS Head of Card Program Fred Jubitz telling the publication that the card products are designed for this particular client base.

“Research showed us that a significant portion of business owners value a cash rewards product, but they also value general rewards programs, such as travel rewards programs, as well,” Jubitz told the publication. “So, we decided to build three products to serve client needs.”

According to Jubitz, UBS first looked at clients of the bank with personal UBS credit cards, and found that many of those customers were using that personal card for business expenses. Designing a commercial card for these users is part of the bank’s effort to help business owners keep personal and business finances separate.

In addition to the cards and rewards program, the product offering includes the Visa Business Reporting and Visa Payment Controls services, as well as savings on Visa SavingsEdge purchases. Business owners can request up to 24 additional cards to hand out to their employees, for no additional cost.

Earlier this month, UBS announced it would lead a group of financial services companies in developing a cryptocurrency-based system to settle cross-border transactions. The initiative aims to use the utility settlement coin (USC), which works as both a payment mechanism and messenger to promote the movement of funds and data with cross-border trade.