When you apply for a business credit card, many credit card issuers will check your personal credit and even ask for a personal guarantee in case of default. But if you’re concerned about how this could affect your credit, or if you don’t think you have enough credit to be approved, there are some options that don’t require a personal guarantee. Here are some of the best business credit cards that don’t require a personal credit check.
Earn 1.5% cash back on every purchase.
The Stripe Corporate Card comes with a $0 annual fee and doesn’t require a personal credit check or a personal guarantee for approval. You’ll earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase on all purchases when using the Stripe Corporate card, which you can redeem as a statement credit against your monthly bill.
To qualify, your business must be using Stripe payments already. Currently, the Stripe Corporate Card is available by invitation only.
Earn 7x on ride-sharing services, 4x on travel, 3x on restaurants, 2x on software subscriptions and 1x on all other transactions.
The Brex For Startups lets you earn a generous rewards rate in popular spending categories, including ride-sharing services, Brex travel, restaurants and on software. Just know that to qualify, your business will have to meet strict eligibility requirements. Instead of looking at your credit history, the issuer will consider your business’s finances, including revenue and cash reserves, as well as how many employees you have. For example, you need to have at least a $50,000 balance in the bank.
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Credit limits range from $200 to $3,000.
If your small business is a sole proprietorship — a type of business entity where you are the only person involved in the business — you might want to consider the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card. Since business assets are not separate from personal assets in a sole proprietorship, you could use the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card for business purposes.
The OpenSky card is a secured credit card, which means that you put down an initial security deposit when applying for the card. This deposit serves as your available credit line.
Earn 1.5% cash back on all card spend.
The Ramp Visa Corporate Card lets you apply without affecting your personal credit score. This $0 annual fee card offers 1.5% cash back on all card spend. Plus, you can get virtual and physical cards at no additional cost. And Ramp allows you to assign cards to employees and set spending controls on each employee’s card.
That said, to qualify for the Ramp Visa Corporate Card, your business needs to be a corporation, limited liability company or limited partnership with at least $75,000 in cash in a U.S. business bank account.
| Credit Cards | Our Ratings | Annual Fee | Regular APR | Rewards Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Stripe Corporate Card*
Review Coming Soon
|
Startups
|
$0 | N/A | 1.5% cash back on every purchase | Review Coming Soon |
|
Brex For Startups*
Learn More
on Emigrant Bank's secure site |
Earning rewards
|
$0 | N/A | Earn points on every dollar spent with industry-leading multipliers: 7x on rideshare, 4x on Brex travel, 3x on restaurants, 2x on software subscriptions and 1x on all other transactions. |
Learn More
on Emigrant Bank's secure site |
|
OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card
Apply Now
on Capital Bank, N.A.'s secure site |
Sole proprietorships
|
$35 | 24.89% (variable) | Up to 10% cash back rewards |
Apply Now
on Capital Bank, N.A.'s secure site |
|
Ramp Visa Corporate Card*
Learn More
on Celtic Bank's secure site |
Business with employees
|
$0 | N/A | 1.5% cash back on all card spend |
Learn More
on Celtic Bank's secure site |
Apply for a secured card
Unlike traditional credit cards, secured credit cards require you put down an initial deposit at the time of application. This initial deposit may be several hundred or several thousand dollars, and serves as the credit line for your account. Traditional credit cards, on the other hand, determine your credit line based on your credit worthiness.
Because the deposit offers the credit card company security or collateral, secured credit cards are typically more accessible to people with poor credit or a limited credit history. If you’re a business owner looking for a business credit card without a personal credit check, a secured card can also be an option.
Apply for a business card that accepts fair to poor credit
If you’re worried that your personal credit might be a barrier to getting approved for a credit card, another option would be applying for a business credit card that accepts borrowers with bad or fair credit.
Just know — while you may be more likely to be approved for these cards, you may also be subject to interest rates with these cards. That makes this a less attractive option for expenses you’re not planning to pay off immediately, due to the excessive amounts of interest you’ll owe.
Learn more about our top picks for the best credit cards for bad credit.
Use a prepaid business debit card
Another option is to use a prepaid business debit card. With a prepaid business debit card, your spending is connected to the cash deposited in a checking account. Since the card issuer isn’t issuing a line of line, debit cards typically don’t require a credit check. One thing to keep in mind with a prepaid debit card is that your card activity won’t be reported to the major credit bureaus. This means it won’t help you build or repair your credit, which is important in the long run.
If you need to repair your credit, see our picks for best credit cards to build credit.
Use a corporate card
Corporate credit cards may be an option for some businesses. With a corporate credit card, the business is usually liable for the debt instead of the business owner. For that reason, corporate cards usually have much more stringent approval requirements than traditional business credit cards. Therefore, they may not be a feasible option for startups or smaller businesses.
Apply with a cosigner
If you don’t think your credit is good enough to be approved for a business credit card that performs a personal credit check, you may want to consider using a cosigner. A cosigner is someone with good or excellent credit that gives their personal guarantee that you won’t default on your credit card. Just be aware that your payment history may affect your cosigner’s credit score — so it’s important to always pay your bill on time and to stay well below your credit limit.
Learn more about the pros and cons of being an authorized user on a credit card.
A personal guarantee is not the same as a personal credit check for a business loan or business credit card, though one or both may be required. With a personal credit check, the potential lender will look at your personal credit report, including your personal credit score and past payment history, to determine if you’ll be approved for a business credit card.
A personal guarantee is exactly what it sounds like — you are personally guaranteeing that the business will fulfill the obligations of the business loan or business credit card. If you sign a personal guarantee in a business loan agreement, it means that you’re personally responsible for the loan in the case of the business’s default. That means if the business cannot pay the loan or credit card, the lender may seize some of your assets and it may negatively affect your own personal credit.
Building business credit is an essential part of managing business finances, since it’s common for creditors and suppliers to use this information when making lending and credit decisions. Establishing strong business credit can protect your personal credit by allowing you to apply for business credit cards and business loans without having to rely on your personal credit history.
Here are three ways to build up your business credit:
To establish business credit, you’ll first need to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS after you’ve formally registered your business. Once you have an EIN, make sure to use that number instead of your Social Security number (SSN) — where possible — when applying for business credit.
Supply stores like Lowe’s, Home Depot or Staples often offer credit to business owners. By starting small and reliably paying your accounts on time, you build up your business credit history and increase the chances of being approved for higher business credit lines and loans.
Business credit is determined by business credit reporting agencies like Dun & Bradstreet and the National Association of Credit Management (in addition to consumer reporting agencies like Experian and Equifax). Most small business credit cards do not actually help to establish business credit because they do not report to these business credit reporting agencies.
To appear on this list, LendingTree selected business credit cards that did not require a personal credit check or personal guarantee. We then chose top picks based upon the following criteria:
The information related to the Stripe Corporate Card, Brex For Startups, Ramp Visa Corporate Card and American Express® Gold Card has been collected by LendingTree and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of this card prior to publication. Terms apply.
The content above is not provided by any issuer. Any opinions expressed are those of LendingTree alone and have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any issuer. The offers and/or promotions mentioned above may have changed, expired, or are no longer available. Check the issuer's website for more details.
