Adjust Text Size

Applying for a Business Credit Card

Written by Nickel - 9 Comments

Editor’s Note: These limited-time offers have expired.

Continuing along the path toward the separation of our business and personal finances, we have are now the proud new owners of a business credit card. I previously posted a list of business credit cards with signup bonuses, and that’s where we started. As a reminder, you don’t have to have an actual business to apply for these cards and take advantage of the — simply use your name for the business name and leave the Federal Tax ID blank.

We first applied for (and received) the Amex Business Gold Rewards Card. While this card has a $125 annual fee after the first year, it also came with $150 in signup bonuses. Thus, we’re not likely to keep this card beyond the first year.

Our choice for the longer term is the CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network which not only offers rewards, but also has no annual fee.

There are, of course, other options out there. For example, the Amex Starwood Preferred Guest Business Card, which offer $100 in signup bonuses, but has a $30 annual fee after the first year. Thus, you can make a good bit of jingle by applying for these cards, but you probably won’t want to keep them beyond a year.

Truth be told, we don’t really need a business credit card, but having one will make the bookkeeping a bit easier (anything charged to that card will be a business expense, so we won’t have to sort through expenditures at tax time). It also helps with the substantiating the independence of our business endeavors, which is important when it comes to maintaining the liability protection offered by an LLC.

Disclaimer: Discover is a paid advertiser of this site.
Reasonable efforts are made to maintain accurate information. See the Discover online credit card application for full terms and conditions on offers and rewards.

Published on February 14th, 2007
Modified on March 26th, 2013 - 9 Comments
Filed under: Credit Cards, Self Employment

About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!

9 Responses to “Applying for a Business Credit Card”

1
steve Says:
February 14th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
What about interest rates? You should find if there’s a ’savings agent’ for small business cards
2
nickel Says:
February 14th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Steve: Good question, and I have no idea. We never carry a balance, so the interest rate is a complete non-issue for us.
3
Wes Says:
February 14th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Question: Does the “business” credit card impact your credit? I always assumed that they did, but obviously I’m not sure. Thanks! Wes
4
my wealth journey Says:
February 17th, 2007 at 9:51 pm
This is the strategy I use for my business. It is really easy to just charge everything on the one card and maybe once a month, just import the expenses in quickbooks to record.

p.s. great blog, i just started mine and hope it can be half as good!
5
Jeremy Says:
March 1st, 2007 at 9:44 am
Not that you would have a problem with making payments on time, but be careful with your “business” card. When you are current and nothing is wrong with your credit with them, your card is treated like a separate entity.

But the moment you slip up and make a late payment or miss a payment, the personal guarantee you agreed to when signing up for the business card will make this line go on your personal record.

I had problems with this in the past. Mine was even a full blown corporation and I got a business card with the corporate EIN. I had assumed it was all going towards the business credit and not my own.

Anyway, business got tough and the company couldn’t make a couple full payments and before you know it this account was showing up on my personal credit report and severely impacted my credit. Beyond that the business did need to close and I was personally responsible for a large chunk of debt.

I know in your situation this won’t likely apply, but just a warning to people about the true workings of a business credit card. 99.9% of business cards you apply for are basically personal cards that will use your business tax ID until you mess up, which then revert to you thanks to the personal guarantee you agreed to when signing up (it is in the very fine print).

Obtaining true business credit without a personal guarantee can take a few years of building actual business credit that is reported to agencies such as Dun & Bradstreet before a credit card company will ever consider lending to you without the guarantee.

So for anyone considering getting business credit, just be careful and treat it like personal debt and you’ll be fine. Don’t assume that a late business payment won’t affect you because it is a business card
6
YeOleImposter @ DogberryPatch Says:
March 3rd, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Jeremy, thanks for the info. I did not know that it would ‘move over’ to the personal line of credit. I have a business card that is ‘applied for’ using my name and credit – and now I will keep a closer eye on it.
7
Eve Says:
April 20th, 2013 at 6:43 pm
I believe everything composed was very logical. However, think about this, what if
you were to write a awesome headline? I ain’t saying your content is not solid, however what if you added a title that grabbed folk’s attention?

I mean Applying for a Business Credit Card is a little vanilla.
You might peek at Yahoo’s home page and note how they write post titles to get people to open the links. You might add a related video or a related picture or two to grab readers interested about everything’ve got to say.

Just my opinion, it would bring your posts a little livelier.
8
va home loan certificate of eligibility basic entitlement Says:
April 20th, 2013 at 9:30 pm
Aw, this was a really nice post. Spending some time and actual
effort to generate a really good article… but what can I say… I
procrastinate a whole lot and don’t seem to get anything done.
9
inbusinesss.onsugar.com Says:
May 8th, 2013 at 6:13 am
I do agree with all of the concepts you’ve offered on your post. They’re really
convincing and can certainly work. Nonetheless,
the posts are too short for novices. May you please prolong
them a bit from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.

Top Cards by Category

CASH BACK CREDIT CARD (see all)

Blue Cash Everyday^® Card from American Express

Earn 100 Reward Dollars after you make $1,000 in purchases in the first three months of Cardmembership.

AIRLINE MILES / REWARDS POINTS CREDIT CARD (see all)

Gold Delta SkyMiles^® Credit Card from American Express

Bonus Miles: Earn 30,000 bonus miles toward Award Travel after you spend $500 on the Card within the first three months of Cardmembership. Earn As You Spend: Get 2X miles on Delta purchases and 1X miles for all other eligible dollars spent.

CREDIT CARD DEALS (see all)

Simmons First Visa^® Platinum

Consumer friendly credit card with a great low rate of 7.25% and save on interest charges. No balance transfer fees and no annual fee.

BALANCE TRANSFER CREDIT CARD (see all)

Discover it^®

The new Discover it card is out to change the way people think about credit cards. No annual fee. No overlimit fee. No foreign transaction fee & no pay-by-phone fee. No late fee on your first late payment. And Discover won't increase your APR for paying late.*

LOW INTRODUCTORY RATE CREDIT CARD (see all)

Discover it^®

LOW INTEREST RATE CREDIT CARD (see all)

Simmons First Visa^® Platinum

Consumer friendly credit card with a great low rate of 7.25% and save on interest charges. No balance transfer fees and no annual fee.

BUSINESS CREDIT CARD (see all)

The Business Platinum Card^® from American Express OPEN

Limited Time Offer: Get 25,000 Membership Rewards(R) points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months of Card membership. Enroll and select a qualifying airline to receive up to $200 annually in statement credits for incidental fees, such as checked bags and in-flight refreshments, charged by the airline.

STUDENT CREDIT CARD (see all)

Discover it^® for Students