Business Credit Cards for Bad Credit

Business credit is pretty much the same thing as personal credit. In fact, the two are often practically indistinguishable, considering that business credit card issuers base account approval decisions on applicants’ personal credit standing and hold customers personally liable for business-card debt.

Business credit cards are also quite similar to general-consumer cards, with a few notable exceptions. For starters, business credit card applications require an Employer Identification Number (EIN), in addition to your Social Security number. Business credit cards also offer business-specific rewards and expense-tracking tools, which make them great for everyday company spending. But issuers can raise the interest rate on a business-card balance at any time, which is why the best business credit card for financing big-ticket purchases is actually a general-consumer card.

The same may also be true for small business owners who have bad personal credit. Few business-only credit cards are available to people with bad credit. So it’s best to consider a business credit card for bad credit to be any credit card used for business purposes that you can get with a credit score below 620 or so.

If you would like to learn more, check out WalletHub’s guide on How to Build Business Credit.

Whether a new company can get credit depends on the owner’s personal credit standing, not how new or old the business itself happens to be. That’s why business credit card applications require a Social Security number. And the fact that business credit card users are held personally liable for unpaid balances provides even more proof of how personal business credit really is.

If you’re not sure where your personal credit currently stands, you can check your latest credit score for free on WalletHub.

You can use your EIN to get credit simply by applying for a small business credit card. But you’ll need more than just your Employer Identification Number. Banks require you to list both your EIN and SSN on small business credit card applications. That’s because accountholders are personally liable for unpaid business credit card balances. So issuers must verify the identity of the individual who will be responsible for the account and evaluate his or her personal credit history.

There are good reasons why business credit card issuers rely on an applicants’ personal experiences to judge the risk of nonpayment. For starters, a small business owner’s personal finances tend to be deeply intertwined with those of his or her company. Plus, personal credit histories usually are longer than corporate ones. So they provide more insight into how the account is likely to be used.

Generally, there aren’t any business credit cards you can get with just an EIN. But if your company has millions of dollars in annual revenue, you might be able to qualify for a corporate credit card account with no SSN needed and no personal liability. WalletHub’s corporate credit card guide has more.