Business Credit Cards for New Businesses

The best business credit card for startups is the Chase Ink Business Preferred card because it offers 80,000 bonus points for spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. There’s also 3 points per $1 spent on travel and common business expenses. These points are worth 1.25 cents each toward travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards. And the card has a fairly cheap $95 annual fee.

The best business credit cards for startups are the same as the best business credit cards for any company. Approval for a business credit card does not depend on how long the company has been around. Rather, it rests on the owner’s personal credit history. The best cards require good credit (700+ score) or excellent credit (750+).

5 Best Business Credit Cards for Startups:

1. Chase Ink Business Preferred – Best Signup Bonus
2. Capital One Spark Cash for Business – Best Cash Back Rate
3. U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card – Best 0% Intro APR
4. Wells Fargo Business Secured – Best for Bad Credit
5. Capital One Spark Classic for Business – Best for Limited Credit

Choosing the best business credit card for a startup comes down to finding a card that rewards the business’s biggest spending categories. Focus on purchases that will be paid off within a single billing period. Business credit cards are bad for carrying a balance from month to month because the interest rate can change at any time.

With that background out of the way, let’s take a more in-depth look at some of the top offers in categories popular among entrepreneurs.

Compare the best business credit cards for startups:

• Best Signup Bonus: Ink Business Preferred. This card, issued by Chase, offers 80,000 bonus points for spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. That’s worth $1,000 in travel. There’s also 3 points per $1 on travel and select business categories and 1 on everything else. The only drawbacks are the $95 annual fee and excellent credit requirement. 
• Best Cash Back Rate: Capital One Spark Cash for Business. Spark Cash offers unlimited 2% cash back on all purchases, which can build up quickly for a business. There’s also a $500 initial bonus for spending $5,000 in the first 3 months and another $1,500 for spending $50,000 in the first 6 months. There’s a $95 annual fee, but it’s waived the first year. The card requires good credit.
• Best 0% Intro APR: U.S. Bank Visa Platinum Card. This is technically a personal credit card. But it’s good for startups because entrepreneurs can take advantage of its 0% for 18 billing cycles* on purchases to buy and pay off everything needed to start a business. And although there are no rewards, there’s also no annual fee. The card requires excellent credit.
• Best for Bad Credit: Wells Fargo Business Secured. For people who want to start a business but whose finances aren’t in the greatest shape, there’s still hope. This card requires a refundable deposit of $500-$25,000, which will serve as the credit line. The card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases and has a $25 annual fee.
• Best for Limited Credit: Capital One Spark Classic for Business. Spark Classic is available to business owners who have little or no existing credit. It has a annual fee and even gives 1% cash back on all purchases.

There are a lot of great incentives to get a business credit card for a startup. Shop around to see which card fits the needs of the business best. Good luck!

There are several easy approval business credit cards. That’s because the easiest business credit cards to get only require fair or bad credit. They include Capital One Spark Classic for Business,  the Staples Business Credit Card, and the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card. It’s also worth noting that while you must have a business to get one of these cards, your personal credit history matters a lot more than your company’s.

Here are your options for easy approval business credit cards:

• Limited Credit: Capital One Spark Classic for Business
  You’ll get 1% cash back on all purchases. There’s no annual fee, and the purchase APR is 24.24%.
• Fair Credit: Staples Business Credit Card
  You’ll save $50 on a purchase of $150 or more made within 45 days of opening your account. You’ll also get 5% back in Staples credit for each purchase. There’s no annual fee. Your APR will be somewhere between 14.99% and 23.99%, depending on credit worthiness.
  
• Bad Credit: Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card
  You’ll get 1.5% cash back on purchases. The annual fee is $25. The minimum security deposit is $500. And the APR is 16.40%. The BBVA Compass Business Secured Card is another good option.
  
• Personal Option: Discover it Secured Credit Card

You’ll get 2% cash back on the first $1,000 you spend at gas stations and restaurants each quarter. You’ll get 1% cash back on all other purchases. Discover matches the cash back you earn the first year. There’s no annual fee, the APR is 24.24%, and the minimum deposit is $200.

There are a few easy approval business credit cards, so you shouldn’t let limited or damaged credit prevent you from getting the card your business needs. And remember, if you pay your bills on time and keep your credit utilization ratio low, your credit should steadily improve over time.

There are three major business credit bureaus, Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax and Experian, that provide business credit scores.

Dun & Bradstreet measures a company’s risk using a Paydex score, which ranges from 0 to 100, and mirrors a company’s payment data. Experian offers a CreditScore report, also ranging from 0 to 100, which includes a business credit score, payment trends, public records and account histories. Equifax assigns three different scores to a company. The first is a credit risk score, ranging from 100 to 992, which analyzes your company’s credit history.

The second is a “payment index,” ranging from 0 to 100, which determines the likelihood of your business becoming delinquent on payments. The third is a “business failure score,” ranging from 1,000 to 1,880, which assesses the risk of a company going bankrupt.

As you can see, all of these credit scores rely on the payment history a company has with its previous suppliers, creditors, and lenders. Therefore, having records of timely payments will help establish a good score.

Your personal credit standing is always going to be far more important than your business credit standing, even when you apply for a card branded for business use because credit card companies hold business credit card users personally liable for any debt they incur. It is therefore important to maintain a responsible use by paying your debt on time and staying under your credit limit, as this will improve both your personal and business credit scores.

As for your second question, you can open a personal account in your name and use it for business purposes. Personal credit cards are particularly well suited for financing, as they are covered by the CARD Act and thus benefit from its protection against arbitrary interest rate increases on existing balances. With most business credit cards on the other hand, issuers do not have to wait for an account to become 60 days delinquent before increasing the cost of existing balances held on it. That in turn fosters debt instability, which is problematic when you consider that you’ll be held personally liable even for business credit card debt.

With that being said, we still recommend business-branded credit cards for everyday company purchases given their business-specific rewards and accounting features, not to mention the freedom they give you to customize spending limits for employees and then benefit from their spending. You can compare our favorite offers here. Hope this helps.

Unfortunately, if you are a start up, banks are generally not going to give you a loan to finance your new business. However, there are 9 other ways to get financing for a new business.

1)Fund Your Start Up Using Your Home as Equity (HELOC)

2)Fund Your Start Up Using Your Retirement Account (ROBS, BORSA)

3)Get A Start Up Business Loan from Friends and Family

4)Taking Out a Loan from Peer-to-Peer Sites

5)Using Credit Cards as a Source of Capital For Your Start Up

6)Raising Money from Angel Investors/Venture Capitalists

7)Fund Your Start Up Using Crowdfunding

8)Get a Microloan from a Nonprofit lender

9)Get an SBA Startup Loan

Details HERE.