Best Secured Business Credit Cards

No, Chase does not offer secured business credit cards, but other credit card companies do.  For example, a good secured business card is the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card, which has a low annual fee of $0. This card requires a minimum deposit of $500. 

What you can get instead of a secured business credit card:

Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily need a business credit card to use for your business. There’s no law against using a regular, personal credit card for business expenses. Plus, there are lots more options for personal secured credit cards than there are for secured business credit cards, so you might find a better deal.

If you get a secured personal card instead of a secured business card, you’ll generally have a lower annual fee and lower minimum deposits. For example, if you get the Capital One Platinum Secured Credit Card, there is a chance your card could be partially secured – meaning you’ll only need to deposit a fraction of the credit line up-front.

No, there aren't any Capital One secured business cards. The only Capital One secured card is the Capital One Platinum Secured for consumers.

Among Capital One's business cards, the Capital One Spark Classic for Business is the easiest unsecured Capital One business credit card to get. Small business owners with fair credit or limited can get approved. The other offers require at least good credit. The Capital One Spark Classic has a $0 annual fee and gives 1 - 5% cash back on all purchases.

If you have bad credit, the Capital One Platinum Secured, while a consumer card, is still an option for small business owners. It's good for building credit, due to its $0 annual fee. The card offers a minimum credit limit of $200 and requires a security deposit of $49, $99 or $200, depending on the specifics of your credit history. You may add money to your security deposit to increase your credit limit.

But if you'd rather have a secured business credit card, there are some available from other issuers. Some of these have the added advantage of offering business-specific features such as free employee cards with individual spending limits and more. So check out our editors' picks for the best secured business credit cards.

Secured business cards are always your friend. It saves you when you're financially in distress. But the thing is that you just have to be diligent in paying your obligation. And the company where you bought your item is assured that it gets paid still even if you failed to settle your obligation. But if you want to build your credit score, just pay your obligation on time. so Simple. The Bible says, "Owe no one anything except to love."- Romans 13:8. It doesn't mean that you don't incur any debt, but it means you pay your obligation on time.

The only secured business credit card that reports to D&B is the Wells Fargo Business Secured Mastercard. It offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases, charges an annual fee of just $25 and requires a security deposit of at least $500.

There are just two other secured business credit cards available right now: the BBVA Compass Business Secured Visa and the Metro Credit Union Visa Secured Card. Those two report to the three major consumer credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – but not to D&B, at least not directly. Dun & Bradstreet often incorporates information from the other bureaus’ reports.

Here’s what you should know about secured business credit cards that report to D&B:

• 1 of the 3 available secured business credit cards reports to Dun & Bradstreet: Wells Fargo Business Secured Mastercard.
• All major secured credit cards report to the three consumer credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
• D&B, Experian and Equifax are the three major business credit bureaus.
• Dun & Bradstreet reports are geared more to credit agreements with vendors, bank loans and annual revenue data.
• Your personal credit history is much more important than your business’s credit history when it comes to getting approved for a business credit card.
• Small business owners are personally liable for debt on nearly all business credit cards.

Although opening a credit card is the easiest way to build credit personally, it’s not as efficient with business credit. 

If you want to build business credit, your first step to be to register for a D-U-N-S Number from D&B. This will get you on Dun & Bradstreet’s radar, at the very least. You should also open a business bank account using your Employer Identification Number. That will help establish a financial identity for your company that’s separate from you as an individual. And then you need to ask your vendors to report your payment history to D&B using your D-U-N-S. 

That’s at least what Dun & Bradstreet recommends. Tracking so-called trade credit is one of the most important things business credit reports do that personal reports don’t.

First National Bank of Omaha and Wells Fargo are among the banks that offer secured business credit cards. Most major banks do not offer secured business cards, unfortunately, as banks are far more likely to offer general-consumer secured cards or unsecured business credit cards.

Banks That Offer Secured Business Credit Cards

• First National Bank of Omaha: FNBO Business Edition Secured Visa Card
• Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card
• BBVA: BBVA Compass Secured Visa® Business Credit Card (not currently accepting applications)

Even though there are so few banks that offer secured business credit cards to small business owners with bad credit, that doesn’t mean those are the only options. Standard secured cards like the OpenSky® Secured Visa® Credit Card can also work for business owners with personal credit scores below 640 or little-to-no borrowing experience.

Whether you’re approved for a secured business credit card or a consumer card, it’s important to pay your monthly bill on time and keep your spending in check. As long as you practice this type of responsible card use, you should be able to qualify for better business credit cards in the future.

A secured business credit card is a credit card that requires an initial deposit to secure the credit line. The deposit amount typically becomes the credit line on such an account, and it is refundable when the cardholder closed the account. Secured business credit cards operate much like regular business credit cards - they’re only available to people who own a business or earn income as sole proprietors. The difference is that secured business credit cards accept applicants with limited or bad credit, while most unsecured business credit cards don’t. Also, secured credit cards tend to have annual fees, while there are plenty of fee-free options for regular business credit.

It’s worth noting that there aren’t many secured business credit cards currently accepting new applicants. People with damaged credit looking for a way to separate their business expenses from their personal accounts can certainly benefit from a secured business credit card, but you may have limited options.

That said, there’s no law saying business expenses must be charged to a business credit card rather than a regular consumer card. You could simply use a personal secured (or unsecured) credit card for business expenses. In fact, you may find that some personal credit cards offer more favorable terms and perks than business credit card offerings.

Secured business credit cards can report to some business credit bureaus to build business credit, but some don’t report directly to business bureaus. And much like unsecured business credit cards, each card issuer has their own policy about what they report to personal credit bureaus. For example, the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card does not report to personal credit bureaus, so it won’t build personal credit. On the other hand, it reports business credit information to the Small Business Financial Exchange, which then licenses that information to business credit bureaus.

Most people with secured credit cards are using them to rebuild damaged credit. If you want a secured business card to build your business credit, it’s advisable to call and ask about the card issuer’s business credit reporting policy. Keep in mind that business credit is built differently than personal credit, and you may need to take extra steps to effectively build credit for your business.

On the other hand, if you are looking to rebuild your personal credit score with a secured business credit card, you should call the card issuer to make sure they report to personal credit bureaus. Or just use a general-purpose secured credit card.

All of the secured business credit cards currently available build business credit, including the Wells Fargo Business Secured Mastercard, the BBVA Compass Business Secured Credit Card, and the Metro Credit Union Secured Business Credit Card. All three suggest on their websites that they make information available to business credit bureaus and help build business credit.

Building business credit is different than building personal credit. The major business credit bureaus - Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax - compile information about businesses differently than credit bureaus do about consumers. So there may be additional steps to take in order to build business credit, such as opening a business bureau credit file for your business, or encouraging your vendors to report your payment information to business bureaus.

It’s worth noting that business credit scores aren’t nearly as important as personal credit scores as far as getting approved for business funding, trade credit accounts, and credit cards. But if you want to build business credit, secured business credit cards can help.

No, Bank of America does not offer secured business credit cards, Bank of America business credit cards are all unsecured, which means no deposit is required, and all of the offers available right now require excellent credit for approval.

You have more options if you’re willing to consider general-purpose credit cards and cards from other issuers. For example, you could use the BankAmericard® Secured Credit Card for business expenses.

Another good alternative is the Wells Fargo Business Secured Credit Card, for which you can apply even with bad credit.

No, there is no secured business credit card from American Express. Amex doesn’t offer secured consumer credit cards either. In fact, the easiest American Express credit cards to get require at least good credit for approval.

However, Amex is not the end of the road for those who want a secured business credit card. You can check out our editors’ latest picks for the best business secured credit cards on the market and see which one better suits your needs.

At this point, it is also worth noting that having a secured business credit card can help if you’re trying to build your business’s credit history. Keep in mind, though, that business credit reports aren’t as influential as personal reports.

Here's what you can get instead of a business secured credit card:

Secured business credit cards are an option for business owners with bad credit or limited credit history. But business owners don’t need to get a secured business credit card for company expenses. You’ll find lots more secured credit card offers for individuals than businesses. Personal secured credit cards also generally come with lower minimum deposits than secured business cards, and the best ones have no annual fee.

Having said that, you might want to check out some of the best secured consumer credit cards out right now.