To see a list of my favorite business credit cards, click here.
Most people assume business credit cards are reserved for people with storefronts, employees, and an LLC on file with the state. That assumption keeps a lot of valuable rewards on the table. The truth is that business credit card requirements are far more relaxed than the name suggests, and if you’ve ever earned a dollar outside of a W-2 paycheck, you probably already qualify.
This guide walks through exactly who can get a business credit card, what information you need when you apply, how the Chase 5/24 rule interacts with business applications, and why these cards are one of the most underused tools in the points and miles world.
Who Can Get A Business Credit Card
The short version: almost anyone with any form of self-employment income or side hustle activity qualifies for a business credit card as a sole proprietor. You do not need an LLC, a registered business name, a separate bank account, or employees, and you do not need to be making significant money.
Card issuers understand that the vast majority of small businesses in the United States are sole proprietorships run by one person, often alongside a full-time job. When you apply for a business card as a sole proprietor, the issuer is essentially extending credit to you personally, backed by your personal credit history and a personal guarantee, with the understanding that some portion of your spending is related to business activity.
If you drive for Uber, sell on eBay or Poshmark, freelance on the side, tutor, walk dogs, rent out a spare room, flip furniture, sell crafts on Etsy, consult, photograph weddings, or do literally any activity where money comes in from somewhere other than an employer, you are a sole proprietor in the eyes of the IRS and in the eyes of credit card issuers.
What Counts As A “Business” In The Eyes Of Card Issuers
This is where most people get stuck, so let’s be specific. The following all qualify as legitimate small businesses for credit card application purposes:
Reselling anything — sneakers, concert tickets, thrift store finds, retail arbitrage from Target clearance sections. Rideshare and delivery driving through Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, Instacart, or Amazon Flex. Freelance work of any kind, whether that’s writing, design, development, consulting, bookkeeping, or virtual assistant services. Content creation that generates any income, including YouTube, TikTok, blogging, podcasting, or Twitch streaming. Selling handmade goods on Etsy, at craft fairs, or through Instagram. Tutoring, coaching, or teaching lessons privately. Pet sitting, dog walking, or house sitting. Renting out property on Airbnb or VRBO. Photography, videography, or any creative service work. Even selling points and miles consulting services, ironically enough.
What does not count: a hypothetical business you plan to start someday but have not actually done anything toward yet. Issuers expect that your business exists in some form, even if it’s tiny and unprofitable. If you sold one item on eBay last month for twelve dollars, you have a business. If you’re still in the dreaming phase, you don’t.
Information You Need Before You Apply
Business credit card applications ask for more fields than personal card applications, but the questions are straightforward. Before you start, gather the following:
Legal business name. For a sole proprietor, this is your own legal first and last name. You are the business.
Business address. Your home address is fine. Millions of sole proprietors run businesses from their kitchen table and issuers know this.
Business phone number. Your personal cell phone number works.
Business structure. Select “sole proprietorship” unless you have actually formed an LLC, partnership, corporation, or other entity with your state.
Tax identification number. Your Social Security number is acceptable for sole proprietors. You do not need an EIN, though you can get one free in about five minutes if you prefer to use one (more on this in the next section).
Business industry or category. Pick the closest match from the dropdown. If you resell items, “retail” works. If you freelance, pick the category that matches what you do. This field is not scrutinized the way people fear it is.
Years in business. Be honest. If you started your side hustle six months ago, put six months. Issuers will still approve newer businesses, especially when your personal credit profile is strong.
Estimated annual business revenue. This should reflect what you actually expect to bring in this year from your business activity. If you’re just getting started and expect a few hundred dollars, put a few hundred dollars. Do not inflate this number.
Estimated monthly business spending on the card. A reasonable estimate of what you’ll charge to the card each month. This can include legitimate business expenses like supplies, software subscriptions, inventory, advertising, shipping, gas for rideshare driving, and similar costs.
Number of employees. For most sole proprietors, this is zero or one (yourself).
Do You Need An EIN, Or Can You Use Your SSN
Sole proprietors can legally use either a Social Security number or an Employer Identification Number on business credit card applications. Both are accepted by every major issuer. The card will be approved or denied based on your personal credit regardless of which you use.
An EIN is a free nine-digit number issued by the IRS that identifies your business for tax purposes. You can apply for one online at irs.gov in about five minutes, and you’ll receive it immediately. Some people prefer to use an EIN instead of their SSN on applications for privacy reasons, since it means fewer places have your Social Security number on file. Functionally, it makes no difference to your approval odds or credit line.
One thing worth understanding: even when you apply with an EIN, the issuer still pulls your personal credit and requires a personal guarantee. There is no way to get a business credit card based purely on business credit without a personal guarantee until your business is generating significant revenue and has established its own credit history, which typically takes years.
Personal Credit Score Requirements For Business Cards
Business credit cards from major issuers generally require good to excellent personal credit, which in practice means a FICO score of roughly 700 or higher for the best cards. Premium cards like the Amex Business Platinum, Chase Ink Business Preferred, and Capital One Venture X Business tend to require scores in the mid-700s or above for approval.
Mid-tier business cards are often approvable in the high 600s. If your score is below 670, your options narrow considerably, and you’ll likely want to focus on building your personal credit before pursuing business rewards cards seriously.
Income and existing credit relationships also matter. Issuers look at your total credit picture, not just your score. Someone with a 720 score, low utilization, and a long history with the issuer will often be approved for cards that reject someone with a 760 score who has no history with that bank.
Best Business Credit Cards For New Business Owners
If you’re applying for your first business credit card, these four are the cards worth seriously considering. Each one earns a spot for a different reason, and depending on your spending patterns and travel goals, one of them is almost certainly the right starting point.
Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
This is the card most points and miles enthusiasts recommend as a first business card, and for good reason. The Ink Business Preferred earns 3x points on the first $150,000 spent annually across a broad set of business-relevant categories including travel, shipping, internet/cable/phone services, and advertising purchases on social media and search engines. Points transfer to Chase Ultimate Rewards partners like Hyatt, United, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Southwest, which is where the real value lives. The sign-up bonus has historically been one of the most lucrative in the business card space, and because Ink cards don’t report to personal credit, you can add this to your wallet without touching your 5/24 count. If you’re under 5/24 and don’t already have an Ink card, this should probably be your first business card.
Click here to learn more about the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
Amex Business Gold
The Business Gold is built for small businesses with concentrated spending in specific categories. It earns 4x points in your top two spending categories each billing cycle from a list that includes US advertising, US gas stations, US restaurants, US shipping, transit, computer hardware and software, and electronics purchases. For a sole proprietor whose biggest expenses fall into two of those buckets, the effective earn rate is hard to beat. Points transfer to Amex Membership Rewards partners, which opens up partners like ANA, Virgin Atlantic, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Delta. Worth noting: the annual fee is not trivial, so this card makes the most sense when your business spending in the bonus categories is high enough to justify it.
Amex Business Platinum
The Business Platinum is the premium play in this lineup and the one that makes the most sense if you travel frequently for business or personal reasons. It comes loaded with benefits that matter: Centurion Lounge access, Priority Pass, Delta Sky Club access when flying Delta, a 35% points rebate when booking flights through Amex Travel with Pay With Points, statement credits for Dell, Indeed, Adobe, and wireless services, and elite status with Hilton and Marriott. The sign-up bonus has hit as high as 300,000 points during strong offer cycles. The annual fee is significant, but if you use even half the credits and the lounge access, the math works out quickly. This is not the card for someone who wants to minimize fees; it’s the card for someone who wants to unlock premium travel infrastructure.
Capital One Venture X Business
The newest card in this lineup and one of the more interesting options for new business owners. It earns 2x miles on every purchase with no category restrictions, which is dead simple to manage when you’re just getting started and don’t want to track bonus categories. It comes with Priority Pass and Capital One Lounge access, a solid annual travel credit, and an anniversary mile bonus that effectively offsets a significant portion of the annual fee. Capital One miles transfer to a growing list of airline partners including Air Canada Aeroplan, Turkish Airlines, Virgin Red, and others. For a new business owner who wants lounge access and flat-rate earning without the complexity of managing rotating categories, this is a compelling option.
Click here to see your offer for the Capital One Venture X Business card.
How The Chase 5/24 Rule Affects Business Card Applications
The Chase 5/24 rule is Chase’s unofficial policy of denying applicants who have opened five or more personal credit cards from any issuer in the past 24 months. It’s the single most important rule to understand when planning your credit card strategy, and it interacts with business cards in a way that works heavily in your favor.
Here’s how it works with business cards specifically: Chase still enforces 5/24 when you apply for a Chase business card, meaning if you already have five or more personal cards opened in the last 24 months, Chase will deny your business card application. However, most business cards from most issuers (including Chase’s own business cards) do not report to your personal credit report, which means opening a business card does not add to your 5/24 count.
The practical implication is significant. If you’re at 4/24 and you open a Chase Ink Business Preferred, you’re still at 4/24 afterward because the Chase business card doesn’t show up on your personal credit report. You can stack multiple business cards without burning through your 5/24 budget, which is how points and miles enthusiasts build large balances without locking themselves out of future Chase approvals.
Which Business Cards Don’t Count Toward 5/24
These business cards are generally reported only to business credit bureaus and do not add to your personal 5/24 count:
- Chase Ink Business Preferred, Ink Business Cash, Ink Business Unlimited, and Ink Business Premier
- American Express Business Platinum, Business Gold, Business Green, Blue Business Plus, and Blue Business Cash
- Capital One Spark Business cards (note: Capital One does a harder pull on all three bureaus, but the account itself generally doesn’t report)
- Citi business cards including the AAdvantage Business card
- US Bank business cards including the Triple Cash Rewards Business and Leverage Business
These business cards DO typically report to personal credit and will add to your 5/24 count, so approach with caution:
- Discover business cards
- TD Bank business cards
- Most credit union business cards
Always verify current reporting behavior before applying, since issuer policies change.
Why Your Business Card Application Might Get Denied
Common denial reasons include being over 5/24 when applying with Chase, having too many recent credit inquiries across all issuers, carrying high balances on existing cards, having insufficient income relative to your existing credit lines, applying for too many cards from the same issuer in a short window, or having a thin credit file with not enough history for the issuer to evaluate.
The “business looks too new or too small” denial is less common than people expect. Issuers approve brand-new sole proprietorships regularly when the personal credit profile supports it.
If you’re denied, the issuer is legally required to send you an adverse action letter explaining why within 30 days. Read it carefully, because it tells you exactly what to fix before your next application.
To see a list of my favorite business credit cards, click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I get a business credit card without an LLC?
Yes. Sole proprietorships are the most common business structure on credit card applications. You do not need to form an LLC to qualify.
Do I need to have made money from my business yet?
Not necessarily, but your business should exist in some real form. Having some revenue history strengthens your application, but brand-new businesses are regularly approved when personal credit is strong.
Will a business credit card show up on my personal credit report?
Most business cards from major issuers (Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi, US Bank) do not report to personal credit under normal circumstances. Discover, TD Bank, and most credit union business cards do report. Any issuer will report to personal credit if the account goes seriously delinquent.
Can I use my business credit card for personal expenses?
Card terms technically require business use only, but in practice issuers do not police individual transactions. That said, mixing personal and business spending defeats the purpose of having a business card and creates bookkeeping headaches at tax time.
How many business credit cards can I have?
There is no hard limit. Points and miles enthusiasts routinely hold a dozen or more business cards across multiple issuers. Each issuer has its own velocity rules about how frequently you can open new cards with them.
Does applying for a business credit card hurt my personal credit?
The initial hard inquiry shows up on your personal credit report and temporarily dings your score by a few points. The account itself typically does not appear on your personal credit report going forward (with the exceptions noted above). The inquiry falls off after two years.
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