How To Get a Business Credit Card

Getting a credit card for a business may seem scary and intimidating, but the growth benefits for your business and ease of application can make it well worth the effort. Business credit cards operate very similarly to personal credit cards and can offer a lot of benefits for your business.

You can use a business credit card for a variety of reasons. Using a credit card for business expenses can help you fund your growing business while easily tracking your expenses.

Arkansas Federal Credit Union (AFCU) offers a Business Cash Back Credit Card. With our cash-back credit card for businesses, you can earn 2% cash back on every dollar you spend on every purchase with no limit or category restrictions.¹

Apply for a business credit card online today with Arkansas Federal. You can visit your local branch or call us at 800.456.3000 for more information.

What Is a Business Credit Card? 

A business credit card is a credit card that’s intended to be used by businesses. A lot of business credit cards offer functions or benefits specifically for business use. 

Using a business credit card helps you keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses, which is especially important for small business owners. With a business credit card, you won’t have to keep track of your expenses to know what’s for your business and what’s a personal expense. Not only can this help with your expenses, but it can also help make your tax filing easier.

Business credit cards are an option for all types of businesses. Anyone who owns a business and is planning on making a profit can apply for a credit card for a business.

Benefits of Business Credit Cards

Using a business credit card to track and pay for your business expenses can offer a lot of benefits. Not only can it be easier on you, but some business credit cards offer different features than personal credit cards that can help your growing business.

Higher Credit Limits

Business credit cards can consider both business and personal revenue when determining credit limits. With a higher credit limit, you can make more purchases in a single statement period without high credit utilization. 

Building Business Credit

Using a business credit card is a great way to build your business credit history. With consistent payments, you can increase your business’ credit credibility and reliability. Building your credit will make it easier for you to get credit or loans in the future.

Things to Consider About Business Credit Cards

A business credit card can be a great resource for your business. However, a business card is still a credit card, and there are important things you should consider before getting one.

As a business owner, it is important to remember that a business card is your responsibility. Any business credit card delinquencies could also impact your personal credit score. Any business credit decisions should be carefully considered to make sure you believe your business will be able to make on-time payments.

How to Apply for a Business Credit Card

Before applying for a business credit card, it’s important to determine what you could realistically qualify for. Your credit card issuer may evaluate your personal credit to determine if your business qualifies for a credit card. If your personal credit score is low, this could impact your ability to qualify for a business credit card.

Major business assets and revenue can help your odds of approval. Having significant holdings or income can help with your creditworthiness. A better credit history for your business could also help you qualify for a higher credit limit.

As part of your application, you will need to provide information to the creditor. Required information varies from lender to lender, but these are a few things that are commonly required when applying for a business credit card.

• Business Name and Contact Information: Creditors will ask for your business name and identifying contact information, like your address and phone number. For small businesses, it’s common for your address and phone number to be the same as your personal information. Creditors understand that, and it shouldn’t impact your credit card eligibility.
• Annual Business Revenue: When applying for a personal credit card, you have to submit your personal income information. For business credit cards, creditors ask for business revenue. Your annual revenue is used to determine your eligibility and credit limit.
• Role In the Company: If you’re applying for a business credit card, the lender will ask about your role in the business. Asking about who is applying for the business credit card and your role tells the lender who is responsible for any debt that accumulates on the card.
• Number of Employees: Knowing the number of employees helps your creditor understand the size of your business. When combined with annual revenue, this helps give them a bigger picture of your company and helps creditors better determine your credit limit.
• Estimated Monthly Spending: Some lenders will ask you what you estimate your monthly spending on your credit card will be. Asking about what you think you’ll be spending helps creditors get a picture of how you’re planning on using the credit card to determine your creditworthiness.
• Employer Identification Number or Social Security Number: Similarly to how creditors ask for your Social Security number (SSN) when applying for a personal credit card, they’ll need identifying information for your business credit card. If you have an Employer Identification Number (EIN), creditors will typically ask for it. For businesses without an EIN, creditors will usually accept the owner’s SSN instead.
• Business Details: What a lender asks for when it comes to the details of your business is specific to each lender. You may need to provide business details about what type of industry you’re in or how long you’ve been in business. Lenders may also look for information about how your company is structured to determine your credit.

How to Get Approved For a Business Credit Card

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer for how to get approved for a business credit card. However, there are things that you can do to help your chances of getting approved.

When applying for a business credit card, the owner’s credit usage can impact the business’s ability to get approved for a credit card. While applying for a credit card for your business, it’s a good idea to avoid maxing out any personal or business credit cards that you already have. Using your credit minimally can look more appealing to a credit card company.

It’s always a good idea to remember to apply for credit sparingly. Every time you apply for a credit card, the credit card company does a hard inquiry on your credit report. Hard inquiries can temporarily lower your credit score. Being deliberate when applying for credit, especially if you’re using your SSN, can avoid damaging your personal credit score.

It’s important to make sure that your credit card application showcases your business in the best position to get approved. Identifying the correct business structure on your credit card application can be important when it comes to getting credit card approval. 

For example, if you’re doing freelance work, your business structure would be a sole proprietor. Correctly reporting your business structure to credit card companies gives them the most accurate picture of your business, which can help your chances of getting approved for a business credit card.

Apply For a Business Credit Card Today

Business credit cards can be very useful tools for businesses. Depending on the business credit card you use, your business could get a lot of benefits from using a credit card.

Applying for a business credit card with Arkansas Federal is an easy and simple process. You can apply online today in just a few minutes.
Apply for a Business Cash Back Credit Card from Arkansas Federal online or in-person today and start earning cashback towards every business purchase.