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Need to build credit? These credit cards for small businesses with bad credit can help you raise your business credit score, establish a credit history, and earn rewards.
Jason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University.
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Jason VissersJason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University.
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Erica has been writing about small business finance and technology since 2008. She joined Merchant Maverick in 2018 and specializes in researching and reviewing business software, financial products, and other topics to help small businesses manage and grow their operations. Her expertise has been cited in MSN, Reader's Digest, Vox, U.S. News & World Report, and Real Simple. She is a Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payroll, a graduate of Limestone University, and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina.
REVIEWED BY
Erica SeppalaErica has been writing about small business finance and technology since 2008. She joined Merchant Maverick in 2018 and specializes in researching and reviewing business software, financial products, and other topics to help small businesses manage and grow their operations. Her expertise has been cited in MSN, Reader's Digest, Vox, U.S. News & World Report, and Real Simple. She is a Certified ProAdvisor for QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Payroll, a graduate of Limestone University, and currently resides in Greenville, South Carolina.
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A poor credit score makes finding business funding a challenge, which is why business credit cards for bad credit are crucial for business owners facing credit struggles. This article will discuss the types of credit cards available to business owners with bad credit.
After you’ve found success in using a bad credit business card to support your business and build your credit, you may find that you qualify for some of the best business credit cards overall.
The following business credit cards for bad credit are meant for different business types and have varying eligibility requirements, but what they all have in common is that they either have minimal credit score requirements or none at all.
$0 for the standard package, $15/user/month for Ramp Plus
Business Size
Corporations, LLCs, and LPs with $25K+ in the bank
Pros
No personal guarantee required
No credit check required
Up to 1.5% cash back
Savings insights tool that identifies unnecessary spending
Cons
High cash-in-bank requirements
No high-earning rewards categories
Why We Chose Ramp
Ramp's corporate charge card is unique in that it carries no fees whatsoever -- no annual fee, no foreign transaction fees, no late fees, no employee card fees, and no interest fees (Ramp is a charge card and you can't carry a balance). You even get expense management software and employee spend controls -- all for free.
We love that Ramp has no personal guarantee requirement to qualify for its corporate card. This means that you won't be held personally liable if your business goes under and you can't pay off your card debt (though your credit score will certainly suffer). Additionally, you won't undergo a credit check when you apply.
Ramp Rewards & Benefits
Ramp offers up to 1.5% cash back on all business spending. There are no limits on the amount you can earn, and your rewards are redeemable in the form of a statement credit.
Ramp also offers you access to $350,000+ in rebates and credits with partner services like Slack and Amazon Web Services. Additionally, Ramp gives you features such as bill payment and a savings insights tool that helps your company identify extraneous and unnecessary spending, such as duplicate subscriptions and redundant software purchases.
Ramp Eligibility Requirements
To qualify for the Ramp corporate card, your business must be a corporation, LLC, or LP registered in the US. Nonprofits may also apply. Individuals, sole proprietors, and other types of unregistered businesses need not apply.
Furthermore, you must have at least $25,000 in a US bank account.
Choose Ramp If...
You don’t need to carry a balance on your card
You want a card with no personal guarantee
You are a corporation, LLC, or LP that can meet Ramp’s cash-on-hand requirements
You must make Brex your exclusive corporate card to earn maximum rewards
Why We Chose Brex
If you're running a startup with high growth potential but poor credit (or even no credit history whatsoever), the Brex corporate charge card is a unique value proposition.
Brex doesn't check your credit score when you apply, nor does it require a personal guarantee. If you're approved for a Brex card, you'll find that Brex offers vastly higher points-earning rates than just about any other credit card available to borrowers with poor credit. You can earn as much as 8x points -- a remarkable value for any type of business credit card, much less one that can be obtained with bad credit.
Brex Rewards & Benefits
With the Brex card, you can earn points at the following rates:
8x points for spending on ridesharing apps and taxis
5x on travel purchases
4x at restaurants
3x on Apple products
3x on recurring software subscriptions or 1.5x on advertising purchases
1x on everything else
To earn points at these rates, you’ll need to sign up for automatic daily repayments and use Brex as your exclusive corporate card. If you pay monthly, your rewards rate will be 1x lower for each category.
Additional cash back options are available for life science companies and certain companies seeking custom flat-rate rewards.
You can use your points to pay for travel expenses, redeem them for gift cards, or cash them in. What’s more, Brex offers automated bill pay, spend management, partner rewards, a mobile app, and other benefits.
Brex Eligibility Requirements
Unfortunately, although you don’t need a minimum credit score to qualify, Brex’s eligibility requirements are steep and complex.
Apply for a Brex card with daily repayments, and you’ll need to meet at least one (not all) of the following conditions:
You’ve received an equity investment from an accelerator, angel investor, or VC (or you plan to in the near future)
You earn over $1 million+ in annual revenue
Your company has 50+ employees
Your business is a tech startup, is en route to meeting one of the above criteria, and is referred by an existing Brex partner or customer
The requirements for a Brex card with monthly repayments are even more stringent:
Must have received accelerator, VC, or angel investor funding
Startups must have $50K minimum in the bank (or possibly less if you’re referred by certain Brex partners)
Mid-market and enterprise companies must have $400K+/month ($4.8 million+/year) in revenue
Choose Brex If...
You have a startup with high growth potential
You’re willing to make Brex your exclusive corporate card to earn maximum rewards
You want a corporate card with spend controls and other benefits
When it comes to unsecured business credit cards for those with less than stellar credit, the Capital One Spark Classic deserves a look. Marketed as a business card for people with "average" credit (generally a 580 FICO score or above), it carries a high ongoing APR, which is the card's main drawback.
Though this card's cash back rate is modest, this is the norm for unsecured business credit cards for fair credit. Plus, the Spark Classic carries no annual fee, no foreign transaction fee, and you can get additional employee cards (for which you can set customized spending limits) at no extra cost. Considering this, adding the Spark Classic to this article was an easy call for us to make.
Another benefit of the Spark Classic is that Capital One reports your card activity to several business credit bureaus so you can improve your business credit score, provided you make your payments on time.
Capital One Spark Classic Rewards & Benefits
This card will see you earning an unlimited 1% cash back on every purchase, which is relatively good for an unsecured business credit card accessible to those with fair credit.
Capital One Spark Classic Eligibility Requirements
You’ll need at least fair credit to qualify for the Spark Classic, which generally means a FICO score over 580.
Choose Capital One Spark Classic If...
You want a card with a simple, flat-rate cash back rewards program
You want an unsecured card and are willing to pay off the balance frequently to avoid high interest
The Revenued Business Card is a spending card used to access a Flex Line -- revenue-based funding. While it doesn't offer cashback rewards, eligible businesses may be approved for a spending line up to $750,000, which is far more than what you'll find with other no-credit-check cards.
Revenued won't check your credit when you apply, though you will have to meet other business metrics, including $20,000+ monthly cash flow. Since your Flex Line is tied to your revenue, businesses that have been in operation for at least 1 year that have strong monthly cash flow may qualify.
Revenued Rewards & Benefits
With the Revenued card, you won’t be able to earn rewards. However, you will be able to access your Flex Line as needed.
When you use your Revenued Business Card, there are no monthly or annual fees. Traditional interest does not apply, although a factor fee is charged on funds you use.
Revenued Eligibility Requirements
While there are no credit score requirements to meet with the Revenued card, you’ll have to meet time in business and revenue requirements.
Another thing to keep in mind is that with Revenued, while you won’t actually be paying interest, you’ll be paying a factoring fee between 1.1 – 1.5instead, as your credit line is tied to your revenue. Your factor rate may be rather high, but at least you’ll only incur factoring fees on the portion of your credit line that you use, not on your full credit limit.
Choose Revenued If...
You want high borrowing limits up to $750,000
You want access to a flexible line of credit
You can meet Revenued’s time in business and revenue requirements
$75 for the first year; $99 thereafter (billed monthly)
Minimum Credit Score Requirements
Rebuilding credit
Rewards Rate Range
1%
Pros
1% cash back on certain purchases
Certain accounts get a 24-day interest grace period each month
Cons
$75 for the first year; $99 thereafter (billed monthly) annual fee
Fair credit required
Why We Chose Credit One Platinum Visa
The Credit One Bank Platinum Visa for Rebuilding Credit isn't a business credit card -- it's a personal credit card that can be used by entrepreneurs with iffy credit as a credit card option. The Credit One (not Capital One) Bank Platinum Visa carries an APR that, while high, is relatively typical. Certain accounts will be given a monthly interest grace period of at least 24 days after the close of each billing cycle.
This card carries an annual fee of $75 for the first year; $99 thereafter (billed monthly), which is unfortunate. But it is a funding option for entrepreneurs with credit struggles who don't qualify for the other cards on this list due to a lack of business history and/or insufficient business revenue.
Credit One Platinum Visa Rewards & Benefits
The nicest benefit of the card is undoubtedly the 1% cash back you’ll earn on gas, groceries, mobile phone plans, and cable, internet, and satellite TV services.
However, there’s also a $19 charge to add another authorized user (such as an employee) and a $1 or 3% (whichever’s higher) foreign transaction fee. Therefore, while using the Credit One Bank Platinum Visa will see you earning cash back and can help you boost your credit score, it might not be the most appealing card for some users.
Capital One Platinum Visa Eligibility Requirements
You’ll need at least fair credit (580+) to qualify for the Credit One Bank Platinum Visa card.
Choose Credit One Platinum Visa If...
You don’t qualify for traditional business credit cards
Discover matches all the cash back you earn in your first year
No annual fee
Cons
High APR
Security deposit required
Why We Chose Discover it Secured
Discover it Secured is a secured consumer credit card that can be used for business. The minimum deposit is just $200, while the max reaches up to $2,500. You can expect a high-ish APR of 27.24% (variable), and the card carries a grace period of 25 days until interest on purchases starts to accrue. The card carries no annual fee and no foreign transaction fee.
As this card does not sport any particular credit score requirement, you're likely to be able to obtain it no matter what your credit score. The only requirement to qualify is that you must have a bank account. That, combined with the maximum cash back rate of 2% that you'll earn on certain purchases (very impressive for a secured credit card), made that card an obvious choice for this list.
Discover it Secured Rewards & Benefits
For rewards, you’ll get 2% cash back at gas stations and restaurants (on up to $1,000 in spending per quarter). This rate is among the highest you can snag for poor-credit cards. All other purchases get 1% cash back.
On top of those base rewards, Discover will match whatever you earn for your first year.
Discover it Secured Eligibility Requirements
This card carries no credit score requirements — you may qualify for the Discover it Secured with a credit score in the 300s.
Choose Discover it Secured If...
You’re able to pay a security deposit
You want a secured card to build or start rebuilding credit
You want a secured card with a great cash back rewards program
The Capital One Platinum Secured card is a no-frills secured personal credit card for bad credit. With no rewards-earning and a high APR, it shouldn't be your first choice for a credit card for your business, but if you're unable to qualify for some of the others, it may be a useful instrument for you. Use this card responsibly, and you can both rebuild your credit and get your deposit back with an upgrade to the unsecured Platinum card.
You'll need to make a deposit of $49, $99, or $200 to use this card. Luckily, once you're approved, you can choose the payment due date that works best for your schedule. However, this card's APR runs high. If at all possible, try not to carry a balance month-to-month.
Capital One Platinum Secured Rewards & Benefits
You won’t earn any rewards for your spending with the Platinum Secured card.
Capital One Platinum Secured Eligibility Requirements
This card doesn’t carry any credit score requirements. However, you’ll need to have no more than one loan default or three declined credit card applications in the last three months before applying.
Choose Capital One Platinum Secured If...
You have the funds to make a deposit
You want a secured card that can help rebuild your credit
We spend hours researching and evaluating each corporate card that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate our ratings.
Weighted Rating Breakdown
Rewards & Perks 40%
Rates & Fees 25%
Features 20%
Eligibility Requirements 5%
Customer Service 5%
User Reviews 5%
When rating corporate cards, we use a 15-point rubric that looks at rewards and perks, rates and fees, features, eligibility requirements, customer service, and user reviews. We weigh each section differently to calculate the total star rating.
Rewards & Perks: 40% of the total star rating
Rates & Fees: 25% of the total star rating
Features: 20% of the total star rating
Eligibility Requirements: 5% of the total star rating
Customer Support: 5% of the total star rating
User Reviews: 5% of the total star rating
Note: We use a different credit card rating methodology to evaluate traditional business credit cards, as they often differ from corporate cards in benefits, qualifications, and use cases.
Each section is further broken down into granular, weighted subsections, in which we examine specific attributes like cash back and spending rewards, reward redemption options, annual fees, employee card access, extra perks and features, credit score and revenue requirements, customer support options, and the overall reputation of the corporate card issuer.
Why We Don't Recommend This Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
BILL Spend & Expense
BILL Spend & Expense (formerly Divvy) is a strong corporate card option for small- to mid-sized businesses. Offering high points on certain business purchase categories, robust budget management features, and unlimited physical and virtual cards, the card stacks up well with other products in the corporate card space.
However, BILL Spend & Expense no longer accepts applicants with bad credit — your business and personal credit “typically must be good to very good” to qualify.
Can You Get A Small Business Credit Card With Bad Credit?
Business credit cards can absolutely be a funding route for new business owners and entrepreneurs with past credit challenges. While bad credit will, unfortunately, prevent you from getting a top-tier rewards card, there are business credit cards you can qualify for if you have bad credit.
A small business credit card for bad credit can not only help you finance your business — it can also help you boost your credit score and qualify for a better card later on.
Bad Credit Options For Business Credit Cards
Business owners facing credit difficulties can typically qualify for the following types of business credit cards for bad credit.
Secured Credit Cards
Secured credit cards require a security deposit that usually (though not always) establishes the amount of your credit line. These cards tend to either have low credit score requirements or none at all. With responsible use, you may be given the option to upgrade to an unsecured card.
Corporate Credit Cards
Corporate credit cards typically don’t require a check of your personal credit score when you apply, though they may require that your business be a corporation or LLC. They may also require cash in the bank, lots of monthly/annual revenue, and/or automated daily repayments.
Charge Cards
Charge cards often have relaxed credit score requirements compared with ordinary credit cards due to the fact that charge cards don’t let you carry a balance from month to month. Note that while nearly all corporate cards are charge cards, not all charge cards are corporate cards.
Unsecured Credit Cards
Some unsecured credit cards can be obtained by applicants with bad credit. However, these cards have low credit limits (especially at first) and high APRs. Furthermore, these cards tend to be personal credit cards that can be used for business purposes, not dedicated business credit cards.
Of these credit card types, secured cards tend to be the easiest to get, followed by unsecured personal cards. The other card types tend to come with significant business requirements, albeit ones unrelated to your credit health (business income, cash-on-hand, and/or other factors).
Choosing The Right Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
If all these credit card options leave you feeling overwhelmed, consider your business situation and which type of business credit card for bad credit best suits your particular situation.
If you have a profitable corporation or LLC with poor credit — or little/no credit history at all — consider a corporate credit card.
If you want a credit card to use on business expenses and your credit score is in the 500s, consider applying for an unsecured personal credit card.
If you want a credit card to use on business expenses but you have a credit score under 500, or if you have a startup with no credit history whatsoever, consider a secured personal credit card.
Getting a credit card can be difficult if you don’t have (or don’t want to provide) a social security number. However, it’s possible to get a credit card using just your EIN, which has the added benefit of letting you avoid personal liability and a hard credit pull. Read our guide to getting a business credit card with only an EIN for more details.
Rebuild Your Credit & Qualify For More Business Funding Options
We wanted to end this post by pointing you toward resources that can help you build up your credit score and expand your business funding opportunities.
Regularly visit a free credit score site to monitor your progress in improving your credit health.
FAQs About Small Business Credit Cards For Bad Credit
Getting a credit card is especially tough when you have a poor credit history. Here are some common questions about credit cards for those with poor credit.
Is a secured or unsecured card better for building credit?
Strictly in terms of building credit, an unsecured business credit card is better because issuers will more consistently report your activity to bureaus. However, it may be easier to qualify for a secured card, and secured credit cards can still provide an avenue to building and bettering your credit history.
What’s the difference between personal and business credit cards?
Business cards may offer rewards or benefits targeted toward business spending habits. For instance, a business card may provide a higher reward rate for spending money on office supplies or allow you to request employee cards for free. Additionally, business credit card issuers may report your activity to business credit bureaus. In contrast, your personal credit card history only gets sent to consumer bureaus.
Otherwise, these types of cards are rather similar. Many offer rewards and benefits as well as ways to carry a balance. Note, however, that issuers of business credit cards may ask specific questions about your business.
Entrepreneurs and business owners can use personal credit cards for business purchases. However, you should follow some general guidelines to make sure you are utilizing your credit card in a way that will best benefit your business. Learn more about best practices for using personal cards for a business.
Can you get a business credit card with bad personal credit?
It’s possible to get a business credit card even if you have bad personal credit. Several secured business credit cards may be within reach for you, along with a few unsecured personal cards that you can use for business.
What credit score is needed for a small business credit card?
The credit score you’ll need to qualify for a small business credit card depends entirely on the card in question. Some small business credit cards require excellent credit (740+), while others will accept applicants with bad credit (300-579). Other such cards fall somewhere in-between.
A few small business credit cards won’t check your credit score at all when you apply.
Can you get a business credit card without income?
You may be able to get a business card if you’re not earning business income yet, but in most cases, you will need to be drawing an income in some form in order to qualify for a business credit card.
Jason has been writing about small business software platforms, services, and financing since 2015. Jason’s expertise has been featured in Yahoo Finance, Time/NextAdvisor, Home Business Magazine, CreditCards.com, GoBankingRates, TheLadders.com, and other publications. He has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Diego State University.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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