Business credit cards

Business cards are often marketed to small-business owners. But the requirements that determine who counts as a business owner may be more extensive than you think.

Even if your company isn’t registered as a distinct legal entity, you could consider applying for a small-business credit card — even if you’re self-employed or have a side gig. This includes freelancers, consultants, rideshare drivers, and people who sell products at online retailers like Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Keep in mind, not all business credit cards are available for sole proprietors, so you should make sure you check the terms and conditions before you apply.

If you work for yourself, this can be a great way to separate your business expenses from your personal expenses. But it’s still important to spend money carefully, because most credit card issuers require that you’ll personally be on the hook to repay any debt if your business can’t foot the bill, depending on the cardholder agreement.

If you (or your business) are still working on building your credit, qualifying for a business credit card can be challenging — but it’s still possible.

There are certain credit cards that cater to businesses and business owners with less-than-stellar credit. But depending on just how much work your credit or your business’s credit needs, you might be required to submit a refundable deposit that serves as collateral. This is a way to secure your account and assure the lender that the money you spend will be repaid.

Look for business credit cards that offer to help your company build credit. They might promise to work with “businesses with past credit challenges” or “businesses with little to no business credit history.”

Eventually, after your business demonstrates a positive track record and you build your business credit, you might qualify for other business credit cards.

Applying for a business credit card may have some impact on your personal credit.

When you apply for a business credit card, the issuer might run a credit check, which could result in a hard inquiry. This will show up on your personal credit reports and even drop your scores by a few points, too.

But your payment history, credit card utilization and length of credit history can have a much bigger impact on your personal credit than that hard inquiry.

Be aware that business credit card issuers could report late payments to the three major consumer credit bureaus, which can affect your personal credit. But as long as your credit card bill is paid on time each month, the issuer might not report the account activity to your personal credit at all. In these cases, carrying a balance on a business credit card might not be reflected in the credit card utilization portion of your personal credit. And opening a new business card won’t affect your length of credit history either. If this is the case, the impact these business credit cards have on your personal credit will be limited.

But it’s possible for some business credit card issuers to report all of your business account activity to the personal credit bureaus. So it’s important to check with each issuer before applying.

There are several ways that opening a business credit card could help your company.

As your company grows, it may become more and more important to separate your business expenses from your personal expenses. A business credit card can help you keep track of everything.

Opening a business credit card can also help your company establish credit, which could be important if your company ever needs to borrow money. And the credit card itself can be helpful if your business needs access to a line of credit in a pinch.

Depending on which business credit card you apply for, your business might be able to earn rewards or cash back for your business-related purchases, which you could use to offset company-related expenses.

These points above are just a few of the benefits business credit cards offer.

Building business credit is similar to building personal credit: Your company needs to demonstrate that it’s responsible with the money it borrows.

You can get started by registering your business with the IRS to obtain a federal employer identification number, so lenders have a way to identify your company.

After that, you might want to consider applying for a business credit card, business loan, vendor credit or supplier credit on behalf of your business — as long as they report to a business credit bureau. Whichever method you prefer, it’s important that you pay your business credit card on time, and if you can, early.

Last but not least, keep an eye on your progress by regularly checking your business credit reports from credit bureaus such as Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax Business and Experian Business.