How do Business Credit Cards Impact Your Personal Credit Score?
If you run a business, you know how convenient a business credit card can be. You get several perks like access to higher credit lines and employee cards. However, did you know that a company credit card can affect your personal credit score? This article will go over how a credit card for business can affect your personal credit score. We will also talk about the business credit application process. Finally, we will discuss business credit cards and which ones report to your lenders.
What Happens to Your Personal Credit Score When You Apply for a Line of Business Credit?
Credit cards for business take your personal credit score into account when you fill out the business credit application. They look for things like a good payment history, a mix of accounts, and existing balances. A company credit card will show up as a hard inquiry on your credit report. It could make your score drop a few points. However, your card’s issuer may not report this to the major credit bureaus. This means your personal credit rating shouldn’t move too much either way.
What Happens if Your Business Credit Cards do Show up on Your Report?
This largely depends on how well you’re managing your business finances. Most lenders ask the business owner to guarantee that they will pay the debt. This means that if something happens to the business, the owner will be responsible for paying the balance. If your credit cards for small business do report to both commercial and consumer bureaus, it can impact your score. FICO and Vantage treat a credit card for business like any other type of debt. There are two ways this could go for your credit score.
- Pay on Time. If you pay on time each month and keep your utilization low, it can boost your credit rating. It will improve both your business and your personal credit rating. This can make it easier to apply for loans or negotiate contracts.
- Delinquent. If you fall behind on payments, this can hurt both of your credit scores. If you choose to close a business credit card, it can stay on your report for up to ten years. This will make it hard to get another card or another line of business credit. Both your personal and your business credit score will fall. It will keep falling the further you get behind.
How Do You Know Which Business Credit Cards Report to Your Personal Report?
It can be hard to choose any credit cards for small business when you don’t know which bureaus they report to. We will list several popular business credit cards along with which bureau they report to. This will make it easy for you to decide which credit cards for business you want.
Business Credit Cards That are Reported to The Owner’s Personal Credit Report
| Issuer | All Activity | Default or Negative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Express | No | Yes | |
| Bank of America | No | No | |
| Capital One | Yes (Flagged as Small Business) | Yes | |
| Chase | No | Yes | |
| CitiBusiness | No | No | |
| US Bank | No | No | |
| Wells Fargo | No | Yes |
Is it a Good Idea to Pick a Card That Won’t Report to my Personal Profile?
This answer depends on how well you do with your finances. If you picture yourself missing payments, you might want to choose a card that won’t report to consumer credit bureaus. It is better to be safe than sorry in this instance. You should also think about how you plan to use your card. If you plan to get a large balance, this will reflect negatively on your personal report. A large debt to usage ratio will skew your credit utilization or your credit to debt ratio. Lenders like to see a low debt to balance ratio, and with a business card, this is almost impossible on a personal credit rating. If you plan to use the card for things like large holiday purchases, this will run up a balance. It would better to choose one that won’t go on your personal report.
A Capital One business card like the Capital One® Spark® Miles Select is reported to your personal credit report.
How Could a Business Credit Card Help my Personal Credit Score?
If you have a thin credit history, a line of business credit could help. Every on time payment will help to make your individual score rise. It can also help you bring a credit mix of accounts onto your credit profile. For example, if you have a small loan, this is an installment account. A company credit card represents a revolving account. Lenders like to see a mix of accounts with a good payment history when they look at your credit report. This will make you look like a responsible person, and they’re more likely to help you.
This article has gone over how credit cards for business can affect your personal credit rating. We discussed the business credit application process as well. We talked about which credit cards for small business report to the credit bureaus. Finally, we talked about the possible positive and negative things that could happen with your credit card for business. If you use this as a guide, you should be able to choose the correct credit card for your situation. It is always a good idea to research, so you’re sure you’re choosing the best business credit card.
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