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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 and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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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 and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Chelsea Krause is a writer who specializes in accounting, payroll, and small business loans. She has been with Merchant Maverick helping small business owners manage their finances since 2016. She is a QuickBooks Certified User and former eCommerce store owner. Her accounting expertise has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. Chelsea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford as well. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho.
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Chelsea KrauseChelsea Krause is a writer who specializes in accounting, payroll, and small business loans. She has been with Merchant Maverick helping small business owners manage their finances since 2016. She is a QuickBooks Certified User and former eCommerce store owner. Her accounting expertise has been quoted in Forbes and her work appears in Startup Nation, Small Business Bonfire, and Women on Business. Chelsea graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English & Creative Writing from George Fox University and studied abroad at the University of Oxford as well. She currently resides in Boise, Idaho.
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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.
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. Read on to check out your best options!
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).
The 8 Best Business Credit Cards For Bad Credit
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. Let’s delve into the details.
Ramp: Best No Personal Guarantee Card For Bad Credit
$0 for the standard package, $12/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 As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
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 in the event that 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's cash-back rates up to 1.5% benefits companies whose spending is diffuse and cuts across categories. On the other hand, if your spending is concentrated on, say, rideshares or software subscriptions, you'll earn more spending rewards with another corporate card program.
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 $175,000 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. With these features, Ramp claims that “Businesses that use Ramp save an average of 3.5% on spend.”
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.
Earn 8x points on rideshares, 5x on Brex Travel, 4x on restaurants, 3x on Apple products, and 1x on everything else
No credit check required
No personal guarantee required
Automated bill pay & spend management
Cons
Strict eligibility requirements
You must make Brex your exclusive corporate card to earn maximum rewards
Why We Chose Brex As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
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 on rideshare purchases and 5x points on travel purchases -- 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 (7x on rideshares, 4x on travel, and so on). And if you don’t make Brex your exclusive business card, you’ll only earn 1 point per dollar spent.
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/year in 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+ 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
Why We Chose Capital One Spark Classic As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
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.
Why We Chose Revenued As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
Technically, the Revenued Business Card isn't a business credit card. It's a prepaid Visa spending card tied to your banking account. Revenued won't check your credit when you apply, though you will have to meet other business metrics, which we'll describe below.
This card's 3% universal cash back rate is exceptional for any business credit card, meriting this card's inclusion in our article. However, the card does have one big drawback: it can't be used to build credit. Your repayments won't be reported to the credit bureaus. As such, this card's utility is limited, but it does give business owners with bad credit a means of making business purchases while earning a high cash back rate, which is why the Revenued card deserves a spot on our list.
Revenued Rewards & Benefits
With the Revenued card, you’ll earn 3% cash back on every purchase — a remarkable rate. Plus, Revenued is currently offering a welcome bonus of $500 in cash back when you spend $5,000 on your card within your first three months of card use.
What’s more, the card carries no annual fee, foreign transaction fee, or any other common fee to speak of.
Revenued Eligibility Requirements
While there are no credit score requirements to meet with the Revenued card, you’ll need 6+ months of business history, an average daily bank balance of $1K+, and at least $10K in monthly sales in order to qualify.
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 and 1.5 instead, as your credit line is tied to your future business revenue (somewhat resembling a merchant cash advance). 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.
1% cash back on gas, groceries, and monthly mobile phone, internet, cable, & satellite TV services
Certain accounts get a 24-day interest grace period each month
Cons
$39 annual fee
Fair credit required
Why We Chose Credit One Bank Platinum Visa As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
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 $39, which is unfortunate, but it is absolutely 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 3% 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.
Credit One Platinum Visa Eligibility Requirements
You’ll need at least fair credit (580+) to qualify for the Credit One Bank Platinum Visa card.
2% cash back on up to $1,000 on gas station & restaurant purchases each quarter, 1% cash back on everything else
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 As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
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 24.49% (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 2% 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 — effectively giving you 4% back on gas station and restaurant purchases and 2% everywhere else.
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.
Why We Chose Capital One Platinum Secured As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
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 prior to applying.
Why We Chose OpenSky Secured Visa As A Top Business Credit Card For Bad Credit
It's a secured credit card with no rewards program, but when it comes to startup business credit cards for bad credit, the OpenSky Secured Visa has some key advantages.
First, the OpenSky Secured Visa's APR is lower than that of many competing credit cards in this space. Second, when applying for this card, you won't undergo a credit check at all, so you won't have to worry about your credit score taking a hit. The minimum deposit is $200, and the maximum is $3,000.
The downside: there's a $35 annual fee and a 3% foreign transaction fee. On the whole, the OpenSky Secured Visa isn't the most appealing credit card in this space, but it's definitely an option to consider if you don't qualify for some of these other cards.
OpenSky Secured Visa Rewards & Benefits
You won’t get any rewards for your spending with the OpenSky Secured Visa.
OpenSky Secured Visa Eligibility Requirements
There are no credit score requirements associated with the OpenSky Secured Visa. You don’t even need a bank account to qualify. You will need to show that your monthly income is greater than your monthly expenses, however.
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 up to 7x 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” in order to qualify.
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 an unsecured credit card with a 500 credit score?
Yes. Certain corporate credit cards, such as Brex and Ramp, accept applicants with credit scores of 500 or lower. However, corporate credit cards have stringent business requirements unrelated to your credit score. If your business is brand new or isn’t earning much revenue yet, consider an unsecured personal credit card like the Discover it Secured card, which accepts applicants with credit scores of 500 or less.
Can I get a credit card with a score of 540?
Yes. Many credit cards, both secured and unsecured, will accept an applicant with a credit score of 540.
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 and currently lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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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.
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