As of September 2022, only one major credit card issuer offers a business credit card without a personal guarantee. Ever risk averse, few providers want to issue a business credit card and then get stuck with the debt if the business fails.
However, you can still find no-personal-guarantee business credit cards with smaller or independent banks. Here’s a roundup of your options and how to choose the business credit cards without a personal guarantee.
Business credit cards with no personal guarantee
Card
Description
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Brex Card
An excellent charge card with high credit limit and generous rewards program. It comes with a $0 annual fee for the first five cards and it has a signup bonus of worth of services from partners like Amazon, Salesforce, Zendesk and more.
A no-annual-fee credit card for fast-growing online businesses. Earn cash back and get valuable rewards from partners, including Amazon, Shopify, Google Ads and more.
Shell Small Business Card
A no-annual-fee card for businesses with vehicle fleets. This card comes with discounts per gallon bought at Shell gas stations.
What is a personal guarantee?
A personal guarantee is a legal promise made by a business owner or an organization to accept the responsibility to repay the credit issued to their business in case it fails to pay its debt.
For a small corporation or a limited liability company that doesn’t have a credit history, the manager or stockholders typically personally guarantee they’ll pay the debt in case the company goes bankrupt.
Can I get a card without a personal guarantee?
Yes, but it’s hard to meet the requirements for most such cards if you run a small business. The only exception here is the Brex card where the main requirement is to have at least a $100,000 in your bank account.
Why would I want a card without a personal guarantee?
When you apply for a business credit card, your card provider will require a personal guarantee. This means that if your business fails, you will personally have to pay for your business credit card debt.
A card without a personal guarantee won’t hold you personally liable for business credit card debt.
How can I get a card without a personal guarantee?
Negotiate. If you’ve been a long-time customer with your bank, you may be able to negotiate a card without a personal guarantee. Your chances are improved significantly if you have an excellent payment history, great business financials and low debt. Some banks may waive the personal guarantee after you’ve had the card for a few years or if you’ve built up your business credit.
Meet the requirements. Another way is to meet the bank’s size and revenue requirements. Often, you can get past the personal guarantee if your business has an annual revenue of $1 million or more and up to 10 employees. Such cards include the Sam's Club® Mastercard® and Shell Small Business Card. However, with some cards, you’re limited to using them only on the service or products offered by the card issuer.
Apply for a card that doesn’t require personal guarantee. This is by far the easiest method to get a card with no personal guarantee; if you meet the approval criteria, of course. One of the most popular and most rewarding cards of this kind are the Brex for Startups and the Stripe Corporate card. But if either of the two doesn’t meet your needs, compare the other cards that don’t require a personal guarantee.
Can a business credit card with no personal guarantee still affect personal credit?
Business credit cards can affect your personal credit when the card issuer does a hard pull on your credit, when it reports your card activity to credit bureaus and if you default on your payments.
Business credit cards with no personal guarantee often don’t report to personal credit, and since you’re not personally liable for the debt — they won’t report to personal credit even if you default on your payments. The only way it can affect your personal credit is if a card issuer does a hard pull when you apply for the card.
How to limit the impact on your personal credit score
Follow these tips to limit the impact your business credit card has on your personal credit score:
Always pay in full. Try not to carry your balance from month to month. That way, you’ll have less pressure and you won’t be held liable for unpaid balances.
Limit authorized users. Since you’re liable for your business account, make sure to set up spending limits for your employees and authorized users so you don’t get stuck with a higher balance than you can pay.
Get cards with intro APR periods. If you have to carry your balance, try to get a card with a 0% intro APR period and use it to make purchases for your business and carry your balance interest-free while the intro period lasts.
What happens if I agree to a personal guarantee and then can’t pay off my business card?
If such an unfortunate event occurs, the card issuer will expect you to cover the debt with your personal assets. If you still can’t pay off the debt, the card issuer can take you to court and pursue your personal assets until the debt is cleared off.
Business credit cards without a personal guarantee alternatives
If you don’t want to get a business credit card with a personal guarantee, your choices are narrowed to corporate gas cards, prepaid business cards and cards that don’t report to the personal credit bureaus.
Gas cards. Currently, there are two business credit cards you can use at Shell gas stations and SuperAmerica: the Shell Small Business Card and the SuperAmerica Fleet Card. The downside is your company needs to have at least three years of working history. To get the Shell Small Business Card without a personal guarantee, you need at least $1 million in annual revenue.
Prepaid business cards. You can get prepaid cards such as the Brinks Business, Bento Business, Netspend and PEX. These cards are easy to obtain, don’t do credit pulls and don’t report your activity to the credit bureaus. The only drawback is you need to have money available in your account to use these cards.
A credit card that doesn’t report to the personal credit bureaus. Business credit cards issued by Bank of America, BBVA, Citi and Wells Fargo don’t report to the personal credit bureaus, while Chase and U.S. Bank only report if the account is seriously delinquent. You’re still liable for your business finances, but your business activity won’t be reported to a credit bureau. This is the most convenient way to get a decent credit card for your business and avoid the negative effects on your personal credit.
Bottom line
It’s difficult to find the perfect business credit card without a personal guarantee. In many cases, you’ll have to meet certain criteria and you’ll likely be limited to using the card on the issuer’s products or services.
There are a couple of workarounds, however. You can get prepaid business cards that have zero impact on your personal credit, or you can get business cards from a bank that doesn’t report your activity to the personal credit bureaus.
Kliment Dukovski was a personal finance writer at Finder, specializing in investments and cryptocurrency. He's written more than 700 articles to help readers compare the best trading platforms, understand complex investment terms and find the best credit cards for their needs. His expert commentary has been featured in such digital publications as Fox Business, MSN Money and MediaFeed. He’s also well-versed in money transfers, home loans and more — breaking down these topics into simple concepts anyone can understand. In another life, Kliment ghostwrote guides and articles on foreign exchange, stock market trading and cryptocurrencies. See full bio
Kliment's expertise
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