Key takeaways
- The best business credit cards on the market today typically require good to excellent credit, or a FICO score of 670 to 850
- Business owners with bad personal credit might only be able to qualify for a secured business credit card, which requires putting down a security deposit
- To qualify for an unsecured business credit card, business owners with bad credit will likely need to work on improving their credit first
Although an impressive credit history and a high credit score aren’t requirements to start a business, they are tools in your arsenal that can definitely help launch your success. After all, you may eventually want to borrow money from a financial institution to pay for the costs of a launch, manage ongoing operations and more. With a high credit score and a lengthy credit history in your profile, most lenders will like what they see.
To appeal to a lender, however, your past business credit history will be relevant. If your business has yet to start, you won’t have a business credit profile that can help you qualify for credit products. And lenders may assess your personal creditworthiness to determine qualifications and set terms. This is also where you’ll run into issues if you have bad personal credit due to mistakes you’ve made in the past.
Fortunately, you can overcome the problems associated with bad credit to qualify for a business credit card — and a business loan, since that might be necessary, too.
What credit score is required for a business credit card?
As you begin looking for ways to build business credit, you’ll notice that many business credit cards rely on your personal credit and require a personal guarantee. A personal guarantee ensures that, if your business doesn’t succeed, you are still legally responsible for