How to Open Business Credit Cards (even if you don’t have a business)

Categories: Credit Card Guides, Earning PointsBy Last Updated: January 26, 2024

 

Business cards offer substantial points bonuses for new cards. Don’t skip these cards because you don’t think of yourself as a business owner. You might be, from the perspective of a bank. Applying for a business credit card is easier than you might think — see the step by step instructions here.

This article is updated frequently to include new information.

How to qualify for a business card

If you earn money through any sort of side hustle, you probably can qualify for a business card. That’s because you can be considered a “sole proprietor” with a small business from the perspective of the bank.

We own and rent out a condominium and apply for business cards for our rental property business. When we travel, we sometimes rent out our house via Airbnb, so we have other business cards for that business. I’ve talked to friends who sell (even sparingly) on eBay or Facebook Marketplace or craigslist and apply for cards for their resale businesses. One even applied by listing $100 annual income from her garage sale business and got approved. If you freelance or tutor or consult or babysit or drive for Uber you probably qualify, too.

The most important thing is to be honest on your application about your business revenue. If you make $200 a year selling your kids’ old clothes on Facebook Marketplace, just put $200 when it asks for revenue on the application. You can also watch my YouTube video for more details on this.

What are the tax implications?

Generally speaking, there are no tax implications for opening a business card.

The IRS isn’t notified that you have opened a business credit card or told how much or what you charge to the card.

If you already have a side hustle that earns more than $600 per year, you may already receive a 1099 form for that anyway, but this won’t have any direct relationship with any business credit cards you’ve opened.

You can apply as a sole proprietor and use your Social Security Number as a Tax ID. Or you can apply for a free EIN from the IRS.

Why business cards should be a key part of your overall points strategy

Why do I bother even mentioning business cards? There are two big reasons: access to more great offers and reducing the number of cards on your personal credit report.

Increased offers

Having a small business will open the door to a lot more offers for you. Honestly, I think the offers are so great that if I didn’t already have a few side hustles, I would be motivated to start one just to access the deals.

The ability to open business cards more than doubles your card options and earning potential because it adds so many more card offers you can apply for.

Chase Business Credit Cards

Opening business cards doubles your card options

Helps your credit score

Next, generally speaking, business cards don’t affect your personal credit report. This helps keep your credit score higher if you want to apply for cards and cancel them after one year.

There is an important caveat for business cards from Capital One which are generally reported to your personal credit report with the exception of a few including the Capital One Venture X Business Credit Card.

Because business cards generally don’t show up on your personal credit report, they also make it easier to get approved for more cards from more banks.

Keeps you under 5/24 longer

If you’re working on slowly applying for cards from Chase, you can mix in business cards from Chase and other banks without affecting your 5/24 score.

My favorite business card offers

If you apply for a card, I appreciate when you use my affiliate links! It costs you $0 to use but helps support the site and allows me to keep creating resources.

Chase Ink Cards

The Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card will list their bonus as cash back. But there’s an important loophole here for you to learn! These cards technically earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points that can “only be redeemed for cash back.” If you also have a Chase Sapphire card, you also earn Chase Ultimate Rewards® points. The UR connected to your Sapphire card are more powerful because they can be transferred to partners like Hyatt and United which can unlock some sweet value.

If you have both a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card or Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card — Chase will let you move the Chase Ultimate Rewards® from the “cash back” card over to the Sapphire — and they gain the ability to transfer to partners! The same principle works with the Chase Freedom cards which are no annual fee personal cards.

welcome offer

up to $750

Earn $350 when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months and an additional $400 when you spend a total of $6,000 on purchases in the first six months after account opening.

Annual Fee:

$0

  • If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can transfer the Ink points to the Sapphire card to get all the airline and hotel transfer benefits!
  • Earn 5% cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable and phone services eacInh account anniversary year.

Chase Ink cards are our favorite option when we have larger expenses coming that help us to meet the higher minimum spend. The bonus for this card is listed as cash back. But if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can actually combine the “cash back” points with your Sapphire card. (If you have a Chase Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card you cannot combine the points.)

For many years, the bonus on this card offered $500 after you spent $3000 in 3 months. The offer changed to $750 after spending $7500 in 3 months during the pandemic. In fall 2022, the offer went to $900 after spending $6,000 in 3 months and ended in March 2023. From September 2023-January 2024, the $900 offer returned.

The tiered offer which gives you a total of 6 months to spend the $6000 needed to earn $750 debuted in March 2024.

welcome offer:

$750

Earn $750 (can be worth 75,000 points) after you spend $6,000 in 3 months

Annual Fee:

$0

  • If you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can transfer the Ink points to the Sapphire card to get all the airline and hotel transfer benefits!
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% Cash Back rewards on every purchase

Chase Ink cards are our favorite option when we have larger expenses coming that help us to meet the higher minimum spend. The bonus for this card is listed as cash back.But if you have a Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can actually combine the “cash back” points with your Sapphire card. (If you have a Chase Ink Business Premier℠ Credit Card you cannot combine the points.)

You can get a Chase Ink Business Cash® Credit Card and Chase Ink Business Unlimited® Credit Card . You can also get multiple if you have multiple businesses. Don’t forget to refer your spouse to this one!

For many years, the bonus on this card offered $500 after you spent $3000 in 3 months. The offer changed to $750 after spending $7500 in 3 months during the pandemic. In fall 2022, the offer went to $900 after spending $6,000 in 3 months. In fall 2023, we saw the $900 offer return from September to mid-January 2024.

welcome offer:

100,000 points

Earn 100,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Annual Fee:

$95

  • Earn 3 points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services
  • Travel Benefits: Unlimited 5% total cash back on travel purchased through Chase Travel℠, No Foreign Transaction Fees and Trip Cancellation/Trip Interruption Insurance.
  • No foreign transaction fees

Chase Ink cards are our favorite option when we have larger expenses coming that help us to meet the higher minimum spend. This card will allow you to transfer its points to all of Chase’s travel partners like Hyatt, United, Southwest, and more.

This card bonus has required a $15,000 spend for over two years — great to see the bonus remain but spending requirements drop!

This card used to offer 100k points but required a $15,000 spend.

Southwest Business Cards

These cards are crucial to easily earning a Southwest Companion Pass!

Current Bonus:

80,000 points

Earn 80,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Annual Fee:

$199

  • TSA Precheck/Global Entry statement credit
  • 4 upgraded boardings per year
  • Free in-flight wifi
  • 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points for every $10,000 spent
  • 4x earning on Southwest flights; 2x on local transit, internet, cable, phone services, and select streaming
  • 9000 points per year on your card member anniversary

This card offer hasn’t changed in over a year. They make it so easy to get a Southwest Companion Pass. Just pay close attention to your timing when applying if you’re trying to maximize the Companion Pass.

Current Bonus:

60,000 bonus points

Earn 60,000 bonus points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Annual Fee:

$99

  • 2 Early Bird Check Ins per year
  • Free in-flight wifi
  • 1,500 Tier Qualifying Points for every $10,000 spent
  • 3x earning on Southwest flights; 2x on local transit
  • 6000 points per year on your card member anniversary

This is a very standard offer. Just pay close attention to your timing when applying if you’re trying to maximize the Companion Pass.

The standard offer on this card is 60,000 points after you spend $3,000 in 3 months. In Summer 2023, we saw an offer that also included a a higher tier bonus (but required an additional $12,000 of spending to get another 60k points).

Lower spend options: Cards from Barclays

Barclays often has great business card offers that require a relatively low spend to earn a bonus. Barclays is most likely to approve you if you have opened 6 cards or fewer in the past 24 months. They also sometimes flag an application and will require you to go through a rigamarole like sending in paper copies of your driver’s license to get the account approved.

Applying for a Business Credit Card: Tips

Screenshots of Chase Business Credit Card Application

Chase Business Credit Cards

When applying for a side hustle, enter “Owner” under Authorizing officer title

Chase Business Credit Cards

The application first asks for your TOTAL income. This is different than just business income.

Chase Business Credit Cards

You will likely be a sole proprietor

Enter your business structure (probably a sole proprietorship unless you are incorporated). The legal name can be your first and last name or another name you’ve give your business.

Chase Business Credit Cards

If you don’t have an EIN, you will select to use SSN for your Tax ID type.

Chase Business Credit Cards

Enter the total amount you receive annually. If you are just starting out, you can enter zero. For Industry, select the options that best describe your business.

How long does it take to get approved?

Sometimes you will get instant approval. After you submit your application, your approval may be confirmed.

Other times, the bank may need more time to review your application. After this review, they may auto-approve you, or they may request additional documents. Because of this, it can take up to 30 days for the bank to make a decision.

What happens if I put personal expenses on a business card?

First, if you have a small business with a bookkeeper that keeps track of expenses, you’ll need to sort this out with them!

Most banks will require you to attest that you will be using your new business account “only for business purposes and not personal, family or household purposes.”

While it isn’t illegal to put personal expenses on a business credit, banks are required to ask you to use it for business expenses only. That’s due to the CARD Act which extended new protections to consumer credit cards but not business cards.

According to WalletHub,

If you have both business and personal accounts with a bank, you may have to create separate logins for the business cards and personal cards. This can be annoying when you are monitoring your cards and are having to log in and log out of your accounts.

Chase has simplified linking your accounts and now allows you to do this online by following these steps. While you still will have a separate business and personal login, you can easily link your accounts online so you can see everything in one place.

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Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

7 Comments
  1. Cynthia Gibson April 26, 2023 at 5:20 am - Reply

    If you put personal expenses on a business card, you will be liable for the debt. Depending on the card issuer and the type of card, you may be held personally liable for any debt accrued on the card, regardless of whether it is for business or personal use. Additionally, the card issuer may revoke the card and cancel your account if you misuse the card for personal purposes. to use it for personal expenses, you may also be liable for any taxes due from the personal use of the card.

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  4. Concierge Dave March 20, 2024 at 7:25 pm - Reply

    Can I apply for multiple business cards and get multiple Sign-Up Bonuses. I’m thinking 2 cards, 2 different businesses that are both sole proprietor owned? I currently have an Ink Business Unlimited and would like to get another for a different business.

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  6. Robert Herrington March 23, 2024 at 11:01 am - Reply

    Can I apply for two of the same Ink cards at the same time if I use a different structure for each? — Apply for one card as a sole proprietor using my SS# and then apply for a 2nd card as an LLC using my EIN?

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