Business Credit Cards With No Personal Guarantee: Best Options, How to Get One
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The vast majority of business credit cards require a personal guarantee, which allows creditors to go after your personal finances to recoup unpaid debt.
If that’s a risk you aren’t willing to take, a few business cards are available without a personal guarantee. These cards come with some tradeoffs — you may not be able to carry a balance or maximize rewards, for instance. You’ll have to consider other business credit cards for those perks.
Who can get a business credit card with no personal guarantee?
Large businesses and smaller companies with high cash reserves and significant revenue can often get a business credit card with no personal guarantee in the form of a corporate credit card. Strong cash flow or a large bank balance suggests to a lender that a business is likely able to pay back its credit card debt, taking on the role played by the personal guarantee.
If your business has a smaller bank balance, your options will be more limited. Cards affiliated with specific retailers, like Sam’s Club, are among them.
SHOP AROUND: Secured business cards to help you build credit | Business credit cards for fair credit | Business credit cards for startups
Drawbacks to business cards with no personal guarantee
You can minimize your personal risk by getting a business card that doesn’t require a personal guarantee, but there are definite disadvantages.
For starters, these cards are typically corporate credit cards. These cards are only available to registered businesses (not sole proprietors) with strong annual revenue and a healthy bank balance — think $20,000 or more in a business checking account. And many are charge cards, meaning you must pay your balance in full each month.
Business credit cards that don’t require a personal guarantee also typically don’t offer the same generous welcome bonuses and cash back or travel rewards that you see with a traditional business card.
If your personal credit is strong, consider signing a personal guarantee to increase the options available to you. It will allow you to apply for a cash-back business credit card with greater rewards or a card with a 0% annual percentage rate period for some flexibility with your cash flow.
NerdWallet rating 5.0 /5 | NerdWallet rating 4.8 /5 | NerdWallet rating 4.4 /5 |
Annual fee $0 | Annual fee $0 | Annual fee $0 |
Regular APR 18.49%-24.49% Variable APR | Regular APR 18.49%-24.49% Variable APR | |
Intro APR 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months | Intro APR 0% intro APR on Purchases for 12 months | Intro APR 0% intro APR on purchases for 12 months from the date of account opening |
Recommended credit score 690-850 (Good - Excellent) | Recommended credit score 690-850 (Good - Excellent) | Recommended credit score 690-850 (Good - Excellent) |
Best business cards with no personal guarantee
The following business cards do not require a personal guarantee. However, you’ll have to meet other requirements, including revenue and minimum years in business, to qualify.
Many of these options are corporate cards, which don’t allow you to carry a balance — instead, you’ll have to pay down the card in full every month (or even more frequently). Plus, corporate cards are only available to incorporated businesses. If your business is a sole proprietorship, you’ll most likely have to sign a personal guarantee to get a business credit card.
Ramp Card
The Ramp Card is easier to obtain than other business cards available without a personal guarantee — you don’t need professional funding, for example, or several million dollars in annual revenue. But the cash-on-hand requirements are still steep: You need at least $75,000 in a business bank account to qualify. If you can meet Ramp’s requirements, you’ll get cash-back rewards (rate varies and is determined by Ramp) and card-level spending controls with no annual fee.
Ramp is a charge card, so you can’t carry a balance. Instead, anything you charge is automatically debited from your business account on the same day each month. Read our review.
Rewards: Reward rate varies by customer and is determined by Ramp.
Welcome bonus: None.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: Spending controls, forecasting tools and automatic receipt matching.
BILL Divvy Corporate Card
The BILL Divvy Corporate Card is a corporate card with no personal guarantee required that includes spend management software, similar to Ramp. Unlike Ramp, however, you may be able to qualify for the BILL Divvy Corporate Card if you have just $20,000 in a business bank account. This card’s rewards rates are high, but tricky to navigate; it’s more attractive for its availability to smaller businesses and its spend management tools. Read our review.
Rewards: Earn up to 7x rewards on restaurants and 5x on hotels with weekly billing. Terms apply.
Welcome bonus: None.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: Spend and expense management tools.
Rho Corporate Card
Rho is another corporate card. It doesn’t have a minimum annual revenue requirement or a firm bank balance requirement, though Rho will ask for 12 months of financial statements to determine your credit limit. The Rho credit card can run alongside Rho business checking, savings and treasury accounts, but you don’t have to bank with Rho to use the card.
Rewards: Up to 1.25% cash back.
Welcome bonus: None.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: Spend and expense management tools.
IO Card
The IO Card is a corporate card offering from financial technology company Mercury, which specializes in software, e-commerce and biotech startups (although other businesses can still qualify). Unlike Rho, you’ll have to open a Mercury business bank account to be eligible — but you may be able to qualify for the card with a bank balance as low as $25,000.
Rewards: 1.5% cash back.
Welcome bonus: None.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: Built-in banking services from Mercury, plus spend and expense management tools.
Brex Card
The Brex corporate card offers a welcome bonus and a generous, but complicated, rewards structure. Brex cards come in two varieties: paid daily or paid monthly. There’s no option to carry a balance. Like Mercury, the card comes with a linked Brex business account. To qualify for monthly payments, you need professional investors and a business account balance of at least $50,000 ($1 million if you're self-funded). Read our review.
Rewards: Earn points on every dollar spent with industry-leading multipliers: 7x on rideshare, 4x on Brex Travel, 3x on restaurants, 2x on software subscriptions and 1x on all other transactions. Earn 3x Brex Rewards points on all eligible Apple purchases through the link or your Brex dashboard.
Welcome bonus: Get 10,000 points when you spend $3,000 on a Brex Card within your first 3 months.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: Deals and discounts at various vendors that startups may find appealing, including Amazon Web Services, Apple, QuickBooks and more.
Sam’s Club Business Mastercard
Incorporated businesses that meet certain criteria — including having more than two years in business, more than 10 employees and at least $5 million in annual sales or revenue — can get the Sam’s Club Business Mastercard without a personal guarantee. Though this card offers rewards, including up to 5% back on gas, they are earned as Sam’s Cash and can be used only at Sam’s Club.
Rewards: Up to 5% back on gas, 3% on dining and takeout and 1% on other purchases.
Welcome bonus: Receive a $30 statement credit when you make $30 in Sam’s Club purchases in the first 30 days from opening your account.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: Sam’s Plus members earn an extra 3% back on Sam’s Club purchases (on top of the 2% earned with your Plus membership).
Charity Charge Nonprofit Business Card
Charity Charge is available to nonprofits and other entities with tax-exempt status, provided your organization has been operating for at least five years and generates $100,000 or more in annual revenue. Organizations operating for at least two years can qualify with annual revenue of at least $500,000. (Nonprofits that don't meet either criteria can apply for a secured business credit card with Charity Charge.) This is a charge card, so your balance must be paid in full each month.
Rewards: None.
Welcome bonus: None.
Annual fee: $0.
Additional perks: 24/7 customer support via phone or email and discounts on services from vendors like Microsoft 365, QuickBooks and TurboTax, plus automatic rebates on travel, fuel, business services and more at participating vendors via Mastercard Easy Savings.
Stripe Corporate Card
The Stripe Corporate Card is invite only, so this may not be an option for you. If you’ve received an invitation in your Stripe account, however, this card doesn’t require a personal guarantee and functions like other corporate cards — there’s no interest because you’ll have to pay your balance in full every month, for instance.
Rewards: 1.5% cash back.
Welcome bonus: None.
Annual fee: $0, though you’ll have to be a Stripe customer (which comes with payment processing fees).
Additional perks: Spend and expense management tools and discounts from vendors like Amazon Web Services, Expensify and Gusto.
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