5 Best Business Credit Cards for Sole Proprietorships

Other picks: Best business credit cards for sole proprietors

How to apply for a business credit card as a sole proprietor

• Business name: Use your own name if you don’t have a formal business name.
• Business contact information: Use your personal address and phone number if you don’t have a dedicated office or business phone.
• Federal Taxpayer Identification Number: Use your Employer Identification Number. Don’t have one? Your Social Security number will also work.
• Industry type: Note what field you work in, whether it’s retail, professional services or deliveries.
• Annual revenue: Your total business income for the previous year before taxes and expenses. New businesses with no prior revenue can put $0.

Do sole proprietors need business credit cards?

• A personal credit card will not build your business credit history. Business and personal credit are two separate things. A sole proprietor can have excellent personal credit but no business credit history. Opening a business credit card is one way to establish and build your business credit history — which may make it easier to get a business loan or line of credit in the future — as a sole proprietor.
• But a personal card will definitely affect your personal credit. When you use a personal credit card, issuers report lots of information to the three personal credit bureaus. If you put a bunch of business expenses on this card, that could affect your personal debt-to-income and credit utilization ratios — which in turn could affect your credit score. With business credit cards, on the other hand, credit card companies typically only report late payments to consumer credit bureaus.