Applying for a Business Credit Card without Business Credit
A business who hasn’t established a credit history would find it more difficult to deal with lenders and investors. The reason? Creditors and investors prefer to accept business partners who can present good to excellent credit history.
Does this mean you will have no chance of getting approved for new credit or a loan? The good news is that every company has the chance to start building credit history at any time. If you don’t have a business credit history yet, it isn’t too late to start building one. How? Here are the steps you need to take:
Register with a Business Credit Bureau
The first important step for you to do is to register your company with a business credit bureau. There are two major business credit reporting agencies in the country- Dun & Bradstreet and Experian. How do you apply for business credit from D&B?
To register with Dun & Bradstreet, you can visit their official website or call their toll free helpline at 1-800-234-3867. You will be asked some information about your business such as your company name, address, and contact numbers of your business. Be ready to provide the type of business you have, the name of the owner/s of the business, the year it was started, the number of employees you have (if any).
After registration, it usually takes 30 days for business credit application to be completed. Registration for a D&B number is free but if you want a speedier processing, you can pay $29.99 via credit card to receive your D&B number in just 10 days.
Apply for a Secured Business Credit Card
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After signing up with a business credit bureau, you are now ready to start building a solid credit history for your company. One easy way to do so is to get a secured business credit card. Secured business credit cards are created specifically for small businesses with no credit history or with bad credit. Since regular business credit cards often require good to excellent credit, your best bet is to apply for a secured business credit card.
With no credit history, you’re considered as a high risk applicant. Thus, secured business credit card applicants are required to submit a security deposit on their accounts. This way, funds would be available to the credit card issuer in case the business owner fails to keep up with payments.
Secured business credit cards may come with slightly higher interest rates than non-secured ones. But if you search carefully, it is possible to find a secured business credit card with reasonable terms and charges. Such a business credit card is definitely worth the investment because it is your stepping stone to building business credit.
Make sure that your secured business credit card issuer reports to the business credit bureaus. By keeping up with your payment obligations, you should be able to build your business credit within a year or so.
After this period, you should be able to upgrade from a secured business credit card to a non-secured one to enjoy lower interest rates, higher credit limit, rewards programs and other privileges that exclusively to non-secured business credit card holders.
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Pamela Williams is a Loan Consultant, Internet Marketer and Writer. For years she had helped consumers and business owners especially regarding business credit cards. This resource is dedicated particularly on business credit card reviews, articles, tips and advice, and online application so that consumers and business owners may compare which is the best business credit card for their business. Copyright 2010 |
Very informative and exactly what I was looking for. Thank you
@ Cheryl
Thank you for the appreciation. Come back again