EIN-only credit card applications
advanced · 4 min read
The reality
Most "small business" cards actually require a personal guarantee and pull personal credit. A true EIN-only card means the issuer takes on all the risk.
Who offers them
- Amex business cards — after you've been an Amex customer for 1+ year and have $10k+/month in spend, some cards start offering EIN-only upgrades.
- Ramp (ramp.com) — corporate charge card, requires $75k+ cash in business bank account.
- Brex — similar to Ramp, stricter revenue requirements post-2022.
- Divvy / BILL Spend & Expense — free corporate card with revenue requirement.
Why the personal guarantee matters
For the first 2-5 years, assume every business card is also a personal credit hit. Plan 5/24 around this.