cannot get a TRULY "corporate" card

[Anonymous]

American Express tells me that my company cannot get a corporate card because we are too small (under one million). The President of the company would have to provide his own financial info in order to apply for a "small business" card. So the business doesn't complete the application, he does, personallly.

I believe Visa and Mastercard work the same way. My google research so far indicates this.

Anyone have success obtaining a busines card for a small business, without providing personal info?


Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I went through this recently and it definitely required personal information. And it wasn't that easy. We make a lot of money and can get personal cards with huge limits but to get a business card using the same finanical info was much more challenging - I had to provide business bank statements, certificate of incorporation, etc. In the end I am not sure it makes much of a difference. The busienss card has the business name on it, and in theory I can get cards for employees if I wanted to, but that seems to be it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went through this recently and it definitely required personal information. And it wasn't that easy. We make a lot of money and can get personal cards with huge limits but to get a business card using the same finanical info was much more challenging - I had to provide business bank statements, certificate of incorporation, etc. In the end I am not sure it makes much of a difference. The busienss card has the business name on it, and in theory I can get cards for employees if I wanted to, but that seems to be it.

but it was not the business's financials you provided - it was your own? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went through this recently and it definitely required personal information. And it wasn't that easy. We make a lot of money and can get personal cards with huge limits but to get a business card using the same finanical info was much more challenging - I had to provide business bank statements, certificate of incorporation, etc. In the end I am not sure it makes much of a difference. The busienss card has the business name on it, and in theory I can get cards for employees if I wanted to, but that seems to be it.

but it was not the business's financials you provided - it was your own? Thanks.

Yes my own. Personal credit check, etc. Part of that was that it was a new business so not much history to go on.

[Anonymous]

They don't want you to fold the company and leave them stuck with bad debt. A small company is hard to separate financially from its owner.

[Anonymous]

So my company DOES have a corporate Amex program, and I tried getting one straight out of college (not bad credit, but just very little credit because I didn't get a credit card until i got a job, and that was my first job). I was declined based on lack of credit history. It was very embarrassing because our CFO got the notice that I was declined, as did I. The note I got said my company was notified but was not told the reason why I was declined credit. That was the worst part, because I imagine they thought I had bad credit or bankrupticies or something.

How hard should it really be to get a corporate card? I've taken another job since then and basically didn't even try to get a card (even though I have plenty of (good) credit now) simply because I didn't want to give them my business.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. My husband got one for his LLC through Costco. I think he just had to provide an EIN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. My husband got one for his LLC through Costco. I think he just had to provide an EIN.

Yes, but is the debt secured by him personally? In other words, can they collect from him/you personally if his company fails to pay? That may be a matter of a paragraph in the agreement.

[Anonymous]

I have a company corporate card and a company with just under 3M in revenues and about 250k in salary and 350k in profit on top of that and 10 years in business. And I personally guarantee our corporate cards and 150k bank line of credit. I've inquired and basically been told that absent substantial corporate assets and at least 5M in revenues and 1M profits not including my salary it will never happen, and even that will be hard.