Do Business Credit Cards Affect Your Personal Credit?
The application and the personal guarantee
Nearly all small-business cards require a personal guarantee, so the application triggers a hard inquiry on your personal credit, and your personal credit largely determines approval. That inquiry is the same small, temporary ding as any card application.
Most cards stay off your personal report
After approval, most issuers, including Chase, American Express, Citi, U.S. Bank, Barclays, and Bank of America, do not report routine business-card activity to your personal credit. That keeps business balances and utilization off your personal report, which is one of the quiet perks of a business card, and it is why most business cards do not add to your 5/24 count.
The exceptions and the risk
Capital One, Discover, and TD Bank are the well-known issuers whose business cards do report to your personal credit, so those add to your 5/24 and affect your personal utilization. And with any issuer, serious delinquency can land on your personal report because you personally guaranteed the account. See do business cards count toward 5/24.
Frequently asked questions
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