Stage 7
Business Credit
Build credit under your EIN so your personal credit stops being the ceiling on what your business can borrow.
How EIN-based business credit works
Business credit is tracked separately from your personal credit, primarily through Dun & Bradstreet (which issues a DUNS number), Experian Business, and Equifax Business. Establishing a DUNS number and getting a few vendors/trade lines to report payment history to these bureaus is how a business starts building its own credit profile, separate from your personal score.
In practice, most early-stage businesses start with a business credit card, since it's the fastest way to establish a track record — and most early-stage card approvals still rely on your personal credit and a personal guarantee, since the business itself has no history yet.
Cards by stage
No-revenue startup cards (often from online-first banks like Mercury or Brex) typically underwrite based on cash in the bank rather than personal credit or revenue — useful before you have revenue history.
Revenue-based business cards (Chase Ink, Amex Business, Capital One Spark) typically want to see some combination of personal credit history, time in business, and revenue, in exchange for stronger rewards programs.
Credit card comparison
Suggested: A cash-based startup card
- Without revenue history yet, look at startup cards that underwrite based on cash in the bank rather than personal credit or time in business (e.g. from online-first banks like Mercury) — the revenue-based cards below will be a harder approval right now.
- Come back to this once you have a few months of revenue.