I'M INTERESTED IN:
Our pick for
Overall business card for fair credit
Capital on Tap Business Credit Card
3.8
NerdWallet rating
on Capital on Tap's website
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5%
Intro offer
$200
The Capital on Tap Card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases, no annual fee and the potential for a big sign-up bonus. Best of all, it’s available to business owners with a personal FICO score of 670 or higher, provided you meet other requirements. Note: This business card is not available to sole proprietors.
Capital on Tap Business Credit Card
NerdWallet rating
★3.8/5
Read review
on Capital on Tap's website
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5%
Intro offer
$200
The Capital on Tap Card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases, no annual fee and the potential for a big sign-up bonus. Best of all, it’s available to business owners with a personal FICO score of 670 or higher, provided you meet other requirements. Note: This business card is not available to sole proprietors.
Pros
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases
- 24/7 customer service
Cons
- Not available to sole proprietors, charities or nonprofits
- Must enroll in automatic payments
Read full review
- 1.5% rewards on all spend, no caps or restrictions
- Earn $200 cashback when you spend $15,000 in the first 3 months.
- $0 annual fee
- No foreign exchange fees
- APRs range from 18.49% to 35.99% variable
- Unlimited cards for your employees
- Capital on Tap Business Credit Cards are issued by WebBank
Our pick for
Corporate card for business owners with fair credit
Ramp Card
4.0
NerdWallet rating
on Ramp's website
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5% Cashback
Intro offer
N/A
The Ramp Card comes with a lot of perks: unlimited cash back, spending controls, forecasting tools and automatic receipt matching. Plus, there's no credit check or personal guarantee, making it a good option for business owners with fair credit but ample business cash reserves. But since it’s a corporate card, it’s only available to businesses registered as corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships.
Ramp Card
NerdWallet rating
★4.0/5
Read review
on Ramp's website
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1.5% Cashback
Intro offer
N/A
The Ramp Card comes with a lot of perks: unlimited cash back, spending controls, forecasting tools and automatic receipt matching. Plus, there's no credit check or personal guarantee, making it a good option for business owners with fair credit but ample business cash reserves. But since it’s a corporate card, it’s only available to businesses registered as corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships.
Pros
- No annual fee or foreign transaction fees
- Simple, straightforward rewards
- No personal guarantee or credit check
- Direct integrations with popular tools and card-level spending controls and alerts
Cons
- Balance must be paid in full each month
- Not available to sole proprietors or unincorporated businesses
Read full review
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases, no minimum spend required.
- No annual fee or foreign transaction fees.
- No personal credit check or personal guarantee required.
- Issue unlimited virtual cards and physical cards for each employee.
- Prevent out-of-policy spending with built-in controls, including spend restrictions by category or merchant.
- Ramp is a corporate charge card powered by Visa. Businesses are required to pay the monthly balance in full by each statement period.
- Must have at least $75,000 in cash in any U.S. business bank account to qualify.
- Must have most of your operations and corporate spend in the US (although Ramp does support international transactions and will waive all related transaction fees).
- Ramp is only available to corporations, LLCs and limited partnerships. Individuals, sole proprietorships and unregistered businesses are not eligible.
Our pick for
Businesses with professional investors
Brex Card
3.2
NerdWallet rating
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1x-7x Points
Intro offer
10,000 Points
The Brex Card doesn't require a personal credit check, making it a good option for those with fair or average credit. You can earn a welcome bonus and ongoing rewards with bonus categories. Monthly repayment terms are reserved for business owners with professional funding and a healthy bank balance, though, and this charge card isn’t an option for sole proprietors.
Brex Card
NerdWallet rating
★3.2/5
Read review
on Brex's website
Annual fee
$0
Rewards rate
1x-7x Points
Intro offer
10,000 Points
The Brex Card doesn't require a personal credit check, making it a good option for those with fair or average credit. You can earn a welcome bonus and ongoing rewards with bonus categories. Monthly repayment terms are reserved for business owners with professional funding and a healthy bank balance, though, and this charge card isn’t an option for sole proprietors.
Pros
- No annual fee
- New cardholder bonus offer
- Qualify with limited/bad credit
- Bonus categories
- No foreign transaction fees
- No personal guarantee
Cons
- Complicated rewards structure
- High capital requirement for approval
- Daily repayment may be required
Read full review
- Get 10,000 points when you spend $3,000 on a Brex Card within your first 3 months.
- No personal guarantee needed – Brex does not ask for a personal credit check or security deposit during the application.
- Credit limits 10-20x higher than traditional small business corporate cards.
- Minimum bank balance of $50,000 from professional investors may be required to qualify for Brex.
- Exclusive signup offers from the best products and tools for your business (e.g. AWS, Google Ads, WeWork, Salesforce) worth up to $150,000 in value.
- Earn points on every dollar spent with industry-leading multipliers: 7x on rideshare, 4x on Brex Travel, 3x on restaurants, 2x on software subscriptions and 1x on all other transactions.
- Earn 3x Brex Rewards points on all eligible Apple purchases through the link or your Brex dashboard.
- Miles transfer program to 7 airlines (including Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Air France, and more) and their loyalty programs, giving Brex customers access to book travel across all of the major global airline alliances - Star Alliance, Oneworld, and SkyTeam.
- 30-day charge card running on the Mastercard network. Enjoy global acceptance with no foreign transaction fees.
- Build business credit: Brex partners with Dun & Bradstreet and Experian to report your on-time payments.
- Make employee expenses seamless - automated receipt-capture and expense matching and reconciliation via text, email, and mobile app. Instantly add new users and set spending limits.
- Contactless pay with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
- Simplify reconciliation with built-in integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, NetSuite, and more.
Our pick for
Personal card for sole proprietors with fair credit
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
4.7
NerdWallet rating
on Capital One's website
Annual fee
$39
Rewards rate
1.5%-5% Cashback
Intro offer
N/A
Sole proprietors can use a personal card like the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
NerdWallet rating
★4.7/5
Read review
on Capital One's website
Annual fee
$39
Rewards rate
1.5%-5% Cashback
Intro offer
N/A
Sole proprietors can use a personal card like the Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
Pros
- Qualify with average credit
- High rewards rate
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Has annual fee
- High APR
Read full review
- Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
- No rotating categories or limits to how much you can earn, and cash back doesn't expire for the life of the account. It's that simple
- Be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as 6 months
- Enjoy peace of mind with $0 Fraud Liability so that you won't be responsible for unauthorized charges
- Help strengthen your credit for the future with responsible card use
- Enjoy up to 6 months of complimentary Uber One membership statement credits through 11/14/2024
- Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, where you'll get Capital One's best prices on thousands of trip options. Terms apply
- Monitor your credit score with CreditWise from Capital One. It's free for everyone
- Check out quickly and securely with a contactless card, without touching a terminal or handing your card to a cashier. Just hover your card over a contactless reader, wait for the confirmation, and you're all set
NerdWallet's editorial picks: Best business credit cards for fair credit
Select the card name to read our review. Before applying, confirm details on the issuer’s website.
Capital on Tap Business Credit Card
Our pick for: Best overall business card for fair credit
The Capital on Tap Business Credit Card 1.5%
Ramp Card
Our pick for: Best corporate card for business owners with fair credit
The Ramp Card is a corporate charge card available to incorporated businesses that have strong revenue and at least $75,000 in a business bank account. There's no personal guarantee or credit check. Plus, Ramp offers unlimited cash-back rewards and card-level spending controls with no annual fee. Read our review.
Brex Card
Our pick for: Businesses with professional investors
Unlike most cards designed for entrepreneurs, the Brex Card
» MORE: Business credit cards with no personal credit check required
Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business
Our pick for: Business card for sole proprietors with fair credit
The Capital One® Spark® Classic for Business is one of the few business credit cards available to sole proprietors with fair credit. There aren’t many perks to speak of, but the card has no annual fee and can be a useful tool to build your business credit score. Read our review.
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card
Our pick for: Personal card for sole proprietors with fair credit
Sole proprietors with fair credit lack business card options. But this personal card is a suitable alternative, assuming you don’t need employee cards. The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card is for people with fair or "average" credit but it pays the same cash-back rate as the regular Quicksilver card, which targets people with excellent credit. The key difference is that this version charges an annual fee while the regular one does not (see rates and fees). Read our review.
Bank of America® Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® Secured credit card
Our pick for: Secured business credit card
The Bank of America® Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® Secured credit card can help you build your business credit profile while earning 1.5% cash back on all purchases. The card has a minimum security deposit of $1,000, which is equal to your credit limit and subject to credit approval. Bank of America® will periodically review your secured card and may upgrade you to an unsecured card if and when you qualify. This card has no annual fee.
How to choose a business credit card for fair credit
Make sure to consider these factors when comparing business credit cards that cater to owners with fair or average credit.
Eligibility: Your business structure and annual revenue will determine eligibility for many of the business card options for fair credit. Corporate cards like Ramp and Brex, for example, are not available to sole proprietors.
APR: A lower credit score often translates to a higher interest rate, which can make carrying a balance quite costly. Take care to compare APR ranges for available cards to determine your best option.
Repayment terms: Many of the business cards available to owners with fair credit are charge cards, meaning they don’t let you carry a balance. This can have advantages. For starters, you won’t pay interest. Paying bills on time and in full can build your business credit score. But automatic monthly payments (or daily payments, in the case of Brex) can strain your cash flow if you aren’t diligent about expenses.
Should fair credit business owners consider a personal card?
Sole proprietors with fair credit will have more options if they add personal credit cards into the mix. These cards report to consumer credit bureaus and can be used to build your personal credit score, assuming you practice good credit card hygiene. A higher personal credit score will help you qualify for a better business credit card — with more perks and better bonuses — down the road.
Personal cards aren’t an option for other business entities, though. If you run an LLC, partnership or corporation, you’ll need to build your personal credit separately. Alternatively, there are a few card issuers that report to both business and consumer credit bureaus.
As an expert in the field of credit cards and financial products, I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to guide you through the intricacies of choosing the right credit card for your business needs. I've closely followed market trends, product features, and user feedback to provide comprehensive insights into the options available.
Let's delve into the concepts used in the article discussing business credit cards for fair credit:
-
Capital on Tap Business Credit Card:
- Rewards and Fees: The Capital on Tap Business Credit Card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no annual fee. It provides a $200 cash back as a sign-up bonus when you spend $15,000 in the first 3 months.
- Eligibility: Available to business owners with a personal FICO score of 670 or higher, excluding sole proprietors.
- Features: Unlimited 1.5% cash back, 24/7 customer service, but requires enrollment in automatic payments.
-
Ramp Card:
- Rewards and Fees: The Ramp Card offers unlimited 1.5% cash back with no annual fee. It is a corporate card available to businesses registered as corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships.
- Eligibility: No personal guarantee or credit check, but not available to sole proprietors or unincorporated businesses.
- Features: Spending controls, forecasting tools, and automatic receipt matching.
-
Brex Card:
- Rewards and Fees: The Brex Card has a varying rewards structure (1x-7x Points) with no annual fee. It offers a welcome bonus of 10,000 points.
- Eligibility: No personal credit check required, but monthly repayment terms are reserved for business owners with professional funding.
- Features: Exclusive signup offers, high credit limits, and rewards in various categories.
-
Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card:
- Rewards and Fees: The Capital One QuicksilverOne Cash Rewards Credit Card provides 1.5%-5% cash back with a $39 annual fee.
- Eligibility: Suitable for sole proprietors with fair credit.
- Features: Helps build credit, automatic consideration for a higher credit line, and various cash back benefits.
-
Bank of America® Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard® Secured credit card:
- Rewards and Fees: This secured credit card offers 1.5% cash back on all purchases with no annual fee.
- Eligibility: Available for building business credit, requires a minimum security deposit of $1,000.
- Features: Periodic reviews for potential upgrades to an unsecured card.
The article emphasizes the importance of considering eligibility, APR, repayment terms, and perks when choosing a business credit card for fair credit. It also suggests that sole proprietors with fair credit may consider personal cards to build credit before transitioning to a business card with better perks. However, this option is not applicable to other business entities such as LLCs, partnerships, or corporations.
