Small Business Credit Card Application Tips

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The following small business credit card application tips could save you $100′s if not $1,000′s if you put them into practice. Here are some of the things that you need to know about small business credit card applications and why a small business credit card even makes sense in the first place.

Applying for a Small Business Credit Card

Why apply for a small business credit card? The reasons are numerous but here are arguably the top 3 reasons to submit your small business credit card application online ASAP:

Rewards – Most small business credit cards have ways to earn rewards. Cash back, airline miles, and other perks are all things that can provide a boost to your businesses bottom line.
Tracking – For a small business owner tax time can prove to be a major headache when it comes to separate personal expenses from business expenses. Using a credit card for your small business (and only for your small business) is a great way to let the credit card company do some of the accounting work for you and keep your business expenses separate from your personal expenses.
Creditworthiness -It is important to build your small businesses creditworthiness as early as possible. Being able to show a strong record of on time payments to a business credit card can most definitely be a help when approaching a bank for a business loan.

The above 3 things are definitely advantages to applying for a credit card for your small business. Here are some concrete things that you should know as you begin the small business credit card application process.

Easy Small Business Credit Card Application Guidelines

When credit card issuers review the many small business credit card applications that get submitted to them they look for some very important things before deciding whether or not to approve the application. Some of these things they look for are exactly the same as what a bank looks for when deciding whether or not to set up a simple business checking account and accompanying small business debit card, However, there are also some things that the credit card company will have on the application that may be much different than the standard small business debit card application. Here are some things to pay close attention to.

Business Name – Unless you are a sole proprietor then you will need to put a business name on the application. Now this may sound silly to some but you would be surprised how many fledgling entrepreneurs begin to seek financing for their new small business via a credit card without first taking the necessary steps to form the business properly and set up a legal name for the business.
EIN – In addition the the legal business name requirement on all small business credit card applications there will also be a requirement for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) issued from the Internal Revenue Service. There is no cost to apply for an EIN and the EIN application process can be done 100% online with an instant EIN given if you use this IRS link. (Note: if your business is set up as a sole proprietorship then you will not need to put an EIN on the credit card application as you will just use your Social Security Number (SSN) in place of the EIN).
Financials – Financial statements from at least the past year are required on most small business credit card applications. It is best to have at least your gross annual sales number and your net profit number close by so that you do not get part way into the application process online and then the application times out or you are interrupted by having to search all over for the financial information that you need.

The above quick 3 things may seem simple once you read them but if you have all of the above information close at hand then your online small business credit card application process should go smoothly. Be sure to read more about all of the various business credit cards and then visit our home page to use our credit card “Chaser” to find and compare the very best credit cards!

How to Negotiate with Credit Card Companies

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Learning how to negotiate with credit card companies is well worth the few moments it may take you to read this article. Why is this? Well, if you have credit card debt and you are struggling to make your minimum payments (or maybe you are just a savvy consumer that wants to get a better interest rate and pay less in credit card interest each month) then spending just a few moments to read some of these credit card debt negotiation tips and then spending another few moments to call your credit card company and put the tips into practice could literally be worth $1,000′s to you in money that you save in interest payments. So let’s get right down to it. Here are some practical tips for learning how to negotiate debt with your credit card company.

#1 Pick up the Phone!

If you get nothing else from this article but just this first tip then this could still be well worth your time. I would challenge you right now to just take your credit card with the highest interest rate out of your wallet or purse, flip it over to read the 800 number on the back of the card, and then take your phone right now and dial the number. As soon as the customer service rep answers the phone simply say, “My current credit card interest rate is X percent. Can you lower my rate to X – 5%?” (See the below negotiation tactics if they do not say yes right away).

#2 Don’t be Afraid to Haggle

Picking up the phone and making the call is half of the battle. The other half is being persistent with the credit card company and willing to stick in there and do a little negotiation. If the customer service representative does not agree to lower your interest rate immediately then here are a few tactics that you could try:

Be very polite and friendly at all times. This is often an underrated tactic as most customer service reps will be happy to help someone (up to their authorization level) if they are dealing with someone that treats them nicely. Everything else being equal, customer service reps will give nice people what they want more often then they will give rude people what they want (and of course it’s just good manners!).
Do not make it easy for the customer service rep to say no. It can be tempting to say things like, “Are you sure?” or “Is there anything else that I can do?” but DO NOT ask these types of questions because then it makes it very easy for the customer service rep to just say no. Instead ask questions like, “I would really like to get my credit card interest rate lowered. I am a (really good customer that has always paid on time and I will go somewhere else to find a credit card with a lower interest rate if I have to but I would rather stay with you guys/having some cash flow problems currently and I know that I have had a couple of late payments recently but if you can lower my interest rate just a little bit and waive some of these late payment fees then I know that it will help me get back on track without having to miss anymore payments)” Notice how these types of questions are much better because they are allowing the customer service rep to be proactive about finding ways to help you out while not giving them any easy out by just saying no (Thanks to Ramit from this post on negotiating with your bank for some great advice used for this particular tip).
Make a counter offer. If the customer service rep (and their supervisor) refuses to lower your interest rate then politely but firmly ask them for a different concession that will also save you some money. This could be a removal of your credit card annual fee, a removal of some credit card overlimit charges, a removal of some credit card late charges, etc.

Of course, these are just a few credit card negotiation tips but just putting these few quick tips into practice could likely result in savings of $100′s or even $1,000′s.

#3 Make Notes

Make notes during every phone call with your credit card company. Refer to your notes from previous phone calls when you call back. Your notes will come in handy when you find out how many charges each particular credit card issuer typically allows their customer service reps to waive every month/quarter/year or any other useful information that you can glean from talking to the various credit card customer service representatives.

Every credit card is different and different people have different credit needs. Try our free credit card “Chaser” tool on our home page to search and compare the best credit cards online!

What’s a Good Credit Score?

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What is a good credit score anyway? With all of the talk about things that will increase ones credit score who really knows what a good credit score is in the first place? Well, here are some credit score statistics that will hopefully shed some light on the topic:

Credit scores range from 300 to 850 (Source: MyFICO)
The average US credit score is 693 (Source: Experian)
The region of the country with the highest average credit score is New England clocking in at a very respectable 712 while the region of the country with the lowest average credit score is the West South Central United States coming in at a less than stellar 673 (Source: National Score Index)

The above credit statistics should lay the framework for understanding what a “good” credit score really is. According to the above data if you have a credit score of 694 or higher than you can consider yourself a better than average credit risk as you have a higher credit score than 50% of Americans.

If you are one of those people that wants to be the very absolute best and shoot for a credit score in the 800′s then the more power to you but you should know that it is generally accepted that the top tier of credit scores starts at around 720 and above. Anything higher than 720 will net you just about the same interest rate as someone that is sitting dead even at the 720 mark. So what is considered a good credit score? 720 or above is about as close to the best answer that you can give for that question.

If you are someone who is worried about being considered a “sub prime” risk and as such being hit with high credit card interest rates and high mortgage rates then you should know that sub prime is typically used to describe any credit score that is below 580. Of course, different lenders and credit card issuers have different measures of sub prime and many lenders use a cut off mark of 640 rather than 580.

Many have also compared the different credit scoring tiers to an A – F grading system where anything that is graded C and above is generally considered a good credit score.

“A” Grade – 720 credit score or higher

“B” Grade – 620 credit score to 719 credit score

“C” Grade – 580 credit score to 619 credit score

“D” Grade – 550 credit score to 579 credit score

“F” Grade - 550 credit score and lower

(Source: 580 Credit Score)

How can you make a good credit score better? For starters, use your credit cards wisely. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that you should cut up your credit cards or not use them at all because a solid history of using credit wisely (making payments on time every month, not utilizing more than 50% of your available credit limit, etc.) will slowly but surely increase your credit score over time. Be sure to keep a close eye on your credit score by using a free credit report service that will monitor your score for any hint of foul play or identity theft.

If you are wondering, “What’s my credit score?” then be sure to visit the free credit report service page to get your free credit score from all 3 credit bureaus with enrollment in a credit monitoring service.

To find the credit card that is best for your specific situation be sure and use our free credit card “Chaser” tool to compare top credit card offers online!

Credit Cards for College Students: Wisdom or Folly?

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Are credit cards for college students a wise choice? Some would argue that credit card issuers prey on students from the second they arrive at college – organizing credit card drives, blasting out junk mail credit card offers to dorms and student housing complexes, setting up booths at college job fairs and social events. Others argue that students themselves can be at fault for blindly rushing into credit card agreements without understanding some of the potential pitfalls that can accompany a student credit card. Here are some things that all college students should know about student credit cards.

#1 Learn How to Use Credit Wisely

It could very well be that the best credit card for a college student is none at all! However, it could also be true that the sooner a college student gets a credit card then the better off they will be! So how do you reconcile both of these statements? Well, the first statement is true only if the college student does not first understand how to use credit wisely and even better understand how to make their credit card work for them and not against them.

The more that one treats a credit card like a debit card only spending money when they know that they have the funds in the bank to pay off the card balance in full at the end of the month the better of a financial situation the student will build for themselves both in the present and in the future.

If students can discipline themselves to pay off the card balance in full every month and the student takes advantage of some of the popular cash back credit cards that offer cash back rewards of up to 5% back on certain purchases then it is as if every purchase the student makes is bought with a coupon that gives up to 5% off! That is an example of not only using credit wisely but making credit work for the credit card owner and not vice versa.

#2 Build Your Credit Score

One of the absolute HUGE benefits to using a credit card early and often as a college student (or even high school student) is that every purchase and every on time payment made to the card works to build your credit history and in turn increase your credit score.

One of the biggest factors that determine a person’s credit score is length of credit history. The longer a person has shown responsible usage of credit then the better that person’s credit score will be. The better a person’s credit score will be then the easier it will be for that person to get a loan for a car, get a mortgage to buy a house, get better interest rates on all of their loans, get an apartment to rent – the list goes on and on.

Building your credit at a young age is something that you will thank yourself for doing years down the road. It is much better to determine to increase your credit score years in advance of trying to purchase that first home rather than desperately scrambling to increase your credit score in any way possible (by then it’s often too late as increasing your credit score is a slow and steady month by month process) and qualify for a mortgage in the few months leading up to the purchase.

The first step to improving your credit score is to know what your credit score is and then take steps to build your credit score, correct any mistakes that may be on your credit report, and then monitor your credit score.

Visit the free credit report page to compare some of the various services that offer free credit reports along with enrollment into their credit report monitoring services.

#3 Be Proactive

One of the biggest mistakes that students make when choosing a credit card is to just blindly accept the first card that happens to send them an invitation to apply. While this mistake is not unique to students as many people well out of school do the same thing it is nonetheless not a good way to go about finding the best student credit card.

Be proactive in your search – if you decide that you want a credit card then make a list of the best credit cards for college students (of course let us help make it easy on you by using our free credit card “Chaser” tool on our home page to find and compare tons of student cards in a snap) and find the card that has the features that you want.

Avoid filling out student credit card applications just because you happen to receive a piece of junk mail from a particular credit card company. You can find the best credit cards for college students. Bad credit even at a young age should not stop you from taking the bull by the horns, doing your homework, and doing a little research to find the very best college student credit card. Low interest rates can be had if you are willing to put some effort into your search. Let us help provide the tools you need to find and compare student credit cards. Use the free credit card “Chaser” tool to “chase” down and compare top credit cards today!

Choosing the Best Credit Card for Your Lifestyle

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Before choosing a credit card, there are few things that you should consider to make sure that you get the best credit card for you and your lifestyle. Just because you are pre-approved for a credit card does not mean that it is the best credit card for you.

You can get started finding great credit card offers right now by using our free credit card chaser! Whether you have had the same credit card for a long time or if you are shopping around for your very first credit card, it is always best to compare credit card offers side by side to see which card is the right choice for you.

Here are some things to keep in mind when deciding which credit card to apply for.

Understand The Details Of The Credit Card Offer

Credit card offers come with a lot of fine print, and understanding the basics can go a long way to helping you make a wise credit card decision.

• Fixed Rate Vs. Variable Rate: A credit card that comes with a low fixed rate is typically better than a card with a low variable rate. While credit card companies can raise your rate when interest rates go up with a fixed rate credit card, they must give you fifteen days notice. With a variable rate card, your interest rates can fluctuate quickly and you may not be aware of it.
• Low Introductory Rates: Most credit card offers come with low introductory annual percentage rates that last only for a certain period of time. While these cards can be a great choice, make sure you know what your interest rate will be once the intro rate period expires.
• Late Fees: Late fees can be extremely high and being late on a payment can also cause your interest rates to increase. Make sure you know the penalties for being late on payments and factor that into your decision (especially if you know you tend to forget to send those payments in on time.)
• Annual Fees: While a credit card offer may come with a low interest rate, there may be other costs to factor in such as an annual fee. Make sure you factor in all the extra costs; don’t just consider the interest rate.

Consider A Credit Card With A Rewards Program

There are many options for credit card consumers when it comes to credit cards with rewards programs. Consider what you spend most of your time doing when choosing a credit card with a rewards program to benefit the most from it.

Some common rewards credit card programs include:

• Travel
• Restaurants
• Sports
• Gas
• Entertainment
• Hotels
• Shopping

Whatever you like to do most, whether it’s traveling, shopping or attending sporting events, consider choosing a credit card that fits your lifestyle and can help you save money by earning rewards.

Find The Best Credit Card

Finding the best credit card for you is all about shopping around and comparing credit card offers before making your decision. However, relying on credit card offers you receive in the mail may not be the best way to hunt down the top credit cards available. Take the initiative and chase down the best available credit card offers!

Our free credit card chaser allows you to choose what you are looking for in a credit card, and then quickly and easily compare credit card offers that match your search criteria side by side.

Get started finding the best credit card for your lifestyle right now!

How to Get a Credit Card

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Learning how to get a credit card the SMART way is extremely important. While pretty much everyone over the age of 18 (and sometimes even those who are much younger!) gets swamped with credit card offers in the mail that does NOT mean that the best way to get a credit card is to simply wait for those offers to arrive in your mailbox and then start sending the credit card applications back in willy nilly. Here is everything that you need to know to get a credit card the smart way.

Why Use Credit Cards?

First of all, I think that it is important to talk about why using a credit card is important in the first place. You may have heard some people say that credit cards are to be avoided. Well, that is simply not true. Credit cards, when used properly, have a number of enormous benefits. Here are some of the benefits to using a credit card:

Credit History – The earlier that you can obtain a credit card and start to build a length and blemish free credit history the better. Just as many college students make the mistake of abusing credit cards during their younger years and running up large balances and making late payments there is another very insidious mistake that younger people can make which is waiting too long to have a credit card. The longer a person has a blemish free credit history then the better of a credit score that person will have (everything else being equal). If you have doubts about how you will use your very first credit card (or if you are concerned about your child getting their very first credit card) then simply commit to using the credit card just like a debit card. If the money is not in the checking account and ready to pay off the card balance at the end of the month then do not use the credit card. It’s really that simple.
Cash Back – Many credit cards are termed cash back credit cards because for every dollar that you spend with the credit card you can receive cash back from the credit card issuer of anywhere from 1% all the way up to 5%. If you can discipline yourself to pay off your credit card balance in full every month then you have just earned yourself a 1% to 5% discount on everything that you have purchased for the month! Think of it like your own personal 1% to 5% off coupon that you can use no matter where you shop. Of course, not all cash back credit cards are the same so be sure and use our free credit card “Chaser” tool on our home page to find cards and compare the best cards in each of the different categories.
Convenience/Security – Convenience and security really go hand in hand with having a credit card. Not only are credit cards accepted at almost every place you could possible want to buy something from both online and offline but if something bad happens to your money (i.e. fraud or theft) then almost every credit card issuer will make sure that you are taken care of. Getting this same level of fraud protection with a debit card is usually not as reliable and of course with cash the fraud protection is nonexistent.

There are many more benefits to owning and consistently using a credit card but the 3 reasons mentioned above are some of the most important reasons. Above all else, make sure that you don’t let your desire for being responsible with your money (definitely a good thing!) keep you from missing out on some of the great benefits that having a credit card can bring you when credit cards are used in the proper way.

How to Get a Credit Card with Bad Credit

One of the major things that could keep you from getting the credit card that you want is bad credit. While having bad credit is certainly a negative when it comes to searching for a credit card there are bad credit credit cards designed specifically for those with less than stellar credit and there are also some tips that you can use to still find a good credit card even with bad credit. Here are some tips for finding a credit card even with a bad credit history.

Start Small – While it is safe to say that having bad credit will usually prevent you from being approved for a Visa Black Card with a $50,000 credit limit it does not necessarily mean that you will get turned down for a less prestigious card. Start small and slowly build up your credit score and credit history by applying for a store credit card with a small credit limit, a secured credit card, a prepaid or debit card, or even a hotel credit card that is sponsored by a particular hotel chain that may be a little more lenient on their acceptance criteria than some of the other larger and more well known cards. As you build up your credit history and faithfully make payments on time every time your credit score will increase and with it your ability to be approved for more and more types of credit cards.
Try, Try Again – If you apply for a credit card and get declined then don’t give up! Every credit card is different in that each card has different approval criteria. Even cards from the same credit card issuer often have drastically different qualifications for being approved. Some cards are designed specifically for the small percentage of the population with close to perfect credit while others are designed for those with average credit and yet others are designed for those with less than average credit. Do your homework and don’t get discouraged.
Watch Your Credit Score – What could very well be the most important step for getting a credit card with bad credit is to have a firm grasp on what your credit score is and what steps you can take to improve your credit score. Get a free credit report from all 3 credit reporting agencies, check to make sure that there are not any errors in your credit report that are adversely affecting your credit score, and then use a credit monitoring service to make sure that you are alerted if there is anything that causes your credit score to drop.

No matter what your credit history is you can always start over and obtain a credit card even with a bad credit history if you simply take responsibility and discipline yourself to make wise financial choices.

How to Apply for a Credit Card

There is really nothing at all to learning how to apply for a credit card. The most important thing to know before starting the credit card application process is what the factors are that the various banks and credit card issuers use to determine who they will extend credit to and who they will refuse to extend credit to.

While all cards and credit card issuers are different most credit card applications will have questions dealing with:

Age (must be 18 or older)
Annual Income (most cards require a minimum of $12,000 a year in income to be approved for a credit card)
Employment History (the longer the employment history the better)
Types of Financial Accounts Owned (checking account, savings account, investment account, etc.)
Breakdown of Your Monthly Expenses (amount spent on rent/mortgage payment, car payment, child support, etc.)

Once you understand some of these factors on the application that affect the approval decision for a credit card then all you have to decide is how you want to apply for your credit card: online or with a paper application. Each of the 100′s of credit cards that can be found using our free credit card “Chaser” tool have online credit card applications that take place place securely and privately direct on the credit card issuers website. One of the advantages of completing a credit card application online is that many times the credit card issuer will give an instant approval rather than having to wait weeks to find out if you have been approved or not via snail mail.

2 Very Different Ways to Get a Credit Card

There are really 2 very different ways to go about getting a credit card. The first (and most common) way is to sit back and absorb the credit card marketing messages that constantly bombard us on a day to day basis. TV commercials, junk mail, newspaper inserts, promotions at your bank, promotions at your college, the list goes on and on (in fact, if you find yourself just inundated with junk mail from credit card companies then you can get some information on how to stop the credit card junk mail by visiting FTC.gov). This way is the easiest way to get a credit card. You just sit back and let whoever has the loudest marketing voice get your business. Is this really the best way to find a GOOD credit card? You may get lucky and open a piece of junk mail to find a card that will give you everything you need but rather you will just get the card that has the highest profit margins for the credit card issuer (or maybe a great card but just not the best card for your particular spending habits).

The second way to get a credit card is to be proactive in searching out credit cards and comparing the relative pros and cons of each of the different cards offered by the various banks and other credit card issuers. If earning cash back is important to you then make sure to compare the best cash back cards. If earning travel rewards and free flights is important to you then be sure and compare all of the best travel rewards cards. The most important thing is that you are taking the initiative to get the credit card that will best meet your needs and NOT the needs of the credit card issuer.

Learn how to get a credit card the SMART way. Be proactive in your search. Use our free credit card “Chaser” tool on our home page to find and compare 100′s of the top credit cards today!

6 Advantages of Applying for a Credit Card

Published by Sandra Waldorf

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This article comes from Sandra Waldorf. Sandra runs the UK personal finance advice and tips blog Thinking Money. Sandra focuses on providing information on credit cards, advice on borrowing money, and general purpose financial advice designed for UK residents. Sandra is a newcomer here on Credit Card Chaser.

The biggest advantage by far of having a credit card is that you need not carry cash. As long as you have a high enough credit amount and the means to pay the card off at the end of the month, you can easily buy pretty much anything you want using it and if you find you need some fruit from the local street vendor, you can even pull out a little from the cash machine using it.
The second advantage provided by a credit card is safety. If your wallet is stolen or lost, you don’t not have to worry about losing the cash in there (which is not only a pain to claim back but also you’re not guaranteed to get it back either!) with a credit card you can just cancel the card straightaway and no one can use it. If they did use it really really quickly, it can always be traced back to the source and you stand a much better chance of getting your money back.
Using your card responsibly and often can help increase your credit rating. Having a positive credit rating can help you to apply for low APR credit cards and mortgages and loans. You just have to maintain your credit card account properly and you will never face the problem of low credit score in your life, hampering you from getting future credit like on a new car purchase!
As a result of a better credit score, you will also get more credit to play with. So although you may start off with a low amount to play with, the more you spend and pay off on time, the more likely they will review your credit limit favorably.
Fifthly, the credit card offers all the advantages of bank account or debit card without any of its associated disadvantageous. It’s also extremely easy to apply for a credit card, with great deals flying bout, you can have money to use in an emergency that can act as a wage advance using your paycheck to pay off the card at the end of the month. You can even go beyond the limit provided but be prepared to pay the penalties and the charges
A great advantage is the fact you can use a credit card online. Nowadays there are many items you can buy online cheaper than going to the store. Rather than sending a check or making use on cash delivery methods, (which to be honest not many companies will accept) you can pay using your credit card and enjoy valuable goods and services through the Internet without any difficulty.

Get started comparing all credit cards now!

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