Can You Get an Amazon Business Credit Card With No Personal Guarantee? 

If you were wondering if you can get an Amazon Business Card without a personal guarantee, the short answer is no. 

Both Amazon business credit cards — the Amazon Business American Express Card and the Amazon Prime Business American Express Card — require a personal guarantee.  

Note that this is par for the course, as most business credit cards require a personal guarantee, minus exceptions like the Brex Card.  

In fact, it’s quite difficult for business owners to find a business credit card that doesn’t require a personal guarantee. This is especially true for smaller businesses and startups that lack an established business credit history. 

Amazon Business Credit Cards Report to the Personal Credit Bureaus 

Many lenders only report business credit card account activity to personal credit bureaus if there’s an issue, such as a late payment or default.  

Some, however, like the two Amazon American Express business credit cards mentioned earlier, report both positive and negative account activity. This is especially common when a personal guarantee is involved. 

“Part of a personal guarantee may also include language that allows the lender to report details about the account to the personal credit reporting agencies — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian,” Forbes Advisor explains. “This is where the potential for personal credit score damage comes into play with a business credit card.”  

In turn, this can make it more difficult to get personal loans and other types of personal financing later on.  

The main reason for reporting to personal credit bureaus is to provide a card issuer with additional protection to a personal guarantee and hold the borrower accountable.  

Therefore, if you use one of the Amazon business credit cards, you should know that payment delinquency will be reported to the personal credit bureaus, and issues with your business credit cards can spill over into your personal credit.  

That’s why it’s so important to use an Amazon Business Card, as well as all other business credit cards, responsibly and always be on time with purchase payments.  

Whether it’s an Amazon Business Card, a Stripe Corporate Card, a Brex Corporate Card, a Ramp Corporate Card, an SVB Innovators Card, a Shell Small Business Card, or anything else, promptness is critical.  

The bottom line is that a card like the Amazon Business American Express Card has some strong selling points. Users get 3% cash back on each eligible Amazon purchase, complimentary employee cards, and a $100 Amazon gift card.  

But it does require a personal guarantee, which many business owners aren’t keen on.  

How to Get Business Credit Cards with EIN-Only 

EIN-only business credit cards are cards issued by lenders that identify you through your Employer Identification Number (EIN) rather than your Social Security number.  

This is a simple way to separate your business and personal credit history to protect your personal assets if something goes wrong.  

In turn, this can give you peace of mind when seeking business financing and establishing your creditworthiness.  

Also, separating your business and personal credit is a key part of quickly building business credit. In fact, it’s one of the strategies to help small companies build business credit in 30 days.  

Admittedly, getting business credit cards with EIN-only can be tricky for newer businesses with limited credit. But if you have good business credit, a card issuer will often approve you.  

Just note that most applications still require a Social Security number for Know Your Customer (KYC) laws. 

Getting these types of business credit cards largely boils down to knowing which lenders allow applications with just an EIN. That’s what we’ll be focusing on in this post.  

EIN Only Business Credit Cards (That Don’t Report to the Personal Credit Bureaus) 

Reporting positive payment activity to business credit bureaus like Dun & Bradstreet, Equifax Business, and Experian Business is an essential part of building business credit.  

D&B, in particular, is the most well-established and the credit bureau most small business owners target the most.  

It’s so important that we’ve even written a post about business credit cards that report to D&B to help small business owners choose card issuers that report to it.   

While reporting to business credit bureaus is a good thing, it’s not smart to report business payment activity to personal credit bureaus.  

By separating the two, it helps protect your personal credit score — something that’s extremely important, especially during the initial stages of starting a new business, which can be uncertain.  

To streamline this process, we’ve compiled a list of business credit card alternatives besides an Amazon Business Card that don’t report all business credit activity to personal credit bureaus.  

Just note that only four — Bank of America, Citi, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo don’t report positive or negative activity. The other two, however — American Express and Chase — only report negative activity.  

American Express Cards 

American Express is a card issuer that won’t report positive payments to the personal credit bureaus. However, it will report negative activity.  

Therefore, you’ll only want to use an American Express business card if you’re fully confident that you can consistently make payments on time. Otherwise, any late payments or defaults can potentially harm your personal credit.  

One of our favorites is the American Express Blue Business Cash Card, which offers 2% cash back on purchases of up to $50,000 per year and unlimited 1 cash back after that. There’s also no annual fee, and you pay 0% APR during the 12-month introductory offer.  

On top of that, American Express will give you a $500 statement credit if you spend $8,000 within the first three months on this business card, and you can conveniently purchase a gift card for a high-performing employee.  

Because reporting negative activity to personal credit bureaus isn’t ideal, we can’t rank this as one of the best business credit cards. But the robust reward program that you get with American Express makes this a card issuer worth mentioning.  

Bank of America Cards 

There are only a handful of business credit cards that don’t report anything to a personal credit bureau. And Bank of America falls into that category.  

It won’t report negative or positive payment history, which makes this card issuer a great option if you’re a business owner who wants to improve your business credit history without jeopardizing your personal credit score.  

The main drawback is that, like with its student credit cards, the majority of Bank of America business credit cards are somewhat underwhelming with rewards. While you can certainly do worse, other business credit card options have better rewards.  

One of the best business credit cards from Bank of America, in our opinion, is the Business Advantage Unlimited Cash Rewards Mastercard. It comes with 1.5% cash back (15 cash back for every $1,000 spent), no annual fee, and 0% APR for the first nine billing cycles.  

Also, you get a $300 bonus if you spend $3,000 within the first 90 days of an account opening.  

All in all, this is a solid business credit card option. And, of course, you don’t have to worry about any damage to your personal credit like you do with an Amazon Business Card.  

Chase Cards 

Just like American Express, Chase won’t report positive business account activity to personal credit bureaus, but it will report negative activity.  

This means that if you go through Chase, you need to be diligent about using your business credit card responsibly and always being on time with payments.  

Also, note that this credit card issuer has some strict credit requirements for eligibility. Therefore, it’s not always a realistic option if you’re a new small business owner with a limited credit history.  

However, if you have good or excellent credit, Chase should be a viable option.  

Perhaps the best business credit card from Chase is the Ink Business Cash Credit Card.  

With it, you “earn 5 cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at office supply stores and on internet, cable, and phone services” each year, as well as “2 cash back on the first $25,000 spent in combined purchases at gas stations and restaurants.” 

Besides that, Chase offers 1% cash back on all other purchases, with no limit on how much you can earn. Combine that with 0% APR for the first year and no annual fee, and this business credit card is hard to beat. 

Citi Cards 

Here’s another credit card company that won’t report any of your business credit activity to a personal credit bureau. If you want complete peace of mind that your personal credit won’t be impacted even in a worst-case scenario, Citi cards should be on your radar.  

There are two options to choose from — the Costco Anywhere Visa Card and the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard.  

The Costco Anywhere Visa Card requires a small business owner to have a Costco membership and offers:  

• 4% cash back on your first $7,000 of each gas station purchase and 1% after that 
• 3% cash back on restaurants and each eligible travel purchase 
• 2% on each Costco purchase (similar to Sam's Cash and the consumer Citi Double Cash card) 
• 1% on everything else 

There’s also no annual fee.  

As for the CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard, it offers a hefty intro bonus, with 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after you spend $4,000 within the first four months. There’s no annual fee for the first year, but there’s a $99 annual fee after that.  

If you travel frequently, this is another one of the best business credit cards you can get.  

U.S. Bank Cards 

Like Bank of America and Citi, U.S. Bank won’t report any business credit card account activity to a consumer credit bureau. And with multiple appealing card options available, with many having 0% balance transfer, U.S. Bank is a top contender.  

One of our favorites is the Business Leverage Visa Signature Card, which offers unlimited 2% cash back on your top two spending categories and 1% cash back on all other purchases.  

Having this type of reward customization is a nice feature that you don’t see with many other business credit cards.  

You also get a $750 bonus when you spend $7,500 in the first 120 days after opening an account. As for the annual fee, you pay nothing for the first year, and there’s a $95 annual fee after that.  

Also, there’s the Business Altitude Connect World Elite Mastercard, which is another of the best credit cards for small business owners who travel frequently.  

This business credit card offers: 

• 5x points on eligible hotel and car rentals 
• 4x points on airfare, hotels, gas, and EV charging stations on the first $150,000 
• 2x points on dining, takeout, and restaurant delivery 

There’s no annual fee for the first year, and there’s a $95 annual fee after that. You also get 60,000 points if you spend $6,000 in the first 180 days, and they make it simple to purchase an employee gift card.  

Wells Fargo Cards 

Finally, there’s Wells Fargo — another card issuer that also won’t report any business credit card payment activity to a personal credit bureau. At the moment, however, Wells Fargo doesn’t have any business credit cards available to new members.  

But according to the company’s website, a new business credit card is on its way in the coming months, and they encourage business owners to check back. You can stay updated here.  

If you’re curious about what you can expect with the Wells Fargo reward program, we mentioned in a previous post about which business credit cards do not report personal credit that its Business Platinum Card offers 1.5% cash back or 1 point per dollar on all purchases, along with a 1,000 point bonus when you spend $1,000 in a month.  

While this isn’t necessarily overwhelming, it’s still solid considering you don’t have to deal with any personal credit reporting. So keep Wells Fargo in mind as an alternative to an Amazon Business Card.  

Get eCredable to Build Business Credit 

If you’re looking for a fast, simple way to build business credit without dealing with a personal guarantee or credit check by turning your business bills into tradelines, you’ll want to know about eCredable.  

We’ll report expenses like electricity, water, gas, internet, and more to participating business credit bureaus to quickly improve your business credit score.  

After signing up, we’ll attempt to download up to the last 24 months of your business bills, with many users seeing a 40% business credit score improvement within the first three months.  

Learn more about eCredable here.