Best Business Gas Cards That Require an EIN Only
Do your employees drive many miles? If fuel is a large business expense, then a gas card might be best to fuel your driving. A gas card provides a specific type of business credit that supports your driving needs with the controls that you want.
While there are many types of business credit cards, a gas card is tailored to the needs of driving-related eligible purchases.
A card issuer, such as American Express or Capital One, might have attractive credit products, but a gas card or fleet card may be better suited for your business.
Most of these EIN-only business gas cards are tier 2 business credit vendors, which means that you can qualify for them with minimal business credit. They’re great tools for how to build business credit without using personal credit.
Best EIN-Only Business Gas Cards
1. Shell Small Business Card
Shell offers a variety of gas cards to meet your business credit and credit card needs.
While a gas card may be similar to a corporate card or business credit card in that it may require a personal guarantee and rely on the small business owner's personal credit, gas cards are optimized for a small business with a large number of drivers driving many miles and align rewards with that driving activity.
All Shell cards offer a variety of discounts, rewards, and annual fees, but they do vary by card so be sure to determine which is the best business credit card for your small business.
Roadside assistance, a B2B Loyalty program, and a variety of driving-related features could differentiate a Shell business credit card from other corporate credit cards.
Keep in mind that the small business owner will need to provide access to their personal credit and credit history to get approved, but in the long run, avoiding cash payments and not impacting a personal credit score makes sharing those data well worth it.
Gas cards are not alone amongst business credit cards in terms of reporting to your personal credit for missed payments and you can read more about that in our article, Which Business Credit Cards Do Not Report Personal Credit.
2. ExxonMobil
ExxonMobil is one of the largest gas retailers in the United States with over 12,000 stations. Exxonmobil offers two gas cards.
The BusinessPro Card is for any business with vehicles while the FleetPro Card is designed for mixed and diesel-driven fleets.
Beyond the credit cards being targeted to different segments and that they share many of the same rewards and benefits, there are significant differences.
Like most fuel cards, there is the big distinction of purchasing at Exxon and Mobil stations versus the flexibility to use the card at over 95% of stations across the United States.
Regardless, being able to track gas card purchases has significant benefits over your employees paying cash or using their personal credit to fill up.
Being able to provide your employees with a gas card rather than relying on their own credit history or personal credit to get their own credit cards allows the business owner to rest assured that their employees will not be left with an empty tank when going to visit customers, make deliveries, or other trips to help grow their small business.
Think of this gas card as an important aspect of your overall business credit that keeps your small business driving forward.
3. Phillips 66
With three well-known brands and over 7,500 stations across the USA, Phillips 66 is a brand you can trust. With two credit card options, each with great benefits, either the Business Fleet Card or the Business Universal Card may be well-suited to your gas card needs.
The main difference between the gas cards is that the Business Fleet Card has no annual fee and is accepted at their three brands, while the Business Universal Card has an annual fee but is accepted at 95% of US gas stations.
The decision for your small business is whether you value savings more than flexibility. With either gas card, your small business will not be relying on cash purchases, employee personal credit, or other business cards to keep your small business from moving forward.
The Phillips 66 business credit card is optimized to allow small business owners to manage and control their fuel purchases.
Unlike an American Express card that may provide broad usage and excellent travel-related rewards, these business credit cards can restrict spending by product type or limit fueling by the time or day of the week, giving the small business owner more control of their finances.
4. Chevron and Texaco
Chevron and Texaco have two primary business card options to help fuel your small business growth.
One of their credit cards, the Business Card, applies to small businesses that primarily drive locally, and the other credit card, the Business Access Card, applies to small businesses that drive longer distances.
Each card comes with introductory rebates, while the Business Access Card offers longer-term, volume-based rebates.
More than just a gas card, these credit cards allow for purchases beyond fuel but do allow the small business to limit card purchases by product type or dollar amount.
Rather than having your employees pay with cash or rely on personal credit, these cards provide added controls in that the small business owner can track employee spending in real-time and provide detailed purchase history reports.
While these cards may not provide the wide range of benefits of a regular business credit card, they are tailored to small businesses that make lots of fuel purchases.
Being able to track and pay for fuel purchases without the need to reimburse employees, rely on paper receipts, or manually track behaviors allows you to spend more time focused on growing your small business.
5. BP Business Solutions First
Most everyone in the US has recently driven past or frequented a BP or Amoco gas station. As a small business owner, if your employees make fuel purchases and there are BP stations close by then the BP fleet cards may be right for you.
Limited to the thousands of BP and Amoco stations nationwide, if you need the flexibility to purchase at other retailers then a different gas card, business credit card, or corporate credit card may better serve your needs.
Keep in mind that a regular business credit card or corporate credit card will not provide the added controls and fuel-specific rewards that a gas card would provide.
Nevertheless, any of the business credit solutions are more desirable than relying on personal credit for business expenses. And, as always, using cash for fuel purchases provides no controls and will take more time to validate, process, and reimburse fuel purchases.
While relying on cash for fuel purchases does not require any personal guarantee, credit history, or credit score, cash purchases cannot be a viable part of your business credit or small business growth strategy.
So, if BP or Amoco are your chosen brands then the BP Fleet cards may provide the largest rebates with a full set of account controls and security features to meet your business credit needs.
6. Universal Premium
The Universal Premium Mastercard® has been replaced by the Fuelman Mastercard®. The Fuelman Mastercard® provides significant flexibility in that it is accepted everywhere Mastercard® is accepted while providing significant controls and rewards for fuel purchases.
These cards are designed for fleets that need to fill up on the go regardless of the brand or the location.
A variety of options from small to large fleets, local to nationwide fleets, and everything in between means that as a small business owner, there is a gas card solution that will fit your needs.
In addition, these gas cards mean that there is no need to search out a specific station, these cards are accepted anywhere Mastercard® is accepted to provide the ultimate flexibility for your employees.
Rather than an annual fee, there is a monthly fee associated with these credit cards, but these credit cards can be canceled at any time.
There are also options for diesel fleets that may be best suited for your hauling, towing, construction, or other businesses that rely on diesel-powered vehicles.
If you need flexibility and access to over 40,000 stations nationwide while enjoying rebates, convenience, controls over purchases, and 24/7 roadside assistance then these gas cards might be the best credit card solution for your small business.
7. Sunoco Fleet Universal Card
Sunoco is another well-known brand that has more than 5,000 stations across more than 30 states.
The Sunoco gas cards provide many of the same fuel purchase-related benefits and rewards as other gas cards, but if you frequent Sunoco stations this may be the business credit card for you.
As a business owner, you need to decide if fuel purchases are a significant portion of your total business expense, if managing and processing your employee cash or personal credit fuel purchases warrants a specialized card, or if a regular corporate credit card is sufficient.
Regarding which card is best for your small business, while both Sunoco cards provide the added level of security and controls to manage large fuel purchase volumes, the differences between annual fees, cashback rewards, and flexibility to purchase outside of the Sunoco family will most likely drive your decision.
Regardless, either of these credit cards will keep your employees on the road and will not impact your or your employees’ credit history, credit score, or credit history.
Saving money, controlling fuel purchases, and separating business credit from personal credit make gas cards an attractive part of a small business’s overall business credit portfolio if your small business needs gas to fuel your business.
8. Valero
Valero has over 5,000 fueling locations across the United States and offers the Valero Fleet Card and the Valero Fleet Plus Card.
While the first gas card has no annual fee and is accepted at Valero locations, the Valero Fleet Plus Card does have an annual fee but is accepted at 95% of gas stations nationwide.
Both cards provide a range of security and control measures, visibility into purchase history, and overall account management that is critical to any small business with a large number of fuel purchases.
Like any other card, the best control may be avoiding the use of cash for fuel purchases, but the added controls over specific drivers, product types, locations, or purchase times can provide an added level of comfort for the small business owner.
The Valero Fleet card does allow the small business to carry a monthly balance from month to month to provide payment flexibility, thereby enabling a type of business credit to help manage cash flow and take full advantage of the card benefits.
While the small business owner’s personal credit and credit score may be required for approval, once the card issuer provides the business card there should be no impact to the business owner as long as the card is being paid on time.
9. Speedway Business Fleet Card
Speedway is one of the better-known ways to fill up your tank on a busy day. Generally, with lots of pumps and treats inside, Speedway is a great stop to fill up both the car and the driver.
So, if you are a frequent Speedway customer, ditch the personal credit, look past the regular business credit cards, and take a look at the Speedway Fleet Cards.
Rather than paying cash or a regular credit card, processing receipts, and reimbursing employees, a Speedway Fleet Fuel card allows the small business owner to manage, control, and account for all fuel purchases.
Like other gas cards, the Speedway Fleet Cards allow easy access to all past purchases and credit history through an easy-to-use online portal or mobile experience.
A corporate card or regular business card does not provide the fuel purchase-specific rewards and benefits that this gas card provides your small business.
If your small business spends a lot of time in airports and flying then perhaps an American Express card is right for your business but if you fill up at the local Speedway frequently during business hours then this credit card and its built-in controls may be the business credit for you.
10. Wex
The Wex Fleet Card is a full-featured gas card that provides an attractive alternative to the gas retailer branded cards.
With a wide variety of rewards, benefits, built-in controls, reports, and 24/7 customer service the Wex Fleet card is accepted at over 95% of gas stations and over 45,000 service locations nationwide.
The Wex Fleet Card will keep your business driving. While the business owner may need to provide a personal guarantee and rely on their personal credit history for approval, the card is truly a business gas card.
Employees will no longer need to use cash or their personal credit for each fuel purchase.
Instead, the business expense will be paid for by the business credit card and therefore will align with the security and controls established by the small business owner and tracked along with all other fuel purchases.
Like other gas cards, the Wex Fleet Card does not offer the wide range of rewards and benefits of a regular business credit card, corporate credit card, or personal credit card, but it does align rewards and discounts with eligible purchases related to driving.
Even with a personal guarantee, gas card activity should have no impact on your personal credit history or credit score and may even help build your business credit history.
However, if you are interested in learning about building your business credit you can read about this in one of our earlier posts, how to build business credit in 30 days.
How to Qualify for These Cards
Similar to how these business credit cards have different rewards, discounts, and features, each will have different criteria to qualify. However, while the specifics may differ, there are certain similarities to qualify for these cards.
Business owners must be prepared to share their personal credit information, credit history, and credit score during the application process. Do not be surprised if a personal guarantee is required to qualify.
Also, business owners should be prepared to share their number of years in business, total revenues, number of employees, legal structure, and other business information.
Another key item may be your estimated monthly spending on fuel purchases. The level of spending, type of fuel, and specific locations regarding your fuel purchases may point you to one or more of these business credit cards, which may have specific criteria to qualify.
Remember, this is not like applying for a Capital One, American Express, or other personal credit card, but to qualify, much of the same personal credit, credit score, and credit history will factor into the decision to see if you qualify.
The biggest difference is that these gas cards will be issued in the name of small businesses, not the business owners or employees.
Therefore, this is business credit similar to a business loan or business credit card, but may require a personal guarantee so the business owners are ultimately responsible for all of the business expenses.
How eCredable Can Help
Leveraging business gas cards EIN-only is a great way to simplify fuel purchases while keeping the separation of your business expenses from your personal credit.
While these gas cards should not have any impact on your personal credit as long as you are paying your bills on time, they may or may not single-handedly help you build the business credit you need to move completely away from personal guarantees and relying on your personal credit for business credit.
To do that you need to build out your business profile at the major business credit bureaus - D&B, Experian, Equifax, and Creditsafe. While that seems like a herculean task, eCredable Business Lift is here to provide help in building out your business credit profile.
This service enables you to leverage many of the business expenses you are already paying to enhance your business credit profiles.
Once you sign up for eCredable Business Lift, your subscription payment in and of itself is the first payment that will be reported to the business credit bureaus.
Continued enrollment and payment for this subscription account will be reported to the major business credit bureaus monthly showing your commitment and on-time payment for this valuable service.
Once enrolled, you will be able to take advantage of the service and identify accounts and payments for qualified business expenses to get credit for those and enhance your business credit profiles.
eCredable can report qualified business expenses to participating business credit bureaus monthly.
Thousands of eligible utility, service provider, vendor, and supplier accounts can be linked. Simply identify your qualified business expenses and link those accounts to your eCredable Business Lift subscription.
eCredable Business Lift takes over from there and monthly refreshes your account history and reports that to the participating business credit bureaus.
As an added benefit, if available, eCredable can retrieve up to 24 months of account history upon the initial linking and report that history to the participating business credit bureaus giving your business credit profile an instant boost.
But what if your accounts cannot be linked, you may ask. Well, as part of your eCredable Business Lift subscription, eCredable can manually verify those accounts and provide the data to participating business credit bureaus.
Simply give eCredable your account information and the vendor contact information then sit back while eCredable does the work. eCredable will verify the account information, including up to 24 months of history, and report your account to the participating business credit bureaus.
So, if fuel purchases are a large business expense for your small business make sure to check out business gas cards to enhance your control and oversight of those expenses.
Also, look to eCredable as your partner in helping build out your broader business credit profiles at the major business credit bureaus. Pretty soon you will be on the way to taking your business to the next level and beyond.