I recently applied for the American Express Small Business Rewards Credit Card in the name of my Corporation. I filled out an online form in 5 minutes.3 days later someone called me up and verified the information and told me I was approved for a $5k limit card. I already have $25k limit on my personal cards and this card was personally guaranteed too so it doesn’t seem like its any different except its more credit. But it doesn’t show up on my personal credit report.
However, I filled out a mortgage application last week for a house I’m buying in Indiana. On my credit report was an outstanding balance for my Amex Card for around $4500 with a monthly balance of a few hundred dollars. Although I pay off my balance every month the lender assumes the 200-300 dollar balance is going to be paid off over time and deducts that from my income, thus lowering my debt-income ratio. On the other hand, the business credit card doesn’t show!
With the Corporate Credit card, I can charge the expenses for my business like phone bills, airline tickets, hotels and educational seminars on it instead of my personal credit card. This way it doesn’t negatively affect my credit when I’ve made a large purchase, even though its still personally guaranteed. So I can still go full doc on the loan application and get slightly better rates.