Contact Us SuccessDNA Credit Center LLC
2248 Meridian Blvd. Suite H
Minden NV 89423
1-888-227-3158 or at TheXBanker 800-317-6467
FAQs Browse our Frequently Asked Questions Here Question: Major credit cards with no personal guarantees?
I'm emailing you to see if you have the information on the 60 banks that offer MasterCard and Visa with out requiring personal guarantees. I just need that information. I have all the other information and so many other companies say they offer that list, until you purchase their program -- and then is not included. They all offer a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied, but they do not email me back so I can find out how to get a refund. I need to know if you have that list of credit cards before purchasing another program that does not have it.
Answer: We have done extensive research into business credit cards and we not aware of sixty banks that offer MasterCard or Visa cards to businesses with no personal guarantees, particularly to those in the earlier stages of their businesses. Card issuers will require that you provide personal guarantees -- usually at least until your firm is more than 2- 4 years old and has at least $2 million in revenue and a solid business credit rating.
However, that doesn't mean that business credit cards are not valuable. As we explain in our program and free articles, business credit cards can help you establish your corporate credit rating if they are reported to the business credit reporting agencies. (Our list indicates which ones do.) And they can keep that debt off your personal credit report, so it won't impact your FICO score. This protects your credit scores, and is a huge benefit.
Finally, we find that some entrepeneurs are only interested in the lists of lenders, vendors or credit cards, but not in the information about the process of building business credit. We believe that is a mistake, because you may overlook steps that result in making your business appear high risk.
QUESTION: Lists of Vendors That Report
Hi, I like the sound of your program, but I would like to know how many vendors are on the list. I understand that to get better business credit I need at least 5 vendors reporting to D&B and Experian that I pay as agreed. Can you help get my business a Paydex score of 80?
Answer: We would be delighted to help you build strong business credit. That's our goal! I also want to clarify a few things so you have accurate information about how the Business Credit Success self-starter program works.
No one can guarantee you a particular credit score, whether it is a Paydex score, FICO score or any other version. There are many, many factors that go into a credit score. The notion that you can "plug" in a certain number of references and get the score you want is misleading. For example, even D&B can use industry factors (how other businesses in your industry pay their bills) as a factor in how likely your business will be to pay its bills. Yes, you will need positive references paid on time. You will also need to make sure you have followed the steps to legitimately make your business stable. (In addition to building business credit, these are good steps to take to build a serious business.)
In addition, while the small business lending industry is moving toward relying more on scoring methodology, there are still many other factors that influence credit in the small business lending industry. Lenders will often still look at other information such as financials, years in business, owner's stake in the company, etc. when making decisions.
Two other reporting agencies are making significant inroads into the business credit reporting arena: the non-profit Small Business Financial Exchange and Experian. While they still have a smaller market share than D&B, they are growing and are adding new elements to the mix, including the ability to create a score based on the owner's personal credit combined with the businesses credit. This is another reason why our program emphasizes both business and personal credit for newer entrepreneurial firms.
We are confident in predicting that there are going to be significant changes in the business credit reporting industry over the next five years. Business owners who do not keep up with these changes are going to be unpleasantly surprised when the old methods don't work as well. At Business Credit Success, we are committed to keeping you in the loop on the most important industry changes and updates.
QUESTION: Building business credit as sole proprietor
How do I apply for credit using my EIN number for as the sole proprietor? Am I to apply for business cards and accounts even if my business hasn’t taken off as of yet? What if I need the loan because the business starts booming and I have my new EIN? How do I use it to apply for credit?
Answer: We would like to make a few suggestions:
1. We do not recommend a sole proprietorship,
especially if you want to build business credit. There are many reasons to form the proper business entity (S corp, LLC, C Corp) and access to business credit is one of them.
2. In the early stages of your business, you will usually need to personally guarantee applications unless you have collateral, or you are getting small trade lines of credit.
3. Your EIN is not what entitles you to credit. Your business gets credit based on various factors, including how long it has been incorporated, a business credit rating and/or your personal credit rating. The steps you take to properly establish your business as a viable entity are critical. Watch out for scams that say you can use an EIN to overcome bad credit.
Building business credit is a process just like building personal credit is a process. We are here to help!
Question: Credit cards versus lines of credit?
Question: I purchased your business credit success book/CD set a while back. If you have the time, I have a few credit questions…
I’m busy setting up a new business, a retail store. I’m boot strapping it as much as possible and taking advantage of all the 0% APR for 1 year credit offers I can find. I accidentally signed up for a “line of credit” that doesn’t have a 0% APR. I’m not going to use it if I don’t have to.
Will having too many open credit lines affect my ability to get higher credit limits on other cards or open more accounts? (I think the answer is yes). I guess what I’m really asking is would it help me get higher credit limits or ability to open more accounts if I were to close the “line of credit”. It’s been open for a couple of weeks, and hasn’t been used or “activated”… if it’s not activated is it actually open?
What is the difference between a bank line of credit (they give you access with a credit card) and a normal credit card?
Answer: It sounds like you are at Level One business credit...using your own personal credit. The interest rates (0%) sound great, just make certain you don't miss a payment, and be careful about quickly adding to your debt. A number of issuers will monitor your credit rating and reserve the right to raise your rates if you are taking on a lot of debt or your score declines.
As far as the revolving line of credit goes, both revolving credit lines and credit cards are treated similarly under the scoring system so I wouldn't worry about one versus the other. Just look for the best deal.(And if you close that line of credit quickly without ever using it, it may not even show up on your report. If it does, the impact will likely be short-lived.)
I can't predict for certain what affect that new line of credit and/or credit cards will have on your credit score, since I don't know your score or the other items on your report. It's not so much the number of accounts that is the issue, but rather how you use the credit you have.
I can tell you that a new account with a balance falls into a category that makes up about 10% of your score. Opening multiple new accounts and running up balances in a short period of time can drop your score. If you are using accounts you already have to get the low rates, generally that is preferable to getting several new accounts.
It's also important to try to keep individual balances below 30% -- 50% of your available credit if at all possible. Avoid maxxing out individual accounts if you can.
I assume you have created a corporation (LLC, S Corp. or C Corp.) for your store? If not, that should be your first priority for many reasons. Once you have it set up, I would recommend you delve back into the program and follow the steps to build your business credit. Some business credit cards do not report to your personal credit, so your FICO score will not be affected by the debt. We list those in the Business Credit Cards section.
Good luck and let us know what you think of the revised program!
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