Originally Posted by
thefunch
How does one truthfully fill out the application for a business card and get a useful CL (remember: no business = no business revenue) and comply with the cardmember agreement that explicitly states that the card is only to be used for the company's expenses, when one does not actually have a business?
Not trying to be snarky, but I keep seeing this "advice" every now and then, and it just seems like an easy way to get caught with your hand in the cookie jar.
First of all, the credit on a business card is given to you as an individual, not to the business. That's why they demand the SSN, but the EIN is only optional. So there's no CL issue due to the business not really existing.
As to how to fill out the application:
- Your name as the business name
- Your address as the business address
- Your phone as the business phone
- Years in business = 0
- Income from business to date = 0
- Number of employees = minimum (1 since they count you yourself)
- Sole proprietorship
If you think about it, those are the exact same answers someone would give if they were starting a side consultancy or if they were starting a side reselling business, and they didn't need (or want) an official business name.
If there's no difference discernible between me the individual and me the company (because there's not a different name, address, phone, etc for the two), how can a credit card company (except by "guessing") tell the difference between true business purchases and those that aren't?
The bank (in this case, Amex) doesn't have time for this. They don't care, and in fact they
love for you to have a business card because all sorts of "consumer" protections don't apply to business cards.
So it's sort of a trade: Amex loves the fact that we want a card not protected by consumer credit laws, and we love the fact that we can apply for business cards without "really" having a business (to get benefits and/or rewards which are exclusive to those business cards and/or to having applied for only business cards).