5 Best Business Cards With No Personal Guarantee 2022

Editor’s note: This is a recurring post with regularly updated card details.

If you own an established small business and your annual revenues are in the millions, you’ll have a better chance of qualifying for a business card with no personal guarantee. These cards are few and far between and often can only be used with specific brands. If your needs align with one of these cards, you can often earn excellent rewards and reduce your personal liability.

Another option for business owners who want to avoid a personal guarantee is to select a business charge card or business debit card. These cards are much less likely to have restrictions on who qualifies for the card.

Here are the five best business cards with no personal guarantee:

• Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card: Best overall business card with no personal guarantee
• Sam’s Club® Business Mastercard®: Best for small businesses with recurring big-box store purchases
• Shell Small Business Fuel Card: Best for small businesses with fleet vehicles
• Office Depot® OfficeMax® Business Credit Card: Best for small businesses that have recurring office supply and furniture purchases
• Brex card: Best for tech startups and ecommerce businesses

Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card: Best Overall Business Card with No Personal Guarantee

Why we like it: The Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card is our choice for the best overall card with no personal guarantee. Even though it’s a debit card and not a credit card, it’s accessible to all business owners without size and revenue requirements. As a Visa® card, you can use it anywhere Visa® is accepted. Since it’s a debit card, it doesn’t charge any interest and doesn’t require a credit check. There are no setup fees, no debit fees, no decline or overdraft fees, and you get unlimited domestic transactions. Unlike the other cards on this list, you can be a business owner with fair or poor credit and still be eligible to apply for this card.

There are two versions of the debit card: spend limit cards and fixed-value cards. The spend limit card is for everyday purchases and is good for managing all business spending in one place. The fixed-value card is best for one-time payments, per diems, or recurring vendor payments. You can add both the spend limit and fixed value cards to your Apple Pay or Google Pay wallet for contactless payments.

If you have employees, each employee can have their own card. The fee for one to 10 cards, including the account owner’s card, is $29 a month, and there are pricing plans for up to 25, 100, and more than 100 cards. Unlike many business debit cards, you can control the spend limit and spend category on each employee card and make changes to these controls online or on the mobile app. You can always freeze a card if it gets lost or stolen. Bento is free to use for the first 60 days, and you can cancel your account easily at any time.

Qualification Requirements for the Bento for Business Visa® Debit Card

• Any legitimate and verifiable business can apply

Sam’s Club® Business Mastercard®: Best for Small Businesses With Recurring Big-box Store Purchases

Why we like it: Sam’s Club® Business Mastercard® offers substantial rewards if you make frequent big-box store purchases. You can earn cash back on eligible purchases during each calendar year or reward period. During the reward period, earn 5% cash back on your first $6,000 spent at Sam’s Club® and Walmart gas stations, then 1% back for the remainder of the year. You can also earn 3% cash back on eligible purchases at restaurants. If you sign up as a Sam’s Club® Plus Member, you can earn 3% cash back on purchases at Sam’s Club® locations or samsclub.com. You can earn 1% on all other purchases, including Sam’s Club® if you aren’t a Plus member.

Since it’s a Mastercard®, you can use it anywhere Mastercard® is accepted to earn rewards but using it in conjunction with a Sam’s Club® Plus membership allows you to earn even greater savings and rewards. With the Plus membership at $100 a year, you get additional cash rewards, free shipping, and free curbside pickup. There’s no monthly fee or annual fee for the card outside of the Sam’s Club® annual membership fee.

Even if you don’t live near one of 600 Sam’s Club® locations in the US and Puerto Rico, you can purchase thousands of items from the website in categories, such as office and technology, home and outdoor, restaurant, bulk foods, janitorial, and more, delivered for free with a Sam’s Club® Plus membership. There’s a $5,000 cap on cash back earned in a single year.

Qualification Requirements for the Sam’s Club® Business Mastercard®

Here are the requirements to use the card without a personal guarantee―you can still apply for the card without these requirements, but a personal guarantee is necessary for card approval:

• Good to excellent credit
• More than $5 million in annual revenues
• In business for more than two years
• More than 10 employees

Shell Small Business Fuel Card: Best for Businesses With Fleet Vehicles

Why we like it: The Shell Small Business Fuel Card is accepted at more than 14,000 Shell stations across the country, and you can use it to earn rebates of up to 6 cents per gallon at Shell, making it a great card for companies with fleet vehicles. Also, discounts are available at participating Jiffy Lube stations.

Online account management allows access to detailed reports. You have visibility into how and when your employees use their cards, and access to purchase controls, data analytics, and 24/7 customer service.

This card can only be used at Shell stations, but there are no monthly or annual card fees, and you have the flexibility to carry a balance each month.

Qualification Requirements for the Shell Small Business Fuel Card

• Minimum of $1 million annual earnings
• In business for at least three years

Office Depot® OfficeMax® Business Credit Card: Best for Small Businesses with Recurring Office Supply and Furniture Purchases

Why we like it: The Office Depot® OfficeMax® Business Credit Card only works at Office Depot® and OfficeMax® locations and its online store, but it’s a good choice if your small business makes recurring purchases of office supplies, office furniture, technology, breakroom, or cleaning supplies. Similar to the Sam’s Club® business credit card, you can earn greater rewards if you link your Office Depot® rewards membership to the account. You’ll receive 2 percent back on everything you charge. If you spend $500 in a 12-month period, you’ll unlock VIP status, giving you the ability to earn 5% back in rewards on ink, toner, paper, and print services, free two-day delivery, and other exclusive perks.

There’s no annual fee, you can carry a balance each month, and you get a $50 statement credit after your first purchase of at least $150 within 60 days of opening an account.

Qualification Requirements for the Office Depot® OfficeMax® Business Credit Card

Eligible businesses include:

• Government entities
• Nonprofit organizations
• Corporations in business for at least three years with more than $5 million in annual sales

Brex Card: Best for Tech Startups and Ecommerce Businesses

Why we like it: The Brex card is a charge card, not a credit card, and fits best for startups or ecommerce businesses. It can be used anywhere Mastercard® is accepted. Brex withdraws your card’s balance in full automatically either daily or monthly. For daily payments, you’ll need to open a Brex Cash account. The funds held in this account are equal to your credit limit. Businesses of any size don’t need to meet any criteria for daily payments.

For monthly payments, Brex will need visibility into your bank account to determine your card’s limit. Brex’s ability to see your bank account’s balance influences how they determine your card’s limit, which can be 10 to 20 times higher than all other business credit cards.

Brex cardholders earn substantial rewards. If you make daily payments, you’re eligible for the highest rewards: 8x on rideshare, 5x on Brex travel, 4x on restaurants, 3x on eligible Apple purchases, 1.5x on ads, and 1x on everything else. Businesses in tech or life sciences industries are eligible for additional rewards. There are several ways points can be redeemed. Points can be used toward cash, gift cards, miles, or as a statement credit. It’s one of the best cards for startup businesses.

Qualification Requirements for the Brex card

As a startup, you’ll need:

• EIN
• Minimum of $50,000 in a single US-based business bank account at all times; $100,000 if self-funded
• Professional investors

As an ecommerce company, you’ll need all of the above, plus:

• $1 million in a US-based bank account if you’re self-funded

Sole proprietors and unincorporated businesses aren’t eligible to apply for a Brex card.

Other Ways to Limit Liability

Business cards with no personal guarantee are generally a better fit for mid- to large-sized businesses with high annual revenue. However, if you’re a small business owner looking to limit your personal liability, here are a few tips you can use to reduce your exposure to unpaid debt and personal liability:

• Make payments on time: If your payments are made on time, you’ll avoid negative reporting on your personal credit. If payments are withdrawn from your account automatically when the bill is due, make sure you have enough funds to cover the balance.
• Spend responsibly: Overspending increases the possibility that you won’t be able to make your payments in full or on time.
• Manage employee spending: If it’s available, use online account management to apply spending controls and limits on employee cards. Limit the number of cards to only necessary users and review employee card use each month.

How We Evaluated the Best Business Credit Cards With No Personal Guarantee

To determine the best business credit cards with no personal guarantee, we looked at fees, ease of application, and any rewards or benefits. We also considered the versatility of where the card could be used.

Bottom Line

The selection of the best business credit cards with no personal guarantee is very limited, but if you want to reduce your personal liability and have very specific spending categories, there are a few cards that might be a good fit. Keep in mind some of these cards allow you to revolve the balance each month while others are due in full with each billing cycle. As with any credit card, it’s important to use the card responsibly and in line with your budget. If you’d like to see credit cards that do require a personal guarantee, check out our article on the best small business credit cards for a wider selection that’s available to more small business owners.