BusinessFinance.com has launched a resource that shows businesses how to establish business credit cards without using the owner’s social security number. This is one of the necessary steps every business owner must take to separate their personal credit from their business credit. The information is provided inside the Business Finance Coach.

“Businesses must have three (3) business credit cards in order to build solid business credit scores,” says Corey Pierce, Founder of BusinessFinance.com. “You can find over 500 credit cards that claim to be business credit cards, but out of those only 42 will issue a card without using your social security number. So those other 458 are credit cards with your business name on it, but they are not business credit cards.”

The most important feature of these business credit cards is that they report the business credit history to the Small Business Financial Exchange which means that the business will then have a credit report file with Equifax that is critical to a business being able to receive bank loans for working capital and other needs in the future. Without that, the business will almost always be declined for financing.

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Enticing credit card offers fill the mailboxes of thousands of Americans every day. Accompanied by amazing offers of zero percent interest for six months and no fees for balance transfers, 15% to 20% off your first purchase, discount hotel rates and free movie tickets, the list goes on and on. And on impulse we fall to our knees and sign on the dotted line without thinking about just how much another credit card will affect our families, our credit histories, or our financial futures.



Before you sign up for another card, ask yourself what is the rule of thumb for credit cards, just how many credit cards is enough? Do you know? Is there a magical number or is it just a matter of how you manage them? If your answer to all of these questions is I don’t know, read on to find out.


Most Americans carry between five to ten credit cards in their wallets, with the average household owing $12,000 in credit card debt. Considering that the median U.S. household income is only $49,772, that is 24% of the income already committed with out considering mortgages or car loans. This is a bit alarming. Especially considering that future creditors prefer to extend credit to individuals or families with a debt to income ratio of 36% or less if 24% of that 36% is already committed to credit card debt, that doesn’t leave room for much else. So just how many credit cards should you have? Surprisingly there is no magic number; however, two to three credit cards is generally viewed as enough.

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An interview between Scott Bilker of DebtSmart.com and Norm Magnuson, President of Public Affairs, from the Consumer Data Industries Association.


The Questions (posed by a consumer named Nicole):
1. I have been told that certain credit cards (e.g. Capital One, Cross Country, and others like those) do not carry a lot of weight on your credit report. I was always under the impression that all credit cards carried the same weight. What is the truth?


2. I would like to pay off my credit cards. Should I just pay them off and try not to use them? Or should I just go ahead and cancel them?





Scott: "Are there certain types of credit cards that look better on a credit report."


Norm: "The lenders make that decision."


Scott: "Can you tell if a secured or unsecured credit card is listed on a credit report, and does that affect your score?"


Norm: "No, they don't designate secured or unsecured."


Scott: "So all lenders have their own criteria."


Norm: "Oh, absolutely. All 10,000 lenders develop their own underwriting criteria. Some, because of their interest rates, and other factors, are willing to provide cards or loans to consumers that might be less credit-worthy than others. With all of the competition out there, you ought to shop around for credit."

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