Your LLC has limited liability. Your business card may not.
US LLC credit card: who is personally liable for the business card
Part of the guide US bank account and US credit: how to become financially visible in America
A business credit card is what lets your US company get things done day to day: software, travel, advertising and suppliers, billed in dollars and kept separate from your personal money. To an issuer, though, a new LLC is a blank page, so it looks at the person behind it. This guide covers what a business card is in legal terms, when you are personally liable for it, what the issuer asks of your company and of you, and how the card's payments turn into a credit history for your company.
1What a business credit card is in legal terms
US law recognizes two kinds of credit card: consumer cards and cards for business purposes. The difference is big. Regulation Z, the rule implementing the Truth in Lending Act, does not apply to credit extended primarily for business purposes, nor to credit extended to anyone other than a natural person, such as an LLC. For a business credit card, only two of its rules remain: a card may be issued only on request, and liability for unauthorized use is capped. According to a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the protections of the CARD Act likewise apply only to consumer cards, not to small business cards.
What this means for you: with a business card, the terms live far more in the contract than in the law. Interest, fees, limit changes and the consequences of a late payment are in the cardholder agreement, not in a regulation. That is no reason to worry, but it is a reason to read the agreement.
One rule applies to business cards just as it does to personal ones: if someone uses your card without authorization, the most it can cost you before you notify the issuer is $50. If an issuer provides ten or more cards to a company's employees, the company may agree a different liability with the issuer, but no one may hold an individual employee liable beyond that cap. The table sets the rules side by side.
| Rule | Personal card | Business card |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) | applies | does not apply, except the rules on issuance and liability for misuse |
| CARD Act protections | applies | do not apply |
| Issued only on request | yes | yes |
| Liability for unauthorized use | at most $50 before you notify the issuer | at most $50; with 10 or more employee cards the company may agree otherwise with the issuer, but not at the employees' expense |
| Regulation B (equal credit opportunity) | applies | applies |
| Notice of denial | in writing within 30 days, with reasons or the right to request them | up to $1 million in annual revenue: oral or written, reasons on request; above that, within a reasonable time, written reasons if requested within 60 days |
Source: 12 CFR 1026.3(a), 1026.12(a) and (b), with the CFPB commentary on 1026.3; CFPB, CARD Act Report (2013); 12 CFR 1002.9(a)(3). eCFR, as of October 22, 2026. Retrieved October 24, 2026.
2Who is liable: the personal guarantee
The LLC is called a Limited Liability Company because, as a rule, its members are not on the hook with their personal assets for the company's debts. With a business credit card, that protection is often broken, and by your own signature. An issuer can make a card for a young company conditional on a member signing a personal guarantee. With it, you commit to paying the card's debts yourself if the company does not.
From the issuer's side, that makes sense. A new LLC has no history, no assets it can assess and no balance sheet. The person behind it may well have all three. For you, it means a guaranteed business card counts in your personal risk picture just like a personal card. Depending on the issuer, the application may also show up on your personal credit report.
There are cards without a personal guarantee. They can rely on something else the issuer can see: the company's balances, its revenue or a security deposit. So if you want a card without a guarantee, you often need a well-funded bank account. One example is the Mercury IO card, described below. Check every application for a guarantee; it is not always in the headline.
3What the issuer asks of your LLC
To the bank, a card account for the company is an account of the company. So it has to identify the LLC just as it would for a business account: name, physical location, tax number and proof of existence, meaning the EIN and formation documents. For credit card accounts, it may also obtain this information from a third-party source before extending credit. On top of that comes identifying the beneficial owners: everyone holding 25 percent or more, plus one person with control. The details are in Business account for your US LLC.
Also expect the issuer to want to see a US dollar business account that pays the card, along with details of your revenue and business model. If the card requires a personal check, the issuer will also need your details as guarantor. This is where your personal US credit file comes in, and where the ITIN helps: the IRS tax number for people without an SSN. We apply for it with ITIN Express, a special procedure developed with the attorneys on the firm's team, with no prior tax return needed; the decision to issue it rests solely with the IRS.
When it comes to the decision, Regulation B applies to business credit too. The issuer may take your immigration status into account, and it must tell you its decision. For companies with no more than $1 million in revenue in the prior year, this may be oral or written, and you have the right to learn the reasons for a denial. For larger companies, the issuer must tell you its decision within a reasonable time and give the reasons in writing if you request them in writing within 60 days.
Credit for your company and for you, built step by step.
4Charge card or credit card
Some business cards are not credit cards in the strict sense but charge cards. With a charge card, the full balance is due at the end of each billing period; there is no credit rolling over from month to month, and so no interest. With a credit card, you can carry part of the balance and pay interest on it. For a business that pays its expenses every month anyway, the charge card is often the more honest card: it finances nothing, it just defers the payment.
One example is the Mercury IO card. According to Mercury, it is a business charge card: the full balance is due every payment period, daily for new customers with smaller balances, every 30 days from a balance of $15,000. Mercury does not require a personal guarantee and does not check your personal credit when you sign up. Mercury sets the limit based on the company's balances at Mercury and on linked external accounts; it can rise and fall, including after large deposits and withdrawals. For a young LLC with money in the bank but no history, that is a natural place to start. Whether your company gets the card is Mercury's decision. The table summarizes the details.
| Feature | Item |
|---|---|
| Type | Business charge card: full balance due every payment period, no interest, no revolving credit |
| Repayment | daily for new customers with smaller balances, every 30 days from a balance of $15,000 |
| Personal liability | no personal guarantee |
| Credit check at sign-up | none; your personal score is neither considered nor affected |
| Limit | based on balances at Mercury and linked external accounts; can rise and fall |
| Reporting to credit bureaus | payment history to Experian, Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet |
Source: Mercury, IO (mercury.com/io) and FAQ (mercury.com/faq). Issuance is at Mercury's discretion. Retrieved October 24, 2026.
5Your company's credit history
Alongside the consumer credit bureaus, the US has bureaus that keep credit histories for businesses. The best-known identifier is the Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number, a nine-digit number issued only to businesses. It is free, and business partners can use it to look up your company's credit profile. Experian and Equifax also keep business files.
As with consumers, only what someone reports goes into the file, and not every issuer or supplier reports. Whether a business card reports to the business bureaus, to your personal file or to both varies from issuer to issuer. Mercury says it reports IO card payments to Experian, Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet. Before applying for any card, ask where it reports; a card that reports nowhere builds no history.
The SBA explicitly names the credit card as one way to build a business credit history. How a D-U-N-S Number, supplier credit and cards add up to a score for your company is covered in Business credit for your US company, and how that can later become a credit line is in Applying for credit in the US: a credit line for your company.
6You first, then your company
For most business cards with a meaningful limit, the path runs through the person behind the company. That's not a detour; it's the order in which the American system builds trust. First comes your personal credit file: an account with a US bank, an address where mail reaches you, your ITIN and a first secured card. How that works without an SSN is explained in US credit card without an SSN.
At the same time, the company gets its own building blocks: the business account, the D-U-N-S number and a first card that requires no personal check and reports to the business credit bureaus. Once both files show a stretch of on-time payments, cards that check both come within reach. How long that takes is up to the issuers, not the calendar.
That's exactly the sequence the Credit Builder follows, whether you're forming your company or already have a US company. It includes the full US Bank Account Opening for you and builds your company's credit on top of it.
Your own access to the American financial system, even without an SSN.
7Employee cards and spending control
Once the company has employees in the US, the question of additional cards comes up. Business cards may allow extra cards for employees, depending on the issuer with individual limits per card. Liability works as described above: if an issuer issues ten or more cards to employees, the company may agree a different liability for unauthorized use with that issuer, but never at the individual employee's expense beyond $50.
For your bookkeeping, every employee card is a source of receipts. Decide from day one who may pay for what, and have every expense recorded with a receipt and its purpose. That helps you with the company's tax return and with any audit.
When employees in the US come on board, payroll and payroll taxes come with them; that's covered on our Payroll page.
8Keep it clean: the business card is for business only
The business card belongs to the company, and that's exactly how you should use it. In its publication for business owners, the IRS advises keeping business and personal money strictly separate and documenting personal withdrawals as such. The SBA explicitly links that separation to protecting limited liability. A business card you also use for personal shopping blurs precisely the line that matters.
An LLC owned by someone abroad also has to file Form 5472: the company must keep books that show its transactions with you, and failing to do so risks a $25,000 penalty. Personal payments on the business card make those books messy. How the filing works is explained in Zero tax return for the single-member LLC. The obligations a US LLC with a foreign owner carries from day one are covered in the guide Forming a US LLC as a non-resident.
Also pay the card from the company's business account, not from your personal account. That way anyone reading the books sees at a glance: the company paid its own expenses.
9What about rewards cards?
Many readers come to business cards through miles and rewards. This page is about the card as a tool of the company and a building block of its credit history. Which travel and rewards cards are worth it is covered on our sister site at zerotax.llc/us-kreditkarte.
For the groundwork, the company's account and your own credit, start with our overview US bank account and US credit. And if you still need to form your company, you'll find the LLC with a place of business in the US under Form an LLC.
Entity type, state and tax consequences, before you commit.
- A business credit card largely falls outside the consumer protections of Regulation Z and the CARD Act; what remains are the rules on issuing cards and the $50 liability cap for misuse.
- If a business card requires a personal guarantee, you are personally liable for its debts, despite the LLC's limited liability.
- The issuer needs the EIN and the company's documents, plus, depending on the card, a business account and the credit of the person behind it; it may take your immigration status into account.
- The Mercury IO card is a charge card with no personal guarantee; Mercury reports its payments to Experian, Equifax and Dun & Bradstreet.
- The company's credit history starts with the free D-U-N-S number and grows with cards and suppliers that report to the business credit bureaus.
How we help you
- Credit BuilderCredit for your company and for you, built step by step.
- US Bank Account OpeningYour own access to the American financial system, even without an SSN.
- ITIN ExpressYour ITIN through our special procedure, no tax return needed.
- Form an LLCThe US LLC with a permanent establishment, turnkey in six states.
- Company formation consultationEntity type, state and tax consequences, before you commit.
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