Business Credit vs Personal Credit

Personal credit tracks you; business credit tracks the company. They are separate files at separate bureaus, built under different rules, and a healthy business file can one day borrow without leaning on your personal name.

Why it matters

Mixing the two is the classic small-business mistake: every business card on your personal report raises your utilization and puts your family's credit on the line. Separating them protects you and makes the company fundable on its own merits.

Key facts

• Personal credit uses your Social Security number; business credit is keyed to the business name, address, EIN, and D-U-N-S number.
• The main business bureaus are Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, and Equifax Business - different companies from the personal three.
• Business reports have no FCRA-style consumer protections; anyone can buy a company's business credit report.
• Most small-business cards still check the owner's personal credit and require a personal guarantee at the start.
• Unlike personal credit, anyone - a vendor, a competitor, a landlord - can look up a business file.

In practice

1. Form the entity and get an EIN before applying for anything in the business name.
2. Open a business bank account and run all business money through it, never personal.
3. Get a D-U-N-S number (free from D&B) so the business file can exist at all.
4. Keep business card balances off personal reports by using cards that report to business bureaus.