Update 12/22/18: Reposting this as there was some recent confusion regarding getting multiple bonuses with Chase. Most of our datapoints are relatively old (e.g one year or older) so it would be great to get some more current data points.
One question that has been asked from a lot of readers is that if they have separate businesses, can they get a business card (and sign up bonus) for each business. Obviously people want to keep these expenses separated, so it’s a legitimate question and one that I didn’t have a good answer for (nor could I find a good answer anywhere). I thought I’d do a bit of researching and find out the answer.
Below is a list of data points for each card issuer, I’ve also included if the businesses had EINs or used a SSN to apply. As with all posts of this nature, the more people that share their experiences the more useful they are. This list is also just data points, so don’t get angry if you have a difference experience – instead just share it in the comments.
Contents
American Express
It will work with American Express as long as different tax ID are used. If you sign up for multiple cards using a SSN or the same EIN, you won’t be eligible for the bonus. YMMV, usually won’t work.
- American Express generally: 1, 2 (didn’t work)
- Business Gold: 1
- Delta Platinum: 1, 2
- SPG: 1Â (different EINs) 2 (didn’t work), 3Â (didn’t work)
A reader also let us know they were able to get multiples of the same card with the same EIN, they only got one sign up bonus but having multiple cards is still useful for cards with spending caps in certain categories.
Barclaycard
No hard limit on getting the sign up bonus multiple times, so this doesn’t really apply. You do need to wait 30 days in between applications: 1.
Bank of America
Bank of America doesn’t have any restricts on getting the sign up bonus on their cards multiple times, so this doesn’t really apply to them but it’s still possible.
Capital One
Doesn’t really restrict getting the sign up bonus multiple times, so using the same tax ID should work as well as using different tax ID. Confirmation: 1, 2 (had to call in manually)
Chase
Similar to American Express. With Chase it seems as long as you’re using a different tax ID then you will get the sign up bonus.
- Same EIN can get bonus multiple times: 1
- Chase generally: 1
- Ink: 1
- Ink Preferred: 1, 2, 3, 4 (not different EINs, just different middle names), 5 (one SSN and one EIN)
- Marriott
- Didn’t work as they said the Marriott # matched: 1
- Southwest:Â 1Â (different EINs)
One report of it not working with two different EINs on the Chase United card: 1
Marriott also didn’t work: 1
Citi
- American Airlines:Â 1Â (different EINs)
U.S. Bank
- Will consider them as seperate entities: 1
Wells Fargo:
- Worked: 1,
Final Thoughts
I’m not even sure how card issuers would track it if you’re applying for multiple cards for legitimate businesses with an EIN, I’m not sure they would want to stop it either. Obviously setting up a business purely for signing up for credit cards is ridiculous, especially when you’ve need some business credit history to get approved in most cases. As I asked earlier, please share any data points you have in the comments below.
