Business Credit Protection: 3 Words That Save Thousands

April 16, 2015 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Protection

How are you being alerted to potential warning signs of fraudulent activity in your business?

Are you being notified when there is suspicious activity or changes to your business credit scores and ratings?

How much can your business afford to lose?

In today’s post let’s talk about a serious threat facing businesses of all sizes; business identity theft. “What is particularly disturbing about this trend is the significant dollar amounts involved. It’s not unusual for the losses to be in the mid-six figures by the time the criminal activity is detected” says Robert Strezze, Senior Risk Analyst for Dun & Bradstreet.

I’m sure you’re well aware of the hundreds of millions of records stolen from all the hacks, leaks and big data breaches of 2014. The scary fact is fraudsters are obtaining information about businesses and assuming their business identities so they can steal company assets, business credit information and client data.
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A Line of Credit for Business with Check Writing Privileges

March 29, 2015 By Marco Carbajo

Line of Credit for Business

In a previous post we talked about the benefits of getting unsecured lines of credit in the form of business credit cards. With our bundled business credit card program a small business owner would get three to four of these cards issued to their company at 0% interest for the first 6-12 months.

Just like regular credit cards, business credit cards are a revolving line of credit. This means you can use it and repay the line as often as you wish, as long as you pay the minimum monthly payments on time and don’t exceed the card’s credit limits.

Now I don’t need to go into all the benefits of business credit cards; especially the ones we get issued to your company which only report to the business credit agencies such as Dun & Bradstreet. But every so often I get a small business owner inquiring about getting a traditional line of business credit from a bank with check writing privileges.
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Credit Reporting Overhaul Approved By The Big Three

March 10, 2015 By Marco Carbajo

Credit Reporting Overhaul

For the longest time the big three have been criticized for how they handle disputes from consumers. As you know the credit reporting agencies keep records on more that 200 million individuals and handle billions of pieces of data each year. Even though we are entitled to dispute any information we believe is incorrect on our credit reports the process can really be a nightmare for some.

After three years since the investigation began, which was prompted by several New Yorkers complaining that they were having trouble correcting errors on their reports; a settlement has been reached.

The credit agencies’ industry group said that Equifax, Transunion and Experian had been working with the New York attorney general and other state attorneys general to come up with a plan. On Monday, the New York State attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman announced that his office had reached a settlement with the major credit agencies.
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Business Credit Building Made Easy: Free Blueprint for SMBs

February 26, 2015 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Building

Building a creditworthy business is essential for small business owners today. As you know the strength of your FICO® score impacts your ability to acquire personal credit. But did you know the FICO® SBSS Score, Paydex® Score, Experian Business Credit Score℠ and Equifax Business Credit Risk Score℠ impacts your ability to obtain business credit?

“Just as your personal credit has a big impact on your financial health, your business credit can help you get competitive business loan rates and terms from potential suppliers,” says Marc Kirshbaum, president of Experian’s Business Information Solutions group.

Now the task of building credit for your business doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process. Instead you can take a proven and systematic approach containing a series of steps in order to establish a creditworthy business. Jeff Stibel, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. says, “Today, it takes a very proactive approach to building a strong credit score for your business.”
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How to Get Business Credit Cards Without Personal Guarantees

February 19, 2015 By Marco Carbajo

Business Credit Cards Without Personal Guarantees

Are you surprised that in your search for business credit cards, everywhere you look a personal guarantee is required?

Why is it that the majority of lenders, banks and credit card issuers require a personal guarantor?

Bottom line it’s all about minimizing risk.

Let’s look at it from a bank’s perspective. A personal guarantor (also referred to as a co-signor) provides a level of security that in case the business fails to repay; the guarantor (business owner or credit partner) will guarantee repayment. In a way, a personal guarantor is like collateral because the guarantor is the pledged security as opposed to hard assets such as real estate, stocks, bonds, equipment, etc.
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