#credit
Understand business credit, scoring, and credit management strategies
The SBA retired FICO SBSS for 7(a) loans under $350K as of March 2026, making Debt Service Coverage Ratio the primary approval metric—learn how to prepare with accurate financials and bookkeeping.
Business credit card welcome offers now reach $2,000 cash or 200,000 points, with minimum spends of $3,000–$30,000 in three months. How to match a bonus to your real quarterly spend, understand the personal guarantee, and avoid the commingling mistakes that turn a bonus into an audit risk.
The Federal Reserve's 2025 Small Business Credit Survey found only 42% of applicants received full funding and 22% received nothing. Full-approval rates ranged from 57% at small banks to a 46% denial rate at large banks, and the top denial reasons — credit score (45%), collateral (36%), cash flow (33%) — are largely visible in a business's own books before applying.
On July 13, 2026, the FDIC, OCC, and NCUA directed banks to tighten underwriting on loans to borrowers without U.S. work authorization, following a June CFPB statement reversing 2023 fair-lending guidance. Here's what the guidance says, how it affects immigrant entrepreneurs and their employers, and five concrete steps to keep financing accessible.
A Merchant Category Code (MCC) is a four-digit classification assigned to merchants by payment processors. It decides whether a business credit card's bonus categories trigger, shapes a merchant's interchange fees, and appears in Box 2 of IRS Form 1099-K — which returns to a $20,000 and 200-transaction threshold for tax years 2025 and beyond.
RentGrow paid a $2.25 million civil penalty to settle FTC allegations of FCRA violations: duplicated eviction and criminal records, an undisclosed data source, and mishandled consumer disputes. Here is what the consent order requires, and the separate FCRA obligations — permissible purpose, written consent, adverse action notices — that any business using screening reports must still meet.
The CFPB's final Regulation B rule takes effect July 21, 2026, removing disparate-impact liability from ECOA, narrowing the discouragement standard, and adding participant-level documentation requirements for for-profit special-purpose credit programs — a practical guide for small-business borrowers and lenders.
A term loan charges interest on the full lump sum from day one; a line of credit only charges for what you draw. This guide compares 2026 rates (bank term loans 6.8%–11%, SBA 7(a) 9.75%–13.25%, bank lines 8%–14%), qualification bars, and a three-question framework for choosing the right product.
Business credit card cash back is a rebate, not taxable income — unless it's a no-spend sign-up or referral bonus. This guide shows the two ways to book rewards (contra-expense vs. other income), with journal entries, the earned-vs-redeemed timing choice, and the IRS logic behind each.
Amazon switched business credit cards to U.S. Bank, ending Amex on August 14, 2026. Learn the $150,000 rewards cap, new 5% cash back, and how to activate your
The CFPB's nationwide medical debt credit reporting ban was vacated by a Texas federal court in July 2025, leaving protection to 15 state laws and the bureaus' voluntary policies — paid debts, collections under $500, and a 365-day grace period stay off reports everywhere. Here's what still applies in your state and how to keep a medical collection from raising your business loan rate.
The SBA has waived upfront fees on 7(a) and 504 loans for manufacturers through September 2026 and launched MARC, a revolving credit line up to $5 million for NAICS 31-33 businesses, after issuing its first $3.5 million in MARC loans to four manufacturers in December 2025.
