IMPORTANT NOTE:
This article was last updated in 2023. The $95 Spark Cash card did not report to personal credit when opened from October 2019 through the card’s discontinuation in 2021.
The card has RELAUNCHED in 2024 and the new (otherwise identical) Spark Cash card DOES report to personal credit as reported in this newer article.
Updated October 29th, 2023 to clarify that both the Spark Cash Plus and the Venture X Business both do not report to your personal credit. As always, Capital One WILL still pull your personal credit from all three bureaus to decide on your application- however they will not report the new account or utilization to Credit bureaus as long as your account remains in good standing.
Updated August 18th, 2021 to clarify that the Spark Cash product discussed below is no longer available to new applicants. However, the new Spark Cash Plus follows all the same rules as discussed below for the new card.
In this article
Background
Capital One has some great business credit cards. But the Spark Cash and Spark Miles have always had a subtle difference when compared to the business cards issued by Chase, American Express and Citi: Capital One Spark Cards (their business product) except for the Spark Cash Plus report to your personal credit report.
The only exception historically has been those with high credit lines ($150,000+).
Why Does It Matter?
This is a big negative, because businesses tend to charge a lot. You may pay it off each month (or not) but a business is likely to have relatively higher utilization than a person.
Personally, I charge a lot on my business cards and always pay in full, but I don’t put much on my Spark card for this reason.
If I use half of my credit line to pay for large business expenses, I don’t want my personal credit score to suffer as a result. After all, they aren’t personal expenses.
Changes for the Spark Cash: Won’t Report to Personal Credit
Effective October 2019, new Spark Cash Plus for Business cards will not report to your personal credit report, as originally learned by HelpMeBuildCredit and then confirmed to me personally by a Capital One spokesperson.
Note, however:
- Existing Spark Cash cards will still continue to report your business line to a personal report.
- All Spark Miles cards, for now, will continue to report to your personal credit. (I got a “no comment” from Capital One on the question of when or if this will change.)
- All Capital One cards, including these, may pull all three credit bureaus when opening an account. As far as I know, that’s not changing
- This only applies to accounts in good standing. If your account is not in good standing (i.e. late payments, missed payments), it will still report to your personal credit profile.
It’s unfortunate that existing Spark Cash cardholders (prior to October 2019) won’t get the new benefit, but one possible strategy would be to open a new Spark Cash card now even if you already have one – or a Spark Miles. You are allowed to have two of the same Spark card.
You can earn the cash on your new Spark Cash Plus and you can convert those into miles online. Or cash out as cash. That’s a benefit of having both Capital One Spark cards – the ability to cash out at full value or convert to miles.
It’s great to see that Capital One is hearing that people do care about this distinction and is moving to be more in line with all other issuers (only Discover would be left reporting business cards to personal credit profiles).
Also See:
- The New Spark Cash Plus charge card
- Can the Capital One Spark Annual Fees Be Waived?
- Why You Might Want BOTH Capital One Spark Credit Cards
Frequently Asked Spark Cash and Spark Miles Questions
Does a Capital One Spark Business credit card report to personal credit?
If you open a new Spark Cash Plus card today, it will not report to your personal credit file. However, the Spark Miles card still does (for now) report to your personal credit file. As well, all Capital One Spark cards opened before Oct. 22, 2020 will report to your personal credit file.
What credit bureaus does Capital One pull for a credit inquiry?
They are likely to pull all three.
How many Capital One credit cards can I have?
Two is the maximum they will issue for personal cards like Venture and Quicksilver, but you can also have multiple Spark for Business credit cards. Note that even for personal cards, co-branded products won't count against your limit.
Can I get the early spend bonus on a Capital One Spark credit card I've had before?
Probably. Officially the terms say: The bonus may not be available for existing or previous Spark cardholders.
How often can I apply for a new Capital One card?
No more than once every 6 months.
Can you have two of the exact same Capital One Spark cards?
Assuming you can be approved by underwriting, Capital One will not deny you a second of the same Spark card.
Thoughts?
Let me know below in the comments, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
And if this post helped you, please consider sharing it!
You can find credit cards that best match your spending habits and bonus categories at Your Best Credit Cards.
New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available on Amazon and at major booksellers.
This is not accurate. I recently got the spark business card and it did indeed report to my personal credit.
It’s definitely accurate 🙂 I got one myself and it’s not on my personal credit.
Your situation is most likely one of three things:
1) You got a Spark Miles. Only a new Spark Cash will not report to personal.
2) You got the Spark Cash but before this change occurred (the date of this post).
3) You missed a payment. It *will* report to personal credit if you are delinquent. Just not otherwise.
But yes, I verified this myself and it’s accurate exactly as I wrote above.
Hey Dave,
I’m currently considering applying for the Spark 2% Cash Small Business card. I called this morning and talked to an account executive who confirmed that they still report to your personal credit no matter what small business card you apply for. I told her about October, 22 2020 and she said unless it’s on the actual website that it’s not “real information.” Questions about when you applied for the business card: Did you enter your social security number or just your EIN? I saw your post and similar posts and got real excited when I found out they don’t report to personal credit anymore for business but apparently it’s not true? I asked if it was because I already had 2 personal credit cards with them / already had a personal account and she said no it wouldn’t matter if you’re a brand new customer or not… They’re still going to report the small business cards (all of them) to the personal credit bureaus. Sucks cause I was quite excited to get this card… hopefully things change. Can you send me the screenshots of the account executive you spoke with? I would just like to see what they said.
Hey Aaron,
My information comes from the Corporate Communications team at Capital One. I can’t post a screen shot of my emails with them but can assure you they know this topic well and I have discussed it with them on more than one occasion. It’s not the kind of information that is on any issuer website, ever. It’s just how it is.
To be clear, though, they WILL still pull your personal credit report (which may trip up a phone rep), same as any SMB credit card. But as long as your account is in good standing, your balance will not be reported.
You will still need to use your personal info (SSN) and business info (EIN/TIN if you have) like any Small Business card.
Thanks for the response Dave!
Question: Did you have any personal cards with capital one when you applied for the spark business 2% cash card? I have 2 personal cards with them (venture one, savor one) but do not have any small business cards currently. I would like to get this card I’m just on the fence with the misinformation from them…
Can you post the email address that you contact them with cause I would like to verify this information with capital one if possible?
This is blatant misinformation where OP can’t prove this claim beyond “Talking to Corporate Communications”
They WILL report to all three consumers. Tread carefully and do your own research
Sorry Pat, but you are blatantly incorrect.
The post is about the card showing up as an “open account” and reporting your balance on a monthly basis.
You have confused that with the “hard inquiry” that yes, they do check all three bureaus and report that. Nothing in this post says otherwise.
In fact, the third bullet above specifies this:
“All Capital One cards, including these, may pull all three credit bureaus when opening an account. As far as I know, that’s not changing.”
And just to refute your last claim, I have the card myself and can confirm all of the above. So I can certainly prove the claim.
Thanks for reading.
Hi, sorry, no I cannot provide you with my press contact. That would be very unprofessional of me.
Yes, I do have a personal card with them pre-dating my business cards by a couple of decades.
It may be best to stick to cards form other issuers if you aren’t comfortable with the situation. Keep in mind that only Spark Cash has this feature and not Spark Miles. And they will still pull all three credit bureaus to process your application.
hi dave
i would like to know if the
Capital One Spark Cash “Select Business” ($0 Annual Fee) is the same as
Capital One Spark Cash “for Business” Will the Spark Cash Select Business report on my personal credit. ?
Hi Ben, I’m certainly glad you are asking, because….
No – it’s not. Only the Spark Cash for Business (https://milestalk.com/cards/spark-cash/) will function in this way. However, the annual fee is waived the first year and, as I have previously written, you may even wind up being able to get the annual fee permanently waived after that. (https://milestalk.com/can-the-capital-one-spark-annual-fees-be-waived/)
Hi Dave, Just to be clear, the Spark Cash Select will report to personal report? The branding of the card is the same and I wasn’t paying attention when I applied and got the Select rather than the regular… I think that it may have been the case for Adam as well..
Great question and an edge case I never thought about. My guess is that it only applies to the full Spark Cash else they would have mentioned both cards to me. Perhaps whenever / if ever they change the Spark Miles they will change Spark Cash Select but that wouldn’t help you since even for Spark Cash it only applies to new cards.
I applied for Spark cash 6/4/21 and was instantly approved after them pulling all 3 bureaus. As of 7/22/21 they reported it on my personal credit (1st payment was due 7/16/21 which was paid in full). It did drop my FICO and age.
Hi Monique. Can you please clarify two things?
1) We know that it WILL show as a hard inquiry on your personal credit like all business cards from every issuer. (I state this in the post). Are you saying that it shows the new Capital One Spark Cash as a NEW ACCOUNT including credit limit and all of that on your personal credit report?? That would be an anomaly (Mine definitely does not and I just pulled a fresh report to check).
2) We would expect the FICO to drop up to 10-15 points max for a couple of weeks as with any hard inquiry – then bounce back. You mention it dropped your “age” – do you mean average age of accounts? I guess once I know your answer to #1 above, that will make more sense.
After an hr spent on the phone with the coolest Capital
One specialist ever I have found out that they most certainly still report to your personal credit for ALL spark small business cards. (the one you posted about included) She explained there has been a ton of misinformation on the internet about the Spark Small Business 2% cash back card. I wasn’t the first person this lady had dealt with and the only way you can get a Capital One Business Card that doesn’t report to your personal credit bureau is by INVITE ONLY. Glad I did the digging cause I almost applied for this card. All spark small business cards report to the personal bureaus on a monthly basis. This information sadly is untrue. I will say sir that I did want it to be true cause I really wanted this card. Too bad.
All I can tell you is that a) corporate communications should know more than anyone and b) I applied for the Spark Cash after this change occurred last November and it has never reported to my personal credit aside from the initial expected hard inquiries. I did not apply via any special invitation.
So my own experience matches what Capital One corporate says. I don’t know why their reps are giving incorrect information out.
You are an idiot, Dave. Post proof or just STFU
I did above to your other comment. Your misreading of the post is not my idiocy.
Have a wonderful day!
Dave,
I applied for this exact card, the Spark Cash Select, and was instantly approved two months ago on Sept. 27 of 2021. I just got an instant denial today applying for the Chase Ink Business Unlimited. When I called recon, eventually I was told that I have 5 personal accounts opened in the last 24 months—I had been tracking myself at 4/24. The Chase rep listed all the cards, and the Capital One pull on Sept. 27 was one of them, so that’s the reason that on his end I was showing up as 5/24 and got the auto-rejection. He also confirmed it is showing on my personal/consumer credit report.
Something has changed at Capital One in regard to how they report this card.
Hey Brian,
OK, let’s try and troubleshoot this a bit 🙂
First off, and perhaps the simplest explanation is this: You say “Spark Cash Select.” That is not the same card as the old Spark Cash or the new Spark Cash Plus. The Select DOES report to your personal credit. And it’s possible to apply for a Spark Cash and be offered/given a Spark Cash Select if they don’t feel your credit warrants the one you applied for. I don’t love that C1 does this, but they do.
So, if your card shows as “Select”in your Capital One account, mystery solved. Only the newer Spark Cash (now discontinued) and the new Spark Cash Plus have this feature.
If that is not it and you 100% have a Spark Cash Plus (the charge card with no preset spending limit and a $150 annual fee) I can go back to my corporate contacts but let me ask a few questions. To be clear (and as I’ve said previously), I opened a Spark Cash last year and it’s never, ever reported to my credit file in any way. The previous older one closed by C1 does show, but the new one does not.
If you opened last month, I’m assuming you got a new Spark Cash Plus.
1) Does it show as a new account in that section of your credit report?
2) Separately from #1, does it appear as a current card you have and, if so, how does it show your balance?
3) Have you been late with any payments? That would cause it to appear.
Thanks.
Dave, I am having the same experience as some of your other readers. I just opened this card in September (Spark Cash), and it is counting towards my 5/24 status now according to Chase (was just auto-rejected by Chase going for a business card, and on recon call the Chase rep listed the Capital One amongst the other 4 personal cards I had opened over the previous 24 months).
So it is most definitely being counted towards personal credit report now if Chase is counting it towards 5/24. Something has changed with Capital One since you initially wrote this post.
I also applied for this card after reading this last year and I applied for the original Spark Cash card in March and it did NOT appear on my credit reports.
My question for Dave is: the year will be up next March, any idea if I downgrade to the Select if it will continue to stay off my credit reports.
Hi Thomas. If you downgrade to Select, I would expect that it would then begin to be reported to your personal credit as the Select is not part of the deal, here.
That said, when your fee posts, call and ask if they can do anything about it. Capital One will often put a permanent fee waiver on a good account without actually downgrading the card.
Update 2023- Capital One Spark Business Card reports to your personal credit no matter what. I formally complained on this and was told it was a federal regulation to report to all, which seems like a lie since Citibank and Wells have business cards that seem to not report to personal credit bureaus. Note – this card is in perfect standing and new.
Assuming you are talking about ongoing monthly reporting of your utilization (and not the hard pull we all know hits your personal credit when applying) – Exactly which Spark card do you have and when did you get it?
I still have my Spark Cash card opened after the date mentioned in this article and it still has never reported to my personal credit and that remains the position of Capital One officially.
If you have any card other than the Spark Cash issued after that date or the new Spark Cash Plus OR if you miss a payment or are otherwise delinquent, it will not report to personal credit. However, a Spark Cash Select or Spark Miles will report to personal credit.
This article is not longer accurate as of 10/29/23 and would request you please remove it from milestalk.com. I called Capital One today and they said all Spark Business Cash cards report to the three personal bureaus and they no longer report to D&B. Also, you can reference:
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/credit-cards/do-business-credit-cards-affect-personal-credit-score#:~:text=Beyond%20the%20initial%20hard%20inquiry,negatively%20impact%20your%20personal%20credit.
You literally linked to another article confirming exactly what I wrote. You might want to re-read it.
The only thing I need to update is to ADD the Venture X Business as another CapOne card that does not report to personal credit.
So you did find a correction- however not the one you insisted on and so no, I won’t be removing an accurate article. Thanks.
As of today, 12/10/24 Capital One Spark Business card does report to personal credit although account is in perfect standing.
Hi Tiara,
With apologies, you caught a 2023 article that became outdated just a few months ago.
Please see this updated article on the new (2024 on) Spark Cash card: https://milestalk.com/capital-one-quietly-brings-back-legacy-spark-cash-2-card/
I’ve added a note atop this old article to make sure nobody else runs into the same issue with the old article.