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5 Vendor Accounts That Build Your Business Credit
Published By Janet Gershen-Siegel at September 22nd, 2017
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Check Out 5 Vendor Accounts That Build Your Business Credit
Are you looking for 5 vendor accounts that build your business credit? We’ve got them right here. Get the easiest business credit card! Build your fundability. It’s how to build credit fast!
NOTE: This post was updated on April 23, 2020 to reflect newer information!
When you are first starting to build business credit, your first step should be vendor or trade credit. You want to get into good credit habits. So this is everything from not borrowing too much, to paying your debts back on time, to staying on good terms with your sources of credit.
This post answers the question: how do I build up my business credit without using my personal credit?
Starter Vendors
You will need to start a business credit profile and score with what are called starter vendors. Starter vendors are ones who will give your small business initial credit even if your company has no credit, no score, or no trade lines.
It makes sense to use net 30 accounts to build business credit. Net 30 vendors are far more likely to approve a business, particularly a new one.
Note that most stores like Staples will not give you initial starter credit, so don’t even try applying with them.
Here are 5 business credit vendors that build your business credit. You can get a starter business credit card. This is vendor credit, and these are our top 5 business credit cards for new businesses. They are our best corporate credit cards.
Learn more here and get started toward getting up to 7 vendors that build your business credit.
Vendor Accounts that Build Your Business Credit: 1. Uline
You can find Uline’s website here. This company sells shipping, packing, and industrial supplies. These include janitorial supplies, shipping boxes, and material handling products like hand trucks and dollies. Most importantly, they report to Dun and Bradstreet and Experian.
Therefore, your small business must have a D-U-N-S number before you start trying to get vendor credit with them. For a Uline business account, Uline will ask for two references and a bank reference. Your first few orders might need to be pre-paid to initially so that your company can get approved for Net 30 terms and Uline business credit.
Uline truly is the answer to the question: what is the easiest business credit card to get?
Vendor Accounts that Build Your Business Credit: 2. Crown Office Supplies
Crown Office Supplies is another true starter vendor. You can find them online here. They sell a variety of office supplies and take helping clients seriously. They state, “just starting your business, or maybe have an existing business, but you have a question regarding office supplies… we are here to help!” And they report to Dun and Bradstreet, Experian, and Equifax.
There is a $99.00 annual fee, though they do report that fee to the business credit reporting agencies. For other purchases to report, the purchase needs to be at least $30.00. Terms are Net 30.
- Here’s how to qualify:
- Your business entity must be in good standing with the applicable Secretary of State
- You must have an EIN and a D-U-N-S number
- Business address (it has to match everywhere)
- Business license (if applicable)
- A corporate bank account
- Business must be at least 60 days old
- Membership fee is $99 per year upon approval
Apply online.
Vendor Accounts that Build Your Business Credit: 3. Grainger Industrial Supply
You can find Grainger Industrial Supply here. They sell hardware, power tools, pumps and more. They also do fleet maintenance. Grainger reports to D&B. To qualify with your Grainger business credit application, you are going to need the following:
- A business license
- An EIN number
- A D-U-N-S number from Dun & Bradstreet
For less than $1000 credit, they will approve nearly anyone with a business license. For over $1,000 credit, they want to see trade and bank references. Fax them your application or apply over the phone.
Vendor Accounts that Build Your Business Credit: 4. Supply Works
Supply Works is a great recession vendor. Visit them here. They are a part of the Home Depot. They offer integrated facility management solutions. Virtual addresses are not accepted. They report to Experian. Terms are Net 30.
Qualifying
To qualify, you need to have:
- An entity in good standing with Secretary of State
- EIN number with IRS
- Business address (it must match everywhere
- D-U-N-S number
- Business license (if applicable)
- A business bank account
Apply with Them
Apply online or over the phone.
Find out why so many companies are using this to improve their business credit – and check out even more vendors (7!) to help you build business credit.
Vendor Accounts that Build Your Business Credit: 5. 76
Check out 76. Visit them here. The brand’s history traces its original company roots all the way back to Santa Paula, California and Lyman Stewart, a co-founder of Union Oil Company of California. Today 76 is owned by Phillips 66 Company, with more than 1,800 retail fuel sites in the United States. They report to Experian, D&B, and Credit Safe.
Qualifying
In order to qualify for business credit with 76, you will need the following:
- An EIN
- To have your business entity squared away (corporation, partnership, LLC, etc.) and in good standing with the applicable Secretary of State
- Business address (matching everywhere)
- Business license (if applicable)
- A D-U-N-S number
- A business bank account
- Business Phone Number Listed in 411
- SSN is required for informational purposes. If concerned they will pull your personal credit please talk to their credit department before applying
- If not approved based on business credit history or been in business less than 1 year, then a $500 deposit is needed or a Personal Guarantee (PG)
- Can be used at any P66, 76, or Conoco fueling location
Apply with Them
Apply online.
Building Business Credit – Going Beyond 5 Vendor Accounts That Build Your Business Credit
Getting vendor accounts for business credit means that you are on your way to getting good business credit. Once you have five or more vendor accounts and they are all reporting with at least one bigger business credit bureau, then you can start trying to get store credit. This is a great way to build and improve your business credit score. But now it’s time to move past vendor credit cards.
Build Your Credit Score with Retail Credit
Once there are 3 or more vendor trade accounts reporting to at least one of the CRAs, then move onto revolving store credit. These are businesses such as Office Depot and Staples.
You will always have to use your Social Security Number and date of birth for verification purposes. But use the small business’s EIN on these credit applications when it comes to credit check services small business.
How to Build Credit Fast? Use Fleet Credit
Are there more accounts reporting? Then move to fleet credit. These are service providers such as BP and Conoco. Use this credit to buy fuel, and, fix and take care of vehicles.
Use your Social Security Number and date of birth for verification purposes. But make certain to apply using the company’s EIN for credit checks.
Improve Your Dun and Bradstreet credit report with Cash Credit
Have you been sensibly managing the credit you’ve gotten up to this point? Then progress to cash credit. These are service providers like Visa and MasterCard.
Use your Social Security Number and date of birth for verification purposes. And apply using the company’s EIN for credit checks.
These are typically MasterCard credit cards. If you have more trade accounts reporting, then these are attainable.
If it were all left up to you, how would you improve working with 7 vendors to help you build business credit?
Monitor Your Business Credit
Know what is happening with your credit. Make sure it is being reported and deal with any inaccuracies ASAP. Get in the habit of taking a look at credit reports. So dig into the details, not just the scores.
So we can help you monitor business credit at Experian and D&B for 90% less.
At Equifax, you can monitor your account at: http://www.equifax.com/business/business-credit-monitor-small-business.
Update Your Business Credit Profile Details
Update the details if there are mistakes or the information is incomplete. So at D&B, you can do this at: https://iupdate.dnb.com/iUpdate/viewiUpdateHome.htm.
And at Experian, go to: http://www.experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.jsp.
Finally, for Equifax, go to: http://www.equifax.com/business/small-business.
Challenging Mistakes
What’s all this monitoring for? So it’s to challenge any errors in your records. Errors in your credit report(s) can be fixed. But the CRAs normally want you to dispute in a particular way.
Get your PAYDEX report for DNB small business at: http://www.dnb.com/about-us/our-data.html.
You can get your company’s Experian report at: http://www.businesscreditfacts.com/pdp.aspx?pg=SearchForm.
And get your Equifax business credit report at: http://www.equifax.com/business/credit-information.
Disputes
Disputing credit report errors typically means you send a paper letter with copies of any evidence of payment with it. So these are documents like receipts and cancelled checks. But never mail the originals. Always send copies and keep the original copies.
Disputing credit report errors also means you precisely spell out any charges you dispute. Make your dispute letter as understandable as possible. Be specific about the concerns with your report. Use certified mail so that you will have proof that you sent in your dispute.
Dispute your or your company’s Equifax report by following the instructions here: http://www.equifax.com/small-business-faqs/#Dispute-FAQs.
You can dispute errors on your or your business’s Experian report by following the directions here: http://www.experian.com/small-business/business-credit-information.jsp.
And D&B’s PAYDEX Customer Service telephone number is here: https://www.dandb.com/glossary/paydex/, to help you with disputes. It’s the only way they’ll let you dispute a DNB.com credit report.
Takeaways for 5 Vendor Accounts or Companies That Build Your Business Credit
Always use credit responsibly! Don’t borrow more than what you can pay off. So monitor balances and deadlines for payments. Paying off punctually and in full will do more to increase business credit scores than nearly anything else.
Establishing small business credit pays. Great business credit scores help a company get loans. Your lender knows the company can pay its financial obligations. Because they know the small business is authentic. The company’s EIN links to high scores and loan providers won’t feel the need to require a personal guarantee.
These cards will improve your Dun and Bradstreet credit report and more.
And soon you’ll be able to move onto the top ten business credit cards – and beyond!
Discover this new way to find 7 (!) vendors to help you build business credit.
42 Comments
As a representative of Gempler’s, I would like to let you know what is written above about Gempler’s is not wholly accurate. We no longer report to Dun & Bradstreet and we require credit applications to be completed and submitted for review. Please update accordingly or remove Gempler’s from the list.
Thanks,
Tanya
Gempler’s Credit Manager
hi tanya, thanks for letting everyone know. So, who does your company report to now? Since you no longer report to Dun and Bradstreet……
Gempler doesn’t have a invoice me option. It only has a credit card pay option or a open account option. When you click on the open account option, says “PO/Reference # required. It will not process without a number. Please update your info.
That isn’t true Tony. I purchased a product on your website last month. I was able to invoice it and pay later.
Thanks for the info. I guess we should avoid using Gempler’s. I assume the other 4 are still ok.
The PO is Consumer Generated (use whatever number you would like)
I went to pau my invoice with Gemplers today 4/30/18. My billing cycle begins in May and the the associate i spoke with advised me to pay tomorrow 5/1/18 so that it shows paid when they report to Duns and Bradstreet
Hello all. I’m having major issues with a lot of these companies allowing you a net 30 account. I think they do certain things for some and not others. For ex I’m hearing that Grainger is easy to get a net 30 with. Well I placed my order with them after they allowed me a $1000 line of credit then they cancelled it. Said that I was new and I needed 6 months of purchasing history with them. Same with BP who wanted my social in order to make a decision and Uline who wanted me to have a website. Gempler and Quill were fairly simple. Does anyone know of any vendors that are simple to get accounts with that report to DnB? Your input would be greatly appreciated
Summa Office Supplies.
Start with a $60 purchase (Tier 1 Account), and they report an inmediate $2,000 credit line to D&B on the last day of the month.
Hi and thank you for commenting! Yes, we love Summa. Great catch.
Monopolize market doesn’t report to dnb
I agree with you. I believe it’s a lucky draw for some while others get the boot. I applied to Grainger’s and they wanted my personal information. I also applied with Quill. They stated that they don’t do Net-30 anymore. I actually ended up paying for 2 others with my personal accounts. I am now trying Uline to see if they will offer a Net-30 account (fingers crossed). It’s like pulling wisdom teeth.
Best of luck to you with your business journey.
I just applied for Quill and was approved.
Hey, that’s fantastic!
I applied with quill also got approved but I am not sure for how much? But they did invoice me? Does anyone know what the starting line of credit is?
Hi Misty,
I applied earlier in the month with Quill and wondered the same thing. I called to find out and they told me that the initial approval was a courtesy. They said they had to review my company. Took less than 5 minutes, then I was approved for $350. They said they conduct reviews every 90 days. I hope this helps .
Hey, that’s great! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Can you give suggestions for companies we should apply for unsecured business loans ?
I was able to get an immediate net30 account with Quill and Uline. I made an order with Grainger and will make another couple of orders and check them in 90 days to see if they will give me a net30 account.
I got a partially secured BP card and an Edge (Pilot/Flying J) fuel account.
I’m also going to use Monopolize Your Marketplace and Jason Adams Transport to get my 5 beginner reporting lines connected.
That’s fantastic! Best to you and your business!
hi everyone I am having problems with getting 30 days vendor accounts to report with D and B. I will keep trying others as well. I have a list someone was telling me about. I will check this list out I am trying to move forward. sometimes I feel like paying for a credit builder but the wait time to do it on your own. keep trying everyone don”t give up.
We have an entire team at Credit Suite that is dedicated to making sure that the vendors at each Vendor Credit Tier report to the bureaus. We recommend that you check out this page on our site: https://www.creditsuite.com/business-credit/ to get information about how we can help get you the right accounts at the right time. You can always give us a call at 877-600-2487 to speak with a Business Credit Consultant to see how we can help with your specific business needs. We know it can be tough to do on your own so stick with it and we are here to help!
Granger only reports twice a year. They granted me $1000 credit line. I had 2 other vendors reporting when I applied
Thank you for letting us know. We’ll have our people check with Grainger.
I contacted the fine folks in our Advisory department, and they said, “we recently verified Graigner(we verify vendors every 30 days) and that isn’t the case. Many times people talk to customer service and not the credit dept and that is how they get the wrong information.”
Again, thank you for bringing this up.
I applied and received a credit line from Grainger of 1000.00 4 months ago and now m credit limit is 5000.00. I wonder if they report to Dunn and Bradstreet the credit limited change.
Hi and thank you for commenting. Congratulations on your increase!
It’s my understanding that Grainger does indeed report to D&B. So keep doing what you have been doing (I take it that’s paying your bills on time or early).
Success: what a great holiday present. 🙂
thanks for great information looking forward for more such great articles.
This was just wonderful information! Will be working on a plan and moving forward. Will let you know of the successes! Thanks again for caring. This info can make a huge difference in the life of a small business owner.!
Great information I learned new things, looking forward to more such articles in future.
I enjoyed Reading Every Word of your blog. so much information in such a beautiful manner. love it looking forward to more such amazing helpful information thanks.
Great information, I recently come across the credit suit and my god, I can say you guys know what you are talking so thank for the Help.
Thank You for the Valuable information. I learned new things, looking forward to more such articles in the future.
Quill was doing a temporary hold on Net 30 accounts at the start of Covid-19. I have two companies, the older company has a trade account with them, when I went to set up the new company, they had the temporary hold.
I was able to change that to a Net 30 in July.
Hi and thank you for commenting. We have noticed changes in Quill, too – they seem to want three prepays first. As a result, we’ve updated this blog post. Best of luck to you with your businesses!
We are also a starter vendor selling a variety of resources for businesses. The information is great in your blog and hope you can include us in the future.
Thanks for commenting. I see you’ve been recently added to our big list.
Hi I applied with Grainger using EIN and was approved for $1000.00. And with Uline I was also approved using only my EIN. And only Uline has reported to the Dunns
Hey, that’s great! I suspect your Grainger purchases will show up in the next go-’round (next 90 days or so). Kudos on building your business credit!
What references can you give when you are a new small business and the creditor is asking for two trade references and you don’t have any? I’m reading of all these folks who have applied for these trade lines and have been approved. How do you do it?
Thank you for responding – great question! We have a post about this very thing, here: https://www.creditsuite.com/blog/5-things-you-should-know-about-trade-references/
Essentially, you may be able to talk to utilities or your landlord or other sources of bills which would not be reported to a business credit reporting agency. Be prepared to do a lot of the legwork and essentially give them almost a form to check off, as opposed to asking them to write up something from scratch.