The Tale of My Business Card Application From A Difficult Bank

by joeheg

It’s been over 6 months since Sharon and I applied for a new credit card. That was mostly because I had to focus on spending on our World of Hyatt card to earn an additional category 1-4 free night after spending $15,000 in a calendar year.

I just made the threshold but I’m not going for the Hyatt free night in 2023. Instead, I’m going to ditch some of our low-performing cards and apply for some big sign-up bonuses since we’re both under 5-24.

For my first application of 2023, I decided to try my luck with a bank that is one of the most difficult to get approved for a business credit card.

I had Sharon apply for the Wyndham Earner Business card from Barclays.

Some websites encourage anyone to apply for business credit cards. I’ve seen posts with advice like this:

  • Do you sell anything?
  • Do you provide any services you get paid for?
  • Do you rent a property?
  • Do you have a side job?
  • Do you run a lemonade stand?
  • Do you sell brownies at the local market?

Congratulations, you’re a business. Now go and sign up for a business card with this referral link!!!

I’m not going to do that. That doesn’t mean you won’t be approved for a business card with little to no proof that you actually have one. I take a more cautious approach because I had to go through a lengthy process to get approved for a Chase Ink business credit card.

Barclays has several appealing credit cards for business owners, including the JetBlue business card, the AAdvantage Aviator business card, and the Wyndham Earner business card.

Of the three Wyndham cards offered by Barclays, the Earner Business card is the most appealing. It has the highest sign-up bonus, offers automatic Wyndham Rewards Diamond status and has interesting bonus earning categories.

But I’ve heard horror stories about dealing with Barclays:

Finally, there’s this video explaining the back and forth with the bank to get approved.

I had some trepidation when filling out the application. I couldn’t pass up the 45,000 Wyndham Rewards points, which are worth 3 nights at a mid-range Wyndham hotel.

a blue card with white text

What happened?

a blue background with white text

We got instant approval for a $12,000 credit line.

I can’t provide the secret for getting approved for Barclays credit cards. We’ve had a relationship with the bank since getting the US Airways credit card almost a decade ago. We’ve since closed all of those cards (as we each had two Aviator cards) but we still have the Arrival+ and a JetBlue Plus card.

There’s evidence that keeping and using your Barclays cards helps you get approved for new cards. There are also examples of people with great credit who use their credit cards being denied a new card.

While I was a little bit worried about having to jump through some hoops for the Wyndham Earner Business card, it ended up being unnecessary. The account immediately was added to our existing online account and we received the card within the week.

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2 comments

ramcm7 February 1, 2023 - 3:49 pm

Glad you had it easy. I recently applied for this card as my first business card. First came the request for additional information. Then came the request for a fax of the front and back of both my driver’s license and Social Security card. Couldn’t read the social security card so I faxed a second time. Still illegible. Faxed first page of my last 1040, which has my SSN. Mind you, each faxing was a trip to the UPS store. (UPS store offered all refaxes at no charge because of illegibility. Thank you!) Finally accepted. For a $1,000 line. Done my $2,000 spend, awaiting 45,000 points. I really got it for Caesar’s match, so I am back on the merry-go-round! Psst! It’s February first. Your Caesar’s status may have dropped back down to Gold – time to rematch!

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joeheg February 1, 2023 - 11:49 pm

I’ve read several people who have gone through the DL, SSN and 1040 process only to get approved for $1,000. From what they’ve said, Barclays is willing to transfer CL from other cards to the Earner Business if you ask.

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