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Capital One launched the new Spark Travel Elite card this week. It’s the ‘small business version of Venture X’ and has an initial bonus offer to earn up to 250,000 miles.
Currently the card is only available through Capital One business relationship managers, though that’s expected to change and the card should become available more broadly. Existing customers of Capital One business cards except for Spark Cash Plus are eligible to apply for the product.
One interesting thing about the card that I’ve learned is that Capital One will not report Spark Travel Elite accounts to personal credit bureau reports (provided that the account remains in good standing). This is a departure from standard Capital One practice.
Most card issuers – like American Express, Chase, and Citibank – do not report small business cards on personal credit reports. Capital One does. I don’t like the practice because,
- If you put heavy business spend on the card, as banks hope you will, it’ll mean a higher credit utilization rate which is bad for your credit score
- It shows up as a new account, which keeps you from getting new personal cards (especially from Chase) even though it’s a card for your business
Not reporting this card to your personal credit is a win, and something that will make some readers more comfortable in getting the card.
