Table of Contents
The three most important points at a glance:
- Corporate credit cards offer your company more financial flexibility and control over employee spending.
- In Germany the SCHUFA score plays an important role in credit checks — but does it also apply to corporate credit cards?
- Some providers also offer corporate credit cards without a SCHUFA check.
SCHUFA and corporate credit cards — How important is an employee's score?
When it comes to managing external costs, such as business trips or trade fair visits, many companies often have a problem: how do you keep track of expenses without ending up with a huge amount of paperwork? The solution: company credit cards!
But this typically raises a crucial question: How does SCHUFA affect corporate credit cards for employees? In this guide, we answer the most essential questions and give you tips on how to deal with SCHUFA entries cleverly and still find the best corporate credit card for your company.
Why should you use credit cards for your employees?
Corporate credit cards are much more than just a convenient means of payment for your employees. They offer many benefits that can save your company time, money and hassle:
Corporate credit cards allow you to easily track and control employee spending. Whether travelling expenses, office supplies or business meals — you always know who has spent what and on what.
Instead of managing receipts and expense reports manually, all transactions can be viewed digitally and in real time. This gives you an overview of expenses at all times.
Bonus features such as cashback, rewards or travel insurance make such credit cards a useful means of payment.
SCHUFA and corporate credit cards: What you should know
What is SCHUFA?
SCHUFA is the central organisation in Germany that collects creditworthiness information. When you apply for a credit card, a SCHUFA enquiry is usually carried out to check your creditworthiness.
Is the entry important for employees?
Things get interesting when it comes to the SCHUFA status of your employees. What happens if one of your employees has a negative SCHUFA entry?
In most cases, the SCHUFA entry of employees does not play a role when applying for a company credit card, as the credit check is applied to the company and not to the individual. However, the situation may be different for self-employed persons or managing directors, who are then directly liable.
Corporate credit cards without SCHUFA
There are also providers, such as Qonto, that offer corporate credit cards without a SCHUFA check. These cards usually work on a credit basis and are a good choice, especially for smaller companies or start-ups with a lower credit rating!
The best credit cards for companies
If you're looking for a suitable corporate credit card for employees, you'll find a wide range of providers at Paylobby. Here we present three options that we find very favourable:
| Card | Conditions | Special features |
|---|---|---|
| Qonto One | No fee (however, a business account with costs is required) | No SCHUFA enquiry, virtual and physical cards, detailed expense management with accounting tools, DATEV integration |
| Postbank Business Card Plus | €24 annual fee | No SCHUFA enquiry, worldwide acceptance, in conjunction with business account, debit card, free employee cards |
| American Express BusinessGold | €0 in the first year, then €175 | SCHUFA is checked, travel insurance, cashback, payment term only 50 days later, company car insurance, DATEV integration, welcome bonus |
These cards offer different benefits depending on your needs - whether flexibility, SCHUFA-free offers or extensive additional benefits such as insurance and cashback programmes.
You can find more corporate credit cards on our detailed comparison website!
My SCHUFA: How to check your creditworthiness
If you want to apply for a credit card for employees as a managing director, it is worth obtaining your free SCHUFA information regularly. This will ensure that no incorrect or outdated entries are a burden on your company or your employees.
You can apply for your SCHUFA report free of charge once a year. To do this, go to the website meineschufa.de. This information contains your score by quarter, as well as which persons have queried your SCHUFA.
You can receive the certificate by post after 5–7 days or immediately after registering and legitimising with SCHUFA partner bonify.
Find the right company credit card for employees!
In most cases, the SCHUFA entry of your employees is not of great importance.
However, if you are interested in a corporate credit card with a SCHUFA check, as a managing director or self-employed person you should apply for your free SCHUFA information beforehand so that nothing stands in the way of an application!
You are also welcome to discover other corporate credit cards that we have already tested for you!
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